'Always been the dream': Aviation-loving couple follow their passion in opening diner at Southbridge Municipal Airport

SOUTHBRIDGE — Sarah and Michael Lemovitz have had aviation present in their life since a young age.

Sarah is the child of two U.S. Air Force parents, while Michael, a licensed pilot, has flown single-engine airplanes as early as 17.

Soon, they hope to combine their love for aviation with Sarah’s passion for cooking in May when they open The Flight Deck inside a diner at the Southbridge Municipal Airport.

“She always wanted to do the diner thing and I always wanted to do an aviation-related business,” said Michael. “And then we saw this spot was available.”

While the town owns the diner, the Lemovitzes won the bid for a leasing contract with the town in March, starting work immediately to make the diner operational.

On Monday, the diner’s exterior had the freshness of a new coat of paint, while the interior reassured their ambition to flip the diner to its original image from the 1950s.

The couple, each 38, have replaced the booths and the flooring with a vintage style in mind, adding maps on the tables and airplane blueprints to the bar.

Dating to 1958, the diner was manufactured in New Jersey and brought to the airport in the 1970s when a local restaurateur, Charlie Latour, who often cooked for pilots out of hangars, hauled the diner to the airport.

For years the diner was known as Jim’s Flyin’ Diner for 13 years when it was under the management of Louise Streicher and her brother Paul Servant.

Starting in 2013, the diner operated as The Red Baron Diner, but shut down in September 2021 after operator James Dhembe died.

The diner is addressed at 220 Airport Access Road, next to the main building of Southbridge Municipal Airport, on the other side of a chain-link fence where the runway extends parallel to the diner.

Monday, three small-engine airplanes were visible from within the diner through the windows where the Lemovitzes look to place their renovated tables.

Growing up in a military family, Sarah said she lived in Nebraska, Virginia, Florida and even in Germany for a while, but Massachusetts became home in 2011, when she started working as a school nurse in local districts, most recently at Tantasqua Regional Junior High School.

With about five years of restaurant experience from before her nursing career, Sarah said running a diner was the dream she was truly fond of, finally making it a reality.

Michael, originally from Worcester, said in addition to managing the diner with his wife, he will continue his sales work in health care software at a health tech company called Fabric Health.

The couple hopes to hire a staff of six to eight employees, with an experienced chef holding control of the kitchen.

“Nursing was always something that I enjoyed because I would help people,” said Sarah. “But this has always been the dream.”

Monday, Ron Plouffe, airport manager, walked into the diner as the Lemovitzes told their story, pointing to them and calling the Lemovitzes “substantial.”

In summer 2022, the airport underwent a $7 million renovation funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has owned the airport since 1946.

Plouffe said that part of the plans was also the diner’s reopening, which the airport struggled to do until Nov. 2022, when a local restaurateur reopened it as Josh’s Place under a five-year contract with the town.

That turned out to be short-lived after the town cancelled the contract in late 2023, according to Plouffe.

While Plouffe did not divulge the reason why that happened, he only said, “We had some issues.”

Attempts to reach the owner of Josh’s Place were not immediately returned.

“Fortunately, we now have some very strong operators that will be taking over,” said Plouffe in an earlier interview.

While the Lemovitzes’ renovation efforts include a lot of “sweat equity” in part from friends, as Michael said, they foresee spending between $15,000 to $20,000.

With the target open date of May 4 approaching, they said to have kept in mind a family-oriented customer base, something the diner has been known to attract for years.

Sarah added that part of their renovation efforts is to add an ice cream window for “on the fly” cones.

Parents to three daughters, the Lemovitzes have integrated that part of their life into the restaurant by adding three stars to their logo, which is already displayed on the main door’s glass, the exterior of the diner and even merchandise such as a hat with the logo which Michael wore Monday.

“Why would we invest so heavily in a building we don’t own?” asked Michael out loud. “We want to turn this into a place where we would bring our own family, and to do that you have to invest.”

When the diner opens May 4, the airport will hold an aviation exposition with aircraft displays, remote-controlled airplane demonstrations, military aircraft displays, among other things, according to Plouffe.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Aviation-loving couple's passion is opening Southbridge airport diner