What's Going on With Kolucan?
Image: Chad Spencer
The last few weeks have not been kind to our local restaurants and the people who love them.
Last week, downtown Sarasota restaurant Lucile announced it was shuttering ahead of a total rebrand. Then Artisan Cheese Company owner Louise Kennedy Converse announced she was closing her Rosemary District shop after 14.5 years in business.
And yesterday, acclaimed downtown Sarasota restaurant Indigenous—whose chef, Steve Phelps, was twice nominated for James Beard Awards—posted that it had closed for good.
Image: Lauren Jackson
Now, we're learning more about what's going on with Kolucan, the high-end Mexican restaurant in Gulf Gate run by Chef Gino Calleja and Jose Rojas that also announced its closure this month.
According to Nick Melone, whose family owns the building Kolucan rented on Gateway Avenue, Kolucan "closed the doors out of the blue" and sold everything to the Melones, who are also the longtime owners of beloved Sarasota mini-chain Il Panificio.
Now, says Melone, the space "is going to new owners who have signed a new lease" and taken over the restaurant's social media accounts.
One of those new owners is Margarito Rosas, the president of Sarasota-based Rosas Cast Stone. He plans to ultimately reopen Kolucan as Garibaldi Seafood Mexican Restaurant Bar & Grill, although for legal reasons the name has to remain the same for now, according to a post on the Kolucan social media accounts. That led to confusion in the community, with commenters wondering whether the old Kolucan was coming back.
On Tuesday afternoon, a flurry of social media posts from Kolucan's new owners and Calleja aimed to set the record straight.
"Yes, we're in the same location, but we're starting a new chapter with new management, a new chef, a new team and a completely new direction," Kolucan's post read. "[The landlord] will be the same landlord, as they are the rightful owners of the property. They had no involvement in the reasons Kolucan shut down in the first place. We will not entertain any further questions regarding the past situation, as it is [former owner Gino Calleja's] business and not ours to share."
In another social media post, Calleja wrote that "Kolucan, as our guests and community have known it, is closed. The business now operating from the former Kolucan location is under separate ownership and is not affiliated with the original Kolucan ownership, myself included."
"Our decision to close came after facing the same economic pressures affecting independent restaurants across the country," the statement continued. "With the continued rise in food, labor and operating costs, we reached a point where continuing would have required us to compromise the quality, experience and value we believed our guests deserved. That was not the direction we wanted for Kolucan."
And in a separate post on Sept. 8, Rojas—who prior to Kolucan was the chef at the now-shuttered Louies Modern in downtown Sarasota—lamented the closure of the restaurant but emphasized that it would allow him to focus on what's next.
"After so many years of giving everything I had, working countless hours, sacrificing time with my family and constantly pushing forward, I think life is telling me that it’s time to stop for a moment. To rest. To breathe. To find balance again," he wrote. "This is not giving up. This is taking a step back so I can eventually take another step forward. I truly believe that everything we experience, especially the difficult moments, has something to teach us. And I choose to see this moment as my master class. A lesson that will push me, inspire me, and prepare me to create something unique again, just as special as what Kolucan was."
Image: Abbi Henigman
Kolucan opened in August 2023. It was known for the chefs' upscale riffs on Mexican flavors, like huachinango a la Veracruz (whole fried snapper) and huitlacoche risotto, made from a rare fungus that feeds on corn that’s known as “corn smut” or a “Mexican truffle.” It's considered a delicacy and, prior to appearing on Kolucan's menu, was hard, if impossible, to find in local restaurant dishes. Rojas and Calleja also offered popular cooking classes focusing on traditional Mexican dishes. Their food was an important part of both our Mexican restaurant scene and our local food community.
We'll keep you posted on what's next for Kolucan, its new ownership, Calleja and Rosas. In the meantime, the past few weeks offer a stark reminder: Support your favorite local restaurants if you can.
