When tourists visit a place like St. Augustine, restaurant owner Norberto Jaramillo has found that they rarely want to eat in the hotel restaurant.
That is why he is moving La Cocina International Restaurant from Castillo Real Resort Hotel at 530 A1A Beach Blvd. in St. Augustine Beach to lease the space at the top of the San Sebastian Winery at 157 King St. in historic Downtown St. Augustine.
La Cocina International Restaurant closed June 23.
The new restaurant is called La Cocina in the Cellar Upstairs and will have a similar upscale dinner menu.
His staff from La Cocina International Restaurant will join the team at the winery. He expects to have 23 employees.
“We don’t really didn’t do any tourism. It’s all our locals and for us to grow we need to do a mixture of locals and tourism,” Jaramillo said
He estimated that nearly 95% of his customers were area residents.
“We are hoping that they follow us and dine with us at the new location.”
Jaramillo operates three St. Augustine-based restaurants. Besides La Cocina in the Cellar Upstairs, which will offer a Latin-inspired fine dining experience, he has the more casual De Leon Latin Cocina at 1111 N. Ponce de Leon Blvd. and La Cocina Bistro and Catering at 9 S. Dixie Highway.
The winery location will seat 170 and have outdoor, third-floor seating as well.
It will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, offering a more casual lunch experience followed by dinner service. There will also be a bar menu of lighter items for customers stopping in for wine and a snack.
San Sebastian wines will be served by the glass. There will be a by-the-bottle list of wines from around the world, he said.
Jaramillo, 42, operated La Cocina International Restaurant for 19 years. Born in Colombia, he immigrated to the United States with his three brothers when he was 16. They settled in Morristown, New Jersey.
When word got out that he was closing La Cocina International, he received inquiries from other hotels, Jaramillo said. But he didn’t expect a change of hotel venues to alter the demographic.
The new location will provide a stronger customer mix, he said.
Winery tours will provide a ready-made customer base; he won’t have to count on the restaurant alone to bring in people. There are tours every 30 minutes and he expects customers either before or after the tour.
The winery’s large parking lot is another advantage.
The winery restaurant is undergoing a small makeover but nothing drastic, Jaramillo said. The kitchen is equipped. The remodeling will make the front of the house more efficient for the larger staff.
Calls for comment from San Sebastian ownership were not returned.
