This excerpt was originally published in Pre Shift, our newsletter for the hospitality industry. Subscribe for more first-person accounts, advice, and interviews.
Now Open is a yearlong series celebrating some of 2026’s most exciting new restaurants. Throughout
the year, we’ll check in with teams in Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C., to hear what it’s really like behind the scenes of a buzzy opening. Then, we’ll host exclusive meals at these restaurants as part of Dinner Party, presented by Capital One. Read along for challenges, candid reflections, and advice from the proprietors behind some of the country’s hottest new openings.
Giovanni Cervantes and Tania Apolinar spent the last five years slinging tacos at breakneck pace to keep up with the lines at Taqueria Ramírez and Carnitas Ramírez and rowdy World Cup crowds at Socceria. Now the duo is slowing things down a bit for their first full-service restaurant El Camarón Peludo, a playful wine and seafood spot in the West Village where guests linger over mariscos.
At the tiny, walk-in-only restaurant, the menu fuses Mexican seafood dishes with Spanish influences and excellent wine from around the world. For the project, Cervantes and Apolinar teamed up with chef Carlos Barrera, a Mexico City-born chef who has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain and hosted dozens of popular pop-ups around NYC. When I sat down with Cervantes and Apolinar, I planned to pick their brains about how and why they manage four wildly popular (and very different) New York City restaurants. Then I learned how much El Camarón Peludo was the result of fate: If it weren’t for space constraints, a tapas-fueled trip, and a social media superfan, the duo may have had an entirely different restaurant on their hands.
Pre Shift: Where did the idea for El Camarón Peludo come from?
Tania Apolinar: When we were looking at [the space], we considered making it a taqueria, but because of the [long shape of the restaurant], it wouldn’t have worked for that concept. We knew we wanted to do something different, focused on seafood and wine.
Giovanni Cervantes: I was in conversation with Carlos about this idea to serve mariscos in New York when we saw the space. We didn’t know [at the time], but we were setting up the basis of the menu because we were talking about what we like and what we miss a lot [from Mexico]. We also talked about [our past trips] to Europe. We were really interested in how to match [the style of European tapas and wine bars] with what we do, which is the Mexican approach.
How did you connect with Barrera for the project?
Cervantes: Carlos was one of the first clients that we ever had in Taqueria Ramírez. We met basically through that and through Instagram. He was always commenting a lot…
Apolinar: And giving us the flame.
Cervantes: Exactly. Sending the flame emoji. Then soon enough, we find out that we were neighbors because he lives in Greenpoint, so we started seeing each other more often.
Apolinar: Then we did a pop-up with him serving his famous Trompo Negro, which is like al pastor with [a smoky black spice paste that is widely used in Yucatán and surrounding regions], and that was the first time we actually connected in a working setup. We’re really aligned and happy with the partnership.
Can you tell me about how you balance Mexican and Spanish influences on the menu?
Cervantes: When we found the space, we knew it was the perfect setup to try something different. Then we made a trip to Europe and a trip to Mexico. After we came back from Europe, I think I was feeling very “Europeanized.” I remember having a conversation with Tanya and Carlos about making it even more Spanish, and both of them were like, “What?” And I’m glad they [pushed back], because we definitely found the right balance.
Apolinar: We’re talking about Mexican and Spanish, but in the end, it’s about the seafood and the freshness, the product that we really want to stand out. That’s why [we serve a] very simple gambas a la plancha, and the carpaccio has that approach as well, but then other more Mexican classics [like tostadas topped with tuna or aguachile] have more sauces and all of that.
Cervantes: And it’s not just the food. The influence that we took from different parts of Europe is the setup, the vibe, the size of the plates, the type of space. We want the space to feel cozy and friendly.
How is the service different from your other spots?
Cervantes: At Taqueria Ramírez and Carnitas Ramírez, it’s all about efficiency. Making it right, as fast as you can, and getting people in and out of the place. It’s nonstop volume. The consistency is awesome over there, and that’s [how we] measure that we’re making it right. Here it’s different. It’s more about the experience of the space and the music and the wine. [Our staff are] with these people for an hour or two, so you try to make it personal in a way. It feels different when you have that much time to see how people are enjoying the experience and transporting people to that world through what we’re doing. That’s comforting to me.
Now that you have four different restaurants around the city, how do you balance your time between them?
Cervantes: For Taqueria Ramírez, the very first one, we can sleep very well because almost everybody on the staff has been there since we opened. I’m just mentioning that because it’s all about building the right team because you can only be in one place at a time. Then at Carnitas, our partners [Yvon de Tassigny and Kari Boden] are really great and the plan was for them to be the day to day operators from the beginning. So right now we’re between El Cameron Peludo and Socceria because they’re the new babies and there’s a lot of work to do there.
Tania: It’s tiring, but at the end of the day, I’ve been enjoying it a lot. It’s nonstop but it feels rewarding to see the point of view of customers and make people feel happy and connect to them.
