Daphne's Restaurant & Lounge

Four-year-old Arianna dances with her mother, Vera Pray, of East Bethany, during a spaghetti dinner at Daphne's Restaurant & Lounge.

Daphane's was packed this afternoon for the charity event, which benefits the 51st Annual Variety Kids Telethon for Women's & Children's Hospital of Buffalo, Robert Warner, MD Center for Children with special needs and other Western NY children's charities.

Pray was one of the organizers.

The event included a chance auction.

Daphne Cross started her professional life as a waitress. Now she's a restaurant owner, and her new business has her name on it.

The sign was installed today. The restaurant opens Monday.

The location will be familiar to a lot of area residents. It's on South Swan Street at the former St. Nick's Social Club.

Jermey Yasses bought the building in June partially hoping to revive the legendary club, but when that idea didn't go as he'd hoped, he let Cross know the building was available.

"It's a nice location," Cross said. "It's big. It's on the Southside. There are residents around. They're excited. Somebody stops in every day."

The grand opening will be in three or four weeks after Cross's liquor license is approved.

For the past several weeks, Cross and crew have been busy cleaning, painting and installing equipment.

Her chef, Mark DeCann, said the menu will feature Italian dishes, seafood and steak.

"The three basics everybody wants," DeCann said.

He promises, "It will be good."

City council approval of liquor licenses are generally routine matters, but this one is noteworthy: Daphne's Restaurant & Lounge at 341 S. Swan St., Batavia.

That's the former location of St. Nick's Social Club.

The building was recently purchased by Jeremy Yasses and after being unable to drum up interest in reestablishing St. Nick's or something similar, Yasses has leased the location to Daphne L. Cross, a former manager of Scooter's in Batavia.

The council voted unanimously tonight to support the liquor license request.

We've been unable so far to get in contact with Cross to find out more information about the new restaurant, but when we stopped by the location today, there was a good deal of remodeling taking place.