Restaurant credits success to teamwork, quality of food and service and great vistas of Oswego
The Rooftop Lounge rises above others — five stories, actually. It crowns the Litatro Building in the heart of downtown Oswego.
Opened in November 2021, it boasts a picturesque view from two outdoor terraces sandwiched between an elegant indoor dining space.
It’s managed by Kyle C. Walton, co-owner and operations manager. The other partners are Atom Avery, his wife, Falecia, and his sister, Anita Shiel.
Walton credits the success of the business to teamwork.
“Atom and I have worked together for almost 10 years. He had the idea for this building — we were lucky enough to be a part of the DRI grants,” Walton explained.
As part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, Oswego was awarded $10 million in state funding.
“It was one night, I was at Five Points [liquor store owned by Avery]; working in the office over there and he says, ‘hey I got an idea.’ He tells me about Litatro and he said he wants to open up this rooftop lounge and bar. I said I’d give him whatever help I could and he said, ‘No I want you to be a partner.’
“We had seen the progression of the city and really this concept was let’s give the city something that it didn’t have. This building is both figuratively and literally the cornerstone of the new Oswego landscape — being right here at the corner of First and Bridge overlooking the lake,” he added.
“The one thing I always, always tell people is there is no way we are where we are at right now without our team. I can never take credit for anything; it’s 1,000% the team atmosphere that we have created. We try to create a very team unified spirit here. It is helping one another out, working with each other helping bring out the best in everybody,” Walton said. “We are two and a half, three years into this now and the response from the community has been fantastic.”
Keeping it local
Right now on staff they have 18 employees. That fluctuates from eight full-time employees and depending on the season, anywhere from 10 to 14 part-time employees.
A lot of their employees work other jobs, Walton said. Some work in the school district, some at other bars or restaurants in town.
“But again, we have probably a third of that staff has been with us since day one. In the restaurant business that is tough to do,” Walton said. “We started working with BOCES. We have cooking interns that help out in the kitchen during the school year. We work with New Visions through the high school. I’ve had interns with me who are studying business.
“Being able to branch out and continue to grow that next generation is truly something that I enjoy doing. I will never claim that I know anything about anything. We have a collaborative kitchen, a very collaborative structure. It is helping build and pick each other up — that’s the biggest reason for our success. I can say to you how we have continued to progress so much — it’s through that dynamic we’ve created.”
The menu focuses on small plate dining. Desserts are sourced by other local businesses. You can also choose from 120 different whiskeys, 32 beers or 108 wines.
“We encourage patrons to explore all that the downtown dining scene in Oswego has to offer,” Walton said. “Our first menu was one page, it was 5×7, it was a one pager. I think we had about eight items on it. Now we’ve got a three and a half page menu with all sorts of eclectic things. That’s what we built with our team … Let’s try this new idea … are they all going to work? Nope. But the ones that do, we’ll expand on them. They are the ones we all worked together on.”
Major foods
“Our overall methodology is we do small plates. Our filet with mushrooms is probably kind of our main dish. Our bigger selling items are duck dumplings. Dumpling style but on the inside it has roasted corn, duck bacon, cream cheese and we top it with Mike’s Hot Honey. It creates a beautiful blend of a little bit of heat, but with the sweet and richness of duck and the corn,” he said. “Our ahi tuna just won an award in Syracuse this past summer — it’s one of my personal favorites on the menu. It’s sesame encrusted tuna on a bed of wasabi. It’s fantastic.”
Their charcuterie board has been a staple since Rooftop opened. Recently, they launched a new menu. It’s seasonal.
“We started adding a lot of seafood items. Oysters have been our number one seller the past week and a half almost three to one to our next highest selling item,” Walton explained. “We typically do three big menu changes throughout the year going with the season and what’s available. This being the summer, overlooking the water, how can you not do a bunch of seafood?”
They also offer vegan foods, vegan desserts.
The view
“Obviously, everybody wants to come up when it is sun shiny and it’s great beautiful sunsets. During the day out on the river side, you get to see the entire Oswego River leading into the beautiful Lake Ontario. You can sit and watch the ships come in and out at the port and unload,” Walton said. “When you transition over to the city side, you see the buildings, but at night, you get that transition with the setting sun and the city illuminates with the lights.
”But I also tell people it’s awful nice to sit inside during bad weather — you get like a thunderstorm or foggy days. Snow, it’s fun to sit up here because you kind of get that snow globe effect. You see it all around you and especially being five stories up … it is beautiful, a lot of fun.”
Friday nights are the busiest times, thanks in part to live music.
“We do live music every Friday night. We bring in acts from all over and they play right here in the dining room. It is everything from duos to solo acts. Interior we can fit about 55 to 60. When we open up the balcony that adds another 40 seats outside (20 and 20). So on a beautiful summer night we almost double our occupancy.”
Catch-22
“People want to hold events here — baby showers, wedding showers, engagement parties. We have booked corporate events especially in the holidays,” he said. “Parking has been an issue. It’s a catch-22; the downtown community grew so much — and unfortunately the parking didn’t grow with it. Especially during the summer, we are always going to have parking issues. Parking premium, it gets congested in summer as people want to go out to eat — here, the Bistro, Southern Fare and other downtown businesses. But we hope even if people have to park a block or two away the walk and experience once they get up here would be worth it.”
“There is a lot that goes on in this building throughout the entire day,” Walton said. “We have 20 apartments in the building. We have six on the second, third and fourth floors. So that’s 18 and we have two penthouse apartments right behind us on the fifth floor.”
On the first floor is Southern Fare and a couple small businesses.
“The crew over at Southern Fare — I can’t give them enough love,” Walton said. “A lot of people think we are directly associated. We are not directly associated, but yet again, we treat them just like our own staff. It’s a very symbiotic relationship.
“People can eat there and come to Rooftop for drinks later or vice versa. I want you to enjoy both places whether having a cocktail and small plate here then going downstairs for dinner or starting downstairs then coming up here for a cocktail and dessert. Again, the more the merrier. We want people to truly experience what downtown Oswego has to offer. It is such a beautiful and vibrant community — we want people to continue to enjoy those aspects of Oswego.”
Looking ahead
“Who knows what will happen in the future? We’ve thrown around some ideas and stuff; but right now it’s let’s build on our foundation,” Walton said. “I always say start small and start smart — you can build from a good foundation. If you start trying to do too much, that’s where you run into trouble.”
