Restaurant Number Four, Ajijic’s fine-dining and entertainment venue, will close its doors for good on September 2.
Until that date the restaurant will be open Friday to Tuesday, with live music on Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays and Tuesdays. Meanwhile, new chefs Randal Harrison and Liliana Ojeda Martinez will be cooking up Number Four’s renowned top-notch food.
The team of Toronto natives that put Number Four on the map at Lakeside – chanteuse Kim Everest and chefs Glenroy Anderson and Greg Couillard – will be returning to their home city to open a traditional Mexican cuisine hot-spot called Cuatro. They plan to serve many of the innovative fusion dishes that were so popular in Ajijic.
Everest says they are taking Mexican chef Liliana Ojeda, chief bartender Danny Garcia and floor manager and kitchen prep whiz Julio Ramirez to Canada with them to “add authenticity” and “maintain the thread of magic” they created at Number Four.
Staying behind will be Miguel Maropakis, originally from Athens, Greece, who came down with the others from Toronto in 2008 to set up the restaurant and work as the bar manager.
Says Everest: “He loves it here and wants to stay, so he’s actively seeking a partner to open a sports bar. He had several in Toronto that were super successful. We’re really going to miss him.”
Everest’s message for her loyal clientele is” “We’re working hard to bring a great new restaurant from Guadalajara” to take over the location. (She can’t say which one as she is still in negotiations with several at this time.)
“We have such a fabulous client base. We have so many locals and weekend friends from Guadalajara, I feel it would leave a huge hole in the village to just close and walk away,” she says.
“The good news is, interested potential operators want me to stay involved in some capacity to help them maintain the atmosphere and the ambiance that has given Number Four such a great reputation. I have so many wonderful friends here, a piece of my heart will always remain in Ajijic.”
If anyone local is interested in talking with Everest about the restaurant location, she says now is the time.
Hang on to discover what happens next behind those big, brown doors at Donata Guerra 4.