Chelsea and the New York food community lost a treasured resource this past weekend when Bright Food Shop and its sister business, Kitchen Market, closed its doors.
When I wrote New York Eats (More) I was delighted to discover Kitchen Market, a first rate San Francisco Mission -style burrito bar owned by Stuart Tarabour and his wife Dona Abraham. Their burrito fillings were always loaded with flavor and tempered by a surprising finesse. Stewart and Dona had tremendous reverence for Mexican cooking techniques and ingredients. A desire to have constant access to those ingredients inspired them to start carrrying loads of Mexican foodstuffs, everything from fresh and ground chilies to Mexican chocolate. Kitchen Market ended up picking up the slack left when the legendary and beloved Casa Moneo Latino and Mexican food market closed its doors.
Stuart and Dona had a passion for the food they made and sold, as I discovered every time I called them about a story I was working on.
In 1997, I wrote the following about Kitchen Food Shop in New York Eats (More):
"Walking into their little Chelsea storefront and listening to them talk about their latest find is like wandering into a college lecture hall and discovering the hippest, most unpretentious professors of Mexican food culture."
With Kitchen Market and Bright Food Shop gone the city has lost an invaluable source for Mexican foodstuffs, a great burrito joint, and a cherished Chelsea community hub.
Dona called me on Sunday night and thanked me for all that I had written about her food. It was my pleasure, I told her that she deserved all the plaudits, that she made the food, all I did was eat it and talk about it, something I love to do.
Stuart then e-mailed me this:
THIS IS THE NOTE WE POSTED AFTER OUR LAST MEAL SERVED AT BRIGHT FOOD SHOP- LAST NIGHT- THANKS for ALL your support over the years – Stuart & Dona
How do we begin- 22 years in the same place- a life time to some and what seems like MANY lifetimes to us.
We opened KITCHEN in 1985 to bring the best tasting & healthy burritos to Chelsea then added groceries, mail-order, a website and wholesale services and became KITCHEN/MARKET. We RE-opened the BRIGHT FOOD SHOP (a classic coffee shop that dates back to (at least) the late 1930’s) in 1990 with one of the first fusion menus in the country, The BRIGHT FOOD SHOP is one the oldest restaurants in New York City! We’re saving the neon so the BRIGHT may return to another great corner.
It was always about the food- first w/Hal Kennedy at the stoves and then w/Dona leading many talented cooks & bakers. Early on we weren’t always careful about food and labor costs because the food, not the bottom line was our focus. Low rents allowed us to continue, and with great food and (always striving for) service, our businesses and reputations grew. When we renewed our leases in 1999, we gambled that we could increase business enough to make “the numbers” work. We added a bar to Bright (with the original 1907 tin ceiling) and extra seats, but never met all our sales goals. What we did do, was to continue with creative foods that kept the emphasis on locally grown, sustainable and organic products.
We tried hard in a very difficult industry and thank our many regulars who kept us going all these years. We’re VERY proud to say that 1 of our great staff members have been w/us for 20 years, 3 for over 15 years and another 6 from 3-6 years, and it’s always been our policy to pay a true living wage.
It’s with a great sense of loss that we say goodbye to so many loyal customers, friends and neighbors. OUR sincerest THANKS for sharing so MANY meals with us.
Dona and Stuart & the dedicated staff of BRIGHT FOOD SHOP & KITCHEN/MARKET
KEEP IN TOUCH– MAIL@KITCHENMARKET.COM
PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESSES- IF YOU’RE NOT HAPPY WITH SOMETHING THEY DO, DON’T GIVE UP, MAKE SUGGESTIONS.
some perks to owning a restaurant and food market:
1. haven’t bought an umbrella in 17 years
2. haven’t bought a scarf in 17 years
3. haven’t bought gloves in 17 years
4. haven’t bought a hat in 17 years
4. haven’t bought a roll of toilet paper in 17 years (we changed our bathroom TP rolls when they were down to a 1/3rd so our patrons didn’t have to) - we did have 3 times as many grey paper tubes to deal with- but Dona uses them in her garden
5. can sort through pounds and pounds of pistachios (w/gloves) and find easy ones to shell
6. can treat your friends and families and donate stuff
7. rarely go to the supermarket or corner grocer, just went to the basement and looked for goodies!
Goodbye Kitchen Market and Bright Food Shop. The city's foodscape won't be the same without Dona and Stuart, two generously spirited free spirits who poured everything they had into their food.
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