What does your restaurant opening say about you?

I went to a restaurant 'opening' the other night at Bella Luna/Milky Way, a long-time favorite neighborhood place in Jamaica Plain, a Boston neighborhood that moved into a new space.

It turned out to be totally different from any opening I’ve maybe ever been to before and led me to wonder, what do restaurant openings say about the restaurant?

Many openings are big, dressed-up occasions full of friends of the owners, local foodies and press. They’re very social but usually don’t really tell you much about the connection between the restaurant and its location.

This one, however, was all about the neighborhood and the customers. Perhaps because it was a celebration of a move to a new site and not an initial 'opening' the crowd had few of the usual ‘foodie’ and media group and virtually no one in cocktail party attire! In short, it was friends, neighbors and customers of all ages and colors, young and old, drinking and eating with gusto.

There was also entertainment – a group known as AfroBrazil.org with drums and pandiero – that not only created lively music, but drew everyone together, marching around the restaurant and urging guests to dance following the lead of the group’s leader, Marcus Santos. It was full of fun and joy and clapping.

Capping off the activities were short speeches by one of the owners, a local councilman, and finally, a visit from Mayor Tom Menino, not a regular on the restaurant opening circuit.

He spoke of the restaurant’s ties to the community and recalled that when it moved from its tiny, original location to the newer, much larger space in The Brewery complex which also houses Boston Beer Company (better known as Sam Adams), 300 people took part in marching from the old site to the new one in celebration.

This is a restaurant that is rooted deeply in its neighborhood and has connected with its customers in a very real way. It was refreshing to remember that success is not just about being chic and trendy, but about giving to the neighborhood, and becoming a beloved part of it.

Over the past decade or more and especially in posh times when money flowed freely, the value of these connections somehow became, if not diminished, somewhat muted.

In today’s economy, places like Bella Luna resonate with their customers in a very meaningful way and remind us that dining establishments are more than just the food, more than their star power, and more than a glitzy clientele – they provide an important way for the members of a neighborhood or community to connect with one another. And isn’t that what this industry is all about?