Pioneering Inclusive Restaurant Contento to Close

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

Owner and founder Yannick Benjamin, a New Mobility Person of the Year, thanked the restaurant’s loyal customers, and pointed to rising costs and external pressures along with the aftermath of the pandemic as reasons for the closure. “I knew that the first few years were going to be challenging,” he says. “We got every beautiful review, every incredible accolade, everything you could have imagined. You name it, we got it right. I mean, it was an embarrassment of riches, but yet we were not able to keep the lights on anymore.” 

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

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

In addition to critical praise, Contento played host to many key hospitality industry leaders, and Benjamin hopes its impact will live on. “I think that 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 and asking the right questions and taking action, understanding that there is a mosaic of people with disabilities out there.” 

Read our 2022 review of Contento.