Dulce Vida Latin Bistro 309 East 83rd Street 212-535-2424 Established 2011
NOW
Maria Marquez-Hass convinced her entire family to emigrate from Colombia to the United States in 1985. Growing up, Maria had the experience of helping her mother run a women’s clothing store, and eventually went on to obtain a degree in hotel management. From there, her interest in owning a business grew. Maria’s first career in New York was working in a nail salon. She later opened La Marqueza Beauty Spa. Together with her sister, they operated the nail salon for thirty years.
After feeling the lack of authentic Colombian eateries on the Upper East Side, Maria convinced her husband that they should enter the food world. Dulce Vida Café opened in 2011 on Lexington Avenue. During Covid they moved the restaurant to 83rd and changed the name to Dulce Vida Latin Bistro. The restaurant continues to be known for its traditional Colombian dishes including fried empanadas made with cornflour, arepas, ajiaco soup, and the classic bandeja paisa (thin steak, white rice, red beans, egg, fried pork belly, plantains, and avocado).
THEN
Originally part of a pair, this building was built in 1886 for developer M.H. Schneider. The 5-story brick tenements had modest stone lintels, detailed brickwork on the top floor, and a cornice, all still present today. The building was designed by German architect Julius Kastner, a prolific architect at the turn of the century. Kastner was responsible not only for tenement housing, but also light manufacturing buildings, such as an ice plant, hotels, and a two-story annex of Jacob Ruppert’s brewery bottling house nearby in Yorkville. Kastner was also involved in a legal battle with Caroline Kastner, his daughter-in-law. Caroline, nee Boltz, and Arthur J. Kastner – a partner in his father’s firm, eloped in 1900 as his father did not approve of the marriage. Their honeymoon in Germany was cut short when Arthur fell ill and died. Once back in the US, Caroline tried to take control of her late husband’s assets, and her father-in-law denied access to his firm’s accounts. The legal battle went all the way to the Appellate Division of the NY State Supreme Court, where Caroline was given the right to her late husband’s shares. 309 East 83rd Street was altered sometime in the 1930s, when stores were added on the first floor. Some of the storefronts details still remain, including the detailed cornice and columns.
