![]() Name was one of the first retail tenants at The Yard, running a juice bar before expanding into an adjoining space and opening a restaurant dedicated to the Mexican cuisine she loved while working in the industry in New York. The property was in need of frequent repair - Kaplan recently reroofed the building and repaired the sign out front that was damaged by storms - so she’s looking forward to being in a new space. The owner of La Mexicana Taco Bar, Diva Name, is sanguine about leaving the building. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel) “But they are so happy when they know that we are not going anywhere.” La Mexicana Taco Bar owner Diva Name acknowledges that her customers are “extremely sad” about changes coming to the The Yard at Wilton Manors. Kaplan acknowledged that option is under discussion.Ĭonversations with customers about the changes coming to The Alchemist are emotional, Cruz admitted. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)Ĭruz is hoping to keep The Alchemist open, even during construction, by temporarily moving the operation to a small house on the southeast corner of the property, augmented by a food truck. The Alchemist Café is beloved for its coffee and a relaxing vibe. With an eye for set design, Cruz is planning to salvage many of the elements that give The Alchemist its signature warmth, especially the sections of old wood that line the walls, to decorate the new restaurant. I grew up in places like this, all broken down. He soon was asking Brill if he wanted a partner. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)Ĭruz fell under its spell six years ago, when he visited while on hiatus from his job as a TV producer for Telemundo. Carlos Cruz, a managing partner at The Alchemist in Wilton Manors, says the beloved restaurant will reopen in a new residential development planned for the site. This reminds me of Switzerland.’ Everywhere there is a corner in here that will remind these people of places they came from. First timers, they come in here and they say, ‘Oh, my god, this is beautiful.’ Maybe they are expecting glass and steel, like Starbucks. The magic is in the imperfections, Cruz said. ![]() ![]() But he does have deep affection for the quirky space the restaurant has occupied for more than a decade, its former life as a brick and paver shop illustrated on the uneven, mismatched floor. ‘It’s magical’Ĭarlos Cruz, a managing partner at The Alchemist, said he and business partner Bruce Brill are planning to make the move to the new building. It’s the same thing she’s ordered since seventh grade. It’s a condo buying what’s a Fort Lauderdale staple, you know?” Berry said, seated in front of a Nutella Slicer, one of The Alchemist’s signature, open-faced sandwiches. Kaitlyn Berry, a 19-year-old college student from Fort Lauderdale, said she discovered The Alchemist on Pinterest and Instagram in middle school and encouraged her mom to take a gang of her friends there. “This is such a special place, warts and all.” “We’ll see, but you’d have to be pretty skeptical,” said Jane Darrow, 24, of Fort Lauderdale, seated outside The Alchemist recently. Kaplan said he has more recently toured the property with project consultants and told them: “When we rebuild, let’s try our best to replicate this as best we can.”įans of The Yard are not convinced it is possible to revive such an organic environment - The Yard literally began as a plant nursery - within the steel-and-glass bubble of a modern residential development.
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