Bella Canggio in Centerbrook: A Peruvian Kitchen on Main Street

When the Essex Economic Development Commission met on May 13, 2026, it listed 78 Main Street in Centerbrook as empty. By its August 12 meeting the same address had a line of its own, "78 Main Street has new restaurant moving in." That restaurant is Bella Canggio, a modern Peruvian kitchen and bar. As of mid-October it was taking reservations at 78 Main Street.

Over the same few months, the commission's vacancy list for this part of Essex turned into a list of businesses moving in. Bella Canggio is the largest and most visible of them. It is also the one that says the most about why a business would pick Centerbrook over other towns.

From Vacancy List to Opening List

Here is how the Essex EDC minutes track it, meeting by meeting:

1. May 13, 2026: 78 Main Street and 3 Essex Square are recorded as empty.
2. June 10, 2026: The vacancy list includes the old Centerbrook package store and the former pizza space, with a note that a bakery is going in. A dance studio at 10 Bokum Road is logged as new business.
3. July 8, 2026: A fireplace store is reported as moving into the former Centerbrook package store site.
4. August 12, 2026: Zoning permits are approved for the dance studio on Bokum Road and for a restaurant on Main Street in Centerbrook. The new restaurant at 78 Main is noted, Brickside Pizza is open, and the bakery has its permits but is not open yet.

That makes four months and roughly half a dozen changes, all within a short drive of each other. The restaurant at 78 Main is the anchor of that list. To understand it, you have to go back to where it came from.

Why a Norwich Favorite Picked Centerbrook

Julio Cancho opened Canggio Restaurant/Bar at 20 Lafayette St. in Norwich in 2017. He ran it there for close to a decade before planning the move to Centerbrook, The Day reported in July. His co-owner at Bella Canggio is Elena Lettieri, who had managed Canggio for five and a half years. The Norwich Bulletin and Patch also covered the move.

In The Day's account, Cancho gave specific reasons for choosing Centerbrook. He pointed to a larger space with better parking, a new customer base, and room for a year-round greenhouse. He told the paper the pair had been thinking about Centerbrook for three or four years, and that they looked at other sites in Norwich and New London before settling here.

Lettieri brings the local connection. According to The Day, she has worked in area restaurants for 27 years, including Turtle Cafe in Westbrook and Penny Lane Pub and Pat's Kountry Kitchen in Old Saybrook. Cancho called her "the face of the restaurant," and said her familiarity to diners "around that area" helped make the case for the move.

He also made a claim about the region's food scene:

"There are not a lot of Peruvian restaurants around, so we will be the only ones in the area to offer that."

That comes from Cancho's interview with The Day, and it is his description of the market. He also said the new location is close enough to Norwich to keep his longtime customers.

What Comes Out of the Kitchen

Cancho was born and raised in Peru and trained classically in French and Italian cooking. The restaurant's OpenTable description says he puts a Peruvian twist on some of the American dishes on the menu as well. He told The Day the menu would carry over many of the Norwich favorites, and he described the dishes in detail.

• Pollo La Brasa, the signature chicken. It is marinated overnight from a family recipe, slow-roasted on a rotisserie and served with fries, salad and the house aji verde, a Peruvian green sauce. Cancho said the sauce "pairs well with any dish you can think of."
• Ceviche, a cold fish appetizer marinated in lime juice, spices and onion. OpenTable lists a Trio de Ceviche among the restaurant's well-loved dishes.
• Seco, a hearty beef stew in cilantro broth, served with beans and rice.
• Lomo Saltado, a Japanese-influenced steak stir-fry with a soy sauce reduction, onions and tomatoes, served over rice with a fried egg on top.
• Picarones, the house-made dessert. These are Peruvian-style doughnuts made with sweet potato and pumpkin and drizzled with a homemade syrup.

OpenTable also names Pato, Seco de Lomo and Arroz Chaufa among the dishes regulars come back for. Cancho told The Day that Peruvian food draws on "a lot of influence with African-American cuisine," along with Chinese, Japanese and Italian traditions. He also said he started out trying to recreate what his mother and grandmother made for him as a child.

The Centerbrook location was planned with changes the Norwich restaurant didn't have. The Day reported a full kids' menu, tapas, more gluten-free and vegan options, and a full bar. OpenTable describes the dining style as "Casual Elegant" with prices at $30 and under.

How the Week Runs at 78 Main

Bella Canggio's listed schedule is built around lunch and dinner most of the week, plus a separate Sunday service. According to its OpenTable listing, the hours are:

For Essex residents, two parts of that schedule matter most. The kitchen opens at 11 a.m. on five days, Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, which makes 78 Main a weekday lunch option as well as a dinner one. And on Sunday it opens at 9:30 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m., so Sunday dinner plans should go elsewhere. There are no Tuesday hours on the listing. Online listings change, so confirm the hours with the restaurant before you go.

Getting there is simple. The restaurant's website gives the address as 78 Main Street, Centerbrook, CT 06409. Better parking was one of the reasons Cancho gave for the move.

The Greenhouse Is Still on Its Way

The most unusual feature of the Centerbrook building is still in the works. In July, Cancho told The Day, "We're going to grow our own garnishes, tomatoes and peppers as much as we can in that location, year-round, to cook with." The restaurant's website still describes the greenhouse in the future tense. It says the greenhouse "will soon become an extension of the Bella Canggio kitchen," growing fresh herbs and seasonal vegetables for the dishes and cocktails.

So for now, the greenhouse is a plan rather than something diners will see on the plate. If it comes together the way the owners describe, it would supply produce to a Main Street kitchen through the winter.

The Rest of the Street Is Changing Too

The other items on the commission's list are smaller and less settled, and they should be read that way. The August minutes report that Brickside Pizza is open. The June minutes spell the name "Brookside Pizza." They also say a bakery is going into the pizza shop's old space. As of the August meeting, the bakery had its permits but had not opened, and the minutes don't give its name.

The minutes also mention three other changes:

• A fireplace store moving into the former Centerbrook package store site. No store name is given.
• A dance studio at 10 Bokum Road, which received its zoning permit by August.
• 3 Essex Square, which "may have retail moving in." No tenant is named.

None of these has a confirmed opening date in the town records. The commission recorded them as plans in progress, and Bella Canggio is the one already taking reservations.

At Teri Lewis, we follow which Essex storefronts are filling, from 78 Main Street to the Essex waterfront, because those changes shape daily life in each village. If you want to talk through what's opening in Centerbrook, Essex Village or Ivoryton, and how it fits your plans, Request a Concierge Consultation.