Pioneering Inclusive Restaurant Contento to Close

Three and a half years after opening its doors to award-winning reviews and widespread praise for its revolutionary approach to accessibility, New York City restaurant Contento will close its doors on Saturday, December 21.

Owner and founder Yannick Benjamin, New Mobility Person of the Year, thanked the restaurant’s loyal customers and cited rising costs and external pressures along with the fallout from the pandemic as reasons for the closure. “I knew the first few years were going to be challenging,” he says. “We received every beautiful review, every incredible compliment, everything you could have imagined. You name it, we did it right. I mean, it was an embarrassment of riches, but we still couldn’t keep the lights on anymore.”

Benjamin envisioned the restaurant as an example of what was possible in hospitality when inclusivity and accessibility were prioritized as much as food quality and service, and despite opening during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it delivered.

In a typically small New York setting, Benjamin and co-owner George Gallego, both wheelchair users, built a welcoming space for diners and staff of all levels. early New York Times The review praised Contento for setting “an example for an industry that rarely welcomes people with disabilities” and both Condé Nast and the Michelin Guide highlighted Contento for its unique combination of quality cuisine, hospitality and accessibility.

In addition to critical acclaim, Contento hosted many key hospitality industry leaders and Benjamin hopes its impact lasts. “I think people started to understand that, oh, wait, we don’t need X amount of money to practice social accessibility,” he says. “It’s just a matter of discipline and going out there, asking the right questions and taking action, understanding that there is a mosaic of people with disabilities.”

Read our 2022 Contento review.