The lunchtime crunch has passed at Criollisimo Restaurant. In the kitchen of the popular New Britain Puerto Rican eatery, Maria Munoz is cooking up some banana fritters for owner Brenda Torres, her daughter.
The fritters aren’t on the menu, but it’s a delicacy Torres has enjoyed since she was a child in Puerto Rico. So, call it owner’s privilege. Munoz, 72, doesn’t work for her daughter, but likes to stop in regularly and give her youngest of three children a home cooked treat.
Torres, 46, considers it a blessing — she gets to see her mom and still sample her eats.
“It’s the best thing to happen in my life,’’ said Torres, her Spanish accent a reminder of her youth in Ponce, P.R. “Everybody wants mom next to her. To see her here almost every day, and she stays with me for two hours, it makes me happy. I don’t always have the time to see her because I work 12 to 13 hours a day.’’
Family is a staple of Criollisimo, which loosely means “it’s authentic” in Spanish. Torres’ ethnically diverse customers say they are treated like family. Running restaurants is indeed the family business.
Torres’ deceased father Jaime was a restaurateur for 25 years. Mom cooked. Brother Rigo is a chef in Puerto Rico, and Jaime Jr. does some cooking and prep work at Criollisimo.
Torres, a short dark-haired woman with an infectious smile, started the business 22 years ago at 24. Her age was deceptive because, when it came to restaurants. Torres was actually quite seasoned. She started in the business at 17, first as a waitress at her dad’s restaurant, El Restaurante de Todos (A Restaurant for Everyone), in Juandiaz, P.R.
After moving to New Britain in 1988, Torres worked as a manager at Cervantes Restaurant on Arch Street. At that the time, the Latino population — now the fasted growing demographic in the state — was beginning to bloom, particular on Arch Street. Torres eyed a vacant brick building down the road; store front space was on the lower level, apartments atop.
With $40,000 she and the family had saved, and some financial assistance from the city and state, a restaurant was started.
“I saw a lot of potential,” Torres said. “There were more Puerto Rican people in the street working, so it was easy to open a place at that time. I was very ambitious when I was a kid. When you work for (yourself,) you care more about what you do.”
Over the years the business evolved. It once had a bar and Latin Jazz nights. It even stayed open to 3 a.m. on the weekends, catering to late night revelers who wanted a bite to eat before sleeping it off. Today, Criollisimo is widely regarded as one the best places in the region to get authentic Puerto Rican food — beans and rice, pulled pork, baked chicken, fried plantains and the scrumptious empanadillas (beef or chicken patties.) If you are feeling particularly daring, there is also pig’s feet and cow foot soup.
“You can look around and see people from different occupations,’’ said Jeffrey Farmer, 28, who stopped in for lunch with his friend Jason Sheppard, 30. “It’s almost like a gathering and we share the same thing in common. The love of good food.’’
The key to Criollisimo’s longevity has been its quality food (cooked fresh daily, no leftovers); a budget-friendly $7.50 cost for a lunch; and a service-with-a-smile mentality among her six part-time staffers. Torres is a visible, hands-on manager and has a personal connection with most of her customers.
Turning a profit, particularly in a bad economy, is a major challenge. Torres says she is vigilant about buying in bulk twice a week to help keep expenses under control. The ultimate comparison shopper, she peruses such places as Restaurant Depot, Sam’s Club, C-Town and Goya. The restaurant’s catering business is another source of revenue.
Meanwhile, the business utility costs have increase about 20 percent in recent years.
“That’s why a lot of people don’t survive (in the restaurant business,)” Torres said. “The overhead is too much. They can’t make a profit.”
One regret Torres has is her involvement in real estate investing, mostly multi-families. It generated money for a while and helped to offset costs. But she has been hit hard with this economic slump and is liquidating her assets.
Real estate investing became a distraction, she said. She wants to focus solely now on her restaurant and is looking to possibly expand into Bristol, with its burgeoning Latino market.
Her cooks’ daily routine includes making 75 pounds of rice, 80 pounds of pork, up to 60 pounds of chicken and 60 pounds of ribs.
If there are leftovers at the end of the day, they are delivered to a local shelter.
Making just enough food to last a 10-hour day is not an exact science. Every day, is a new adventure because of the unpredictability of a lunchtime crunch from unexpected customers.
Dr. Carlos Barba, a surgeon at New Britain Hospital, is a regular. He is a native of Panama and one of his favorite dishes is a plate of beans and rice; pork and plantains. The restaurant makes its own sofrito, a Spanish seasoning that mixes two types of peppers, onion and garlic.
“It’s very tasty,’’ said Barba of his meal. “I’m Hispanic, so this is the type of food that I like to eat at home. It’s very well done. The service, Brenda and all the people who work here, are very nice. Every time that I have some catering at home, they do a phenomenal job.”
Sheppard favors the yellow rice, pulled pork and two empanadillas.
“I think Brenda has done a real good job building (the business) up, taking care of it and just being real friendly and remembering people when they come in,’’ Sheppard said. “ It makes them feel at home when they come here.’’
Inside the cozy 40-seat Arch Street establishment, workers are at the ready behind a windowed counter.
The walls are adorned with plaques, pictures of sports and political figures and sports memorabilia. Images of baseball stars Roberto Clemente, Tino Martinez, and Derek Jeter are given prominent display. Satin red, white and blue boxing trunks are framed and signed by Puerto Rican boxing legends Felix Trinidad, Wilfredo Gomez and Wilfredo Benitez. There are pictures of former Vice President Al Gore. In the early 1990s, Gore stopped by Criollisimo on his way to New Britain High, where he mentioned Torres in a talk about entrepreneurship. Former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno also shares wall space as a former VIP customer.
Torres says what keeps her encouraged are the comments she receives from strangers about her food.
“When you go everywhere and everybody knows you for your food, that’s great,’’ said Torres, who has been married for two years to her partner Aleja Rosario. “It’s like a good doctor. It’s a gift that God gives me.’’
Stan Simpson is host of “The Stan Simpson Show’’ (www.ctnow.com/stan and Saturdays, 6:30 a.m., on FoxCT) and senior executive adviser at the Hartford Journalism & Media Academy. His ‘Faces of business’ column appears monthly.
