Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Mexican Restaurant Closes on East Side After 23 Years

By Amy Zimmer | February 14, 2011 3:32pm | Updated on February 15, 2011 6:54am
Chilles prensados from Zarela
Chilles prensados from Zarela
View Full Caption
courtesy of Zarela.com

By Amy Zimmer

DNAinfo News Editor

MANHATTAN — The Mexican restaurant Zarela shuttered Sunday night, citing declining sales and rising costs, after 23 years on Second Avenue.

Its chef and owner, Zarela Martinez, had originally decided to get out of the restaurant business entirely, but she said the overwhelming outburst of support from diners these last days has convinced her otherwise.

Martinez is actively looking for a new location somewhere on the East Side between 14th and 22th streets, the cookbook author and PBS cooking show host told DNAinfo.

"I wasn't going to re-open, but the reaction validated me," said Martinez, whose restaurant closing was widely lamented. "There were grown men crying at the bar."

Zarela Martinez closed her restaurant at 953 Second Avenue on Sunday night but vows to reopen somewhere on the East Side between 14th and 22nd streets.
Zarela Martinez closed her restaurant at 953 Second Avenue on Sunday night but vows to reopen somewhere on the East Side between 14th and 22nd streets.
View Full Caption
Flickr/Zarela Martinez

She had thought her food had lost its unique standing in today's culinary scene, which she said has been completely transformed with the proliferation of new Mexican restaurants and the rise of taco trucks.

"People can get a fix of Mexican food by going to a taco truck," Martinez said.

And while taco trucks have gotten a lot of coverage by bloggers — many of whom hadn't been born when Zarela opened, Martinez noted — she said she was largely ignored by blogs.

But her restaurant at 953 Second Avenue did receive a highly coveted Michelin Bibb award, which highlights the city's 95 best restaurants for a meal under $40.

She already has a concept for her next restaurant: "I'm looking for a place with a bigger bar and smaller dining room," she said. "I want it to be more intimate."

She would also like to continue the practice she recently began at Zarela of featuring the food of different Mexican states each week.

"I have a mission, which is to make my culture known and understood," Martinez said.

That mission will no longer likely include free chips and salsa.

"The biggest mistake I made was having free salsa and two large appetizers," Martinez said. "People would get full and not need an entrée."

She saw checks fall by an average of $12 over the last two years, making it difficult for her to afford the $20,000 in rent and $7,000 in taxes each month.

She's not embittered by the closure. "I'm completely at peace," Martinez said. "I needed a change."

Before she opens a new space, Martinez plans to do catering, offer cooking lessons and will likely host another "Food is Art" event next month, where Heritage Farms will donate a whole pig that a group of chefs will use from head to tail as her family did on their ranch in Chihuahua state in northern Mexico.