Bruce Coppa has left his five-year position as chief operating officer at Communications-Pacific Inc.

In addition to his announcement to colleagues at a Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii meeting yesterday, his departure was noted in an e-mail.

"Bruce Coppa will no longer be employed by Communications-Pacific," the e-mail said, indicating he would pursue interests in construction, real estate and development.

CommPac Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer Kitty Lagareta was in a meeting but released a brief statement expressing appreciation for "all that Bruce has done" for the company, "fully support(ing) his decision" and wishing him the best.

Coppa enjoyed overseeing business development and operations at CommPac and said it was hard to leave, "but I’ve decided now is the time to go after my entrepreneurial interests, especially in development, real estate, construction and business consulting." He was the longtime managing director of the Pacific Resource Partnership, an organization that links large local contractors and the Hawaii Carpenters Union. His first order of business? "I am taking two weeks off."

CASTAGNOLA’S REBORN

The famed Castagnola’s name will be emblazoned once again atop an Italian restaurant in Honolulu as George "Cass" Castagnola and sons George Jr. and John reunite.

Castagnola’s Pizzeria will have a soft opening, possibly July 19, in the Waterfront Plaza space that was most recently Pasta et Basta. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

"Pops is going to be the executive chef. … There are certain things he does differently than everybody else," said George Jr. "If you’re going to use my reputation," things have to be done right, the elder Castagnola admonished him.

"Cass" Castagnola established a successful restaurant in Manoa in the 1980s (which later moved to Waikiki) and inspired more than a dozen other eateries, mostly opened by his former employees.

Of those, Paesano has two locations, Verbano has three and Assaggio has six, as well as a Japanese sister-restaurant.

Assaggio owner Thomas Ky has contributed "$12,000 toward the restaurant equipment," George Jr. said.

In addition to pizza, "we’ll be making our own bread, sausage, meatballs, marinara sauce, basically the same recipes from the original Castagnola’s," he said. The most expensive items will be the calamari or shrimp scampi at $10.90. Unlike pizza and bread dough, prices will not rise at dinner.

Castagnola’s will have a game room like predecessor Pizza Bob’s had; its food will be available at Bambu Bar, as was true with other operators of the space; and all but one of its wines will be imported and will be offered by glass or bottle — Dom Perignon will sell for $150 a bottle.

Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Advertiser. Reach her by e-mail at erika@staradvertiser.com.