Chavela's

Chef Arturo Leonar was born and raised in Mexico City. He moved to New York as a young man and began working in restaurants – learning the ropes from the ground up. His natural sensibility for food and cooking, something he’d always loved to do, propelled him quickly forward.When he made the decision to open his own restaurant it was a natural return to his own heritage to cook traditional Mexican cuisine – the flavors of his childhood. He revisited Mexico and reconnected with the way of cooking that he remembered growing up. In 2007 Arturo opened the first incarnation of Chavela’s on Classon Avenue, to immediate response from local diners thrilled to find authentic Mexican flavors – and a charming welcome – in the heart of their developing neighborhood. He and his wife Desiree worked all aspects of the small restaurant, which in short order became a mainstay of the area.