Sonia Salazar, 36, is the owner of Barracuda, a popular new restaurant and bar at the corner of Park and Chapel. She is from Barranquilla, Colombia, and has been living in different cities across Connecticut since she immigrated to Stamford when she was 18, including several years on Quinnipiac Avenue in New Haven. Now she lives in Milford with her two sons, ages 14 and 16.
What work did you do at first? How did that go?
My first job in this country was at Hyatt Hotel’s salad station and the first day I was there I knew what I was going to do. It was so beautiful to convert vegetables into a beautiful salad. That was it — I knew I was going to be a chef.
Why did you choose to come to New Haven?
I was reading about five-star restaurants and restaurants that had been in the area for more than 25 years. I wanted to work for Zinc, which is one of the best restaurants here in New Haven. But I decided to work for Union League Café…I was in Stamford when I applied for the job and I got the job [when I was 28 years old]. That’s how I came to New Haven. I stayed with them for almost 2 years. I had never worked for a French restaurant before.
I loved it, and I loved the area; I loved being in New Haven. I always wanted to open a restaurant in New Haven. Even when I had the opportunity to go to Norwalk or Stamford or other places, I never felt that comfortable. I knew it was going to be New Haven.
How did you decide to open your own restaurant?
I’ve been working for past 20 years in restaurants and would be in the kitchen for 12 – 14 hours, running kitchens. It’s my thing: I love cooking for people and asking them “How’s everything?” and “Do you taste the little bit of ginger I put in your steak?” or “Did you taste the cilantro that was hiding in the salad?”
I also like to make drinks for people and create new drinks. We have a [drink] menu that has aguardiente [an anise-flavored cane liquor] from Colombia. A lot of our customers have never tried aguardiente and its one of our big sellers now. Showing people who we are as a country and a culture is awesome — I love it.
The Barracuda idea has been in my head for the past 3 years. [It] was more than anything to have a little place where I could hang out with my friends (they, of course, still have to pay) and a place I could feel comfortable cooking and making drinks for people. And yeah, telling people what to do.
I developed my palate here, going through different cuisines: Japanese, Indian, American, French, that gave me a better idea of what Barracuda was. This is something I wanted to do for a long, long time.
How did you get started?
There’s a lot of things you don’t know when you want to open a business. If you or anyone you know wants to open a small business, please come talk to me because I’ve been through all the things you don’t know…One thing I didn’t expect was to be busy immediately. I wasn’t prepared for that. I opened November 28 and I thought we were going to be slow for the first 3 or 4 months until people found out who we were — no. January and February were extremely busy. We didn’t have enough staff, like we had only one bartender. I ended up having to pay way more in overtime.
How many hours a day are you here in the building?
I work 7 days a week and I’m here 14 hours — sometimes 17 hours if somebody calls in sick. I have to come in and cook, or cover service, or cover the dishwasher. It happens.
What’s your most memorable day on the job?
On New Year’s Eve, we had a party and there was a lot of people here, and a lot of people waiting at the door because our capacity is only 70 people. In the middle of the winter (it was cold), people waited outside because they wanted to be part of it. So we went out there and gave people guacamole and chips as a comforting little snack. They were very happy when they were able to come in. They were like hugging us and telling us how awesome this place is and they wanted to spend New Year’s Eve here and that was great.
Tell me about your customers.
The bartenders, cooks, and staff of other restaurants will come here, have a drink, and tell us about their day. Our kitchen closes at 12 and a lot of people from the area come here for the last drink or the last meal, since many of them get out around 10 or 11 pm.
There’s a lot of Colombians that come here. Most of the Colombians that have been coming are half-Colombians, but they still have it in their blood. They’re still asking for empanadas with the picante sauce. they really enjoy coming here. There’s a friend that comes here and is always singing vallenatos [Colombian folk songs form the coast] but I don’t even think he’s been to Colombia, yet he loves his culture. I have a lot of my friends that are from Colombia that are my parents’ friends and neighbors that come here and enjoy it a lot.
Tell me something that happened yesterday at work.
For some reason all our regulars were here all at once so I feel like I spent a good three hours hugging and kissing people. That’s what Colombians do — we hug and kiss, we don’t shake hands.
How has being in the U.S. changed you?
I notice that every time I go to Colombia. I see my cousins and my friends and I look back and say, “Wow, coming to this country has been a huge change” — more than anything emotional. This life is so busy, [I] sometimes forget. But when [I] go back [I] realize that [I] want to be there. But at the same time I appreciate being here, and being part of the community and part of New Haven. Having customers here every day is part of my happiness. This is not the kind of thing you can do in Colombia. It would probably cost a lot of money and you need a lot of help over there to do things. But at the same time I do miss Colombia.
What part of American culture do you most relate to?
That’s hard to say because I think I was Japanese in my last life. I’m very comfortable with Japanese culture. I think the food is very plain and fast and enjoyable and I really love that. We have something on our menu called avocado sashimi. It’s a whole avocado cut in half and it’s filled up with tuna tartare and it’s topped with wasabi and a chili sweet sauce and scallions and a little bit of soy sauce. It’s a big seller. I love the idea of having some sashimi on our menu. The small plates over there, [they’re] very simple, very clean on their food. They know what their customers want.
Even when I miss Colombia a lot, I have friends Puerto Rico, Ecuador and Venezuela and I feel very comfortable even when there’s a little bit of difference in the culture and the food. We are a big family.
How do you feel about your neighborhood in Milford?
It’s quiet; it’s comfortable. My kids love the school there. My girlfriend and I bought this house about 3 years ago. The commute is just 10 minutes, but I hate driving. Sometimes I feel like I should have an apartment on the second floor here. Since I’m here 14 hours a day, why not start paying rent to myself?
Why did you decide to move out of the city?
Sad to say, but the school system. I would’ve stayed in New Haven forever if it weren’t for the school system. The kids needed a better school and that’s the only reason why I’m out of here. But I miss New Haven, I miss not to have a car and walk to places. The bus system is awesome here; there’s a bus stop on every corner here so you really don’t need a car. Being the city that has the best university in the world, it is sad to know the kids aren’t getting the right education. I know there are students in New Haven not getting what they deserve.
What’s your relationship with your employees?
They’re not my staff, they’re my family. We hire people from the area — people that are going to school, or just got out of school and can’t find a job in their field. I tell them I want them to stay with me forever and not look for another job. The people we hired stayed with us from day one. Only two people left. They love the industry even if they have a Master’s in economics.
How many employees do you have?
Eight.
Markeshia Ricks Photo
You guys are not a very big operation here.
No but we’re busy. We just have 10 tables and 14 seats at the bar, but people will stand up to eat cause they want to be here.
Are you glad you came here?
I love New Haven. I think when my kids get out of school I’m going to retire in New Haven. I know people want to be on a sunny island but I think I’ll have a house in New Haven and one more house in some other part of the world. But I love New Haven. This is me. This is where I want to be.
Do you encourage other people to do the same?
I encourage people to open businesses in New Haven and I encourage people to be part of the community. I encourage people to look at that corner that has been empty for the past five years and do it. Do it. There’s a way to do it. There’s a way to help the community to make more money.
For example, this area, Chapel West, I feel like we need to open more around here. You know how Crown and York and Temple have all these restaurants and all these little businesses? I feel like people in New Haven should look at this area more. It’s beautiful, it’s Colonial, it’s historical. New Haven is the place to be for business. If you know what you’re doing you can make it.
The “Open For Business” series on WNHH-FM and in the Independent is made possible in part through support from Frontier Communications.
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