Copyright syracuse.com
The people behind Central New York’s Tully’s Good Times and CopperTop Tavern restaurants have added a well-known local caterer to their portfolio. The Giamartino family will now operate Diamond Catering, which has served at weddings, corporate gatherings and other events for 20 years. It will be branded under the Coppertop name. Diamond Catering has been owned by Dan and Teresa Seeley, who operated it at 4221 Fay in Taunton. They later spun off The Cider Mill restaurant at the same location. The Cider Mill began as a seasonal place in 2014 and turned into a full-service year-round restaurant in 2017. The Seeleys closed the catering side of their business earlier this year. For them, the sale offers them a chance to concentrate on The Cider Mill and work on the soon-to-open Clerk’s House bakery located behind the restaurant. “We were ready to let the brand (Diamond Catering) sail off into the sunset,” Dan Seeley said. “But then came the opportunity to hand it off to people we know who have the resources and the expertise to keep it going in a way we can be really happy and confident about.” For the Giamartino family, it’s an opportunity to continue the expansion of the catering side of their business, said family member Dan Giamartino. They once catered mostly from their restaurants. In 2021 the family bought the former Louie’s Tavern at 3372 Milton Ave. to serve as both an events center and the commissary kitchen for catered off-site events. That location will now be the headquarters for CopperTop Hospitality featuring Diamond Catering. Branding as Diamond Catering will help them handle more of the high-end and large-scale events that the Seeleys were known for. They are catering a big United Way gala next week. “We’re honored to be stepping into what Dan and Teresa built and honored that they trust us with this,” Giamartino said. The sale to the Giamartinos includes Diamond Catering’s recipes, branding and other intellectual properties. The Seeleys will consult and advise the Coppertop Hospitality team as the transition moves ahead. CopperTop Hospitality will continue to cater for smaller events with just a few dozen people but can now take calls from those looking for large events, Giamartino said. They’ve recently worked to land a seaside event that will cost about $200,000, he said. Those looking to book an event can contact events@coppertoptavern.com or call (315) 857-7477. The Giamartinos currently operate three CopperTop restaurants, in Cicero and Camillus near Syracuse and in Vestal near Binghamton. A fourth CopperTop will open soon on Erie Boulevard East in DeWitt.
