Mexican Eatery Replacing Park Slope's Talde Opens Friday

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — When the new Oaxacan eatery Casa Azul officially opens its doors Friday on Seventh Avenue, it won't just be the realization of one restaurant owner's dream — but of an entire family.

Five members of a Mexican family with deep ties to the neighborhood and the restaurant industry will take over the 369 Seventh Avenue space, which has been empty since celebrity chef Dale Talde closed down his restaurant there earlier this year.

The family — a mother and father, daughter, son-in-law and two uncles — said they had long thought of coming together to open a restaurant when the prime location opened up.

"We were searching for a spot...when my uncle, who has a store (across the street) saw the for rent sign," Lourdes Leon, the daughter, said. "It was one of those opportunities that just happens and we couldn't let it go. It was the perfect spot."

Casa Azul had its first soft opening on Tuesday night and will officially open on Friday.

Leon and the rest of her family have each been working in the restaurant industry in one way or another for the last 20 years, she said.

Her mother, Rufina Lopez, had been in charge of the prep station at Alma on Columbia Street since they opened 17 years ago. Leon and her husband, Eduardo Tercero, also worked at that spot as general manager, busser or bartender over the years, Leon said.

Her uncles, Roberto Lopez and Emilio Sanchez, own various gift shops in the neighborhood, including on 11th Street and the shop across the street from the Talde space.

Roberto had also teamed up with Rufina to open another Seventh Avenue spot, Chiles and Chocolate, but had to close when the rent became to expensive.

Leon said in running these different businesses, the family, who are from the Mexican city of Oaxaca, realized that their was a need for traditional Oaxacan food. Shoppers have long taken an interest in the Oaxacan items in her uncle's stores either because they are from there or had traveled to the city, Leon said.

"A lot of the people...said we would love to have a Oaxacan restaurant — people are dying for it right now," Leon said. "That's where the idea started."

The new restaurant will pay homage to their authentic Oaxacan roots with some modern twists, Leon said.

The start-up menu ready for the grand opening on Friday will include some traditional dishes like the Oaxacan staple tlayuda, or a 12-inch handmade tortilla filled with black beans, tomatoes, avocados, cabbage and a choice of meat.

"You cannot leave Oaxaca without tasing one of those," Leon said.

The menu will also feature some of the Oaxaca's seven famous mole sauces and the traditional fried grasshoppers.

Leon said the family has finished with the minor renovations it needed to make to the former Talde space.

The realization that they will be taking over such a popular spot has started to sink in, she said, along with the nerves of the "big shoes to fill." But, either way, she said, the family is beyond excited to realize its lifelong dream and start showing Park Slope what it has to offer.

"We're in tears every day just because...we're super happy this is happening and this is reality now," she said. "We just want to give the best of our food and our best service and I really hope Park Slope takes us with open arms."