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After 35 years running the Highlawn Pavilion, the elegant restaurant and bar at the pinnacle of Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange, the Knowles family is turning the property over to the Frungillo family, another local dining dynasty, according to company vice president Kurt Knowles Sr.
Knowles said the headaches and expense of trying to keep a restaurant viable during COVID was the impetus for selling the company to Anthony Frungillo and his wife Jennifer of Caldwell.
"What COVID has done to the restaurant industry is tough," he said. The Knowles family will focus on the catering business at its other iconic locations in West Orange, The Manor and adjoining Marriott Residence Inn, and the Pleasantdale Chateau.