Usually, when a restaurant hits on a winning formula, it’s time to double down. But for Mateada owner Did Karr, it was the opposite, a time to shut down. In September, after a successful season pairing South American cuisine with a music lounge based around yerba mate beverages, he pulled the plug on the restaurant and regular event bookings. He had a proven concept that could be replicated elsewhere, which was his original plan. However, despite some notions to the contrary, the story of Mateada in Ganges seems far from over.
Talking to Did last Friday, it was good to be back inside the venue. Even empty, Mateada feels warmly exotic, like being transported someplace far away you’ve always wanted to go but didn’t know how to find. The ambiance and intimate space along with great sound made it a special place to see some of the 350 performances booked by artistic director Tommy van Deursen over the past few years. Musicians enjoyed playing there, including being put up in the suite Did owns that is 15 feet from the venue, and the dance floor was often filled with locals.
Mateada became a fourite local hotspot | Photo: courtesy of Mateada
The closing announcement in September came a week before the popular Convergence festival dreamed up by Tommy and held in the parking lot outside Mateada the past three years, and it caught a lot of people by surprise. There has also subsequently been some confusion about the venue’s future—for example, the Mateada website’s music page notes it is “pairing down” its offerings, while the page for Convergence refers to “sadly the end of Mateada”—so I reached out to Did seeking clarity.
Did tells me he is relieved to no longer he the restraint of running a restaurant that had become “all-consuming.” Instead of being open full-time, Mateada is open now for one-off events, including nine in December, and will be a space a live production studio for emerging artists. ”It’s a new era for me,” Did says. “I’m trying to slow some things down. I’ve had so much going on for almost 30 years.”
Did opened Mateada Lounge in November 2018 to be a “brand temple” for Guayakí, the yerba mate company he co-founded in 1996 as a student project during his university days in his native California. The distinctive yellow cans featuring caffeinated beverages made from air-dried lees of yerba mate trees grown in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay are ubiquitous among local teens, and the brand continue to grow in popularity, especially along the West Coast. Did, who is still on the Guayakí board, handled the marketing of the organic, fair trade products for 25 years and had a vision to create venues based around serving the whole gamut of mate drinks—from hot to chilled to yerbatails (cocktails featuring mate). He wanted it to be much more than a local bar or restaurant.
“This was, and is, a concept lounge,” Did explains. “The idea is a brand temple, where people could come in and he an experience here. Our brand is about friendship and connection and sharing and energy and liveliness and that’s what you experience in a Mateada. You come here for the experience, to connect, and he some kind of new drink you’ve never had before.”
The idea was also for it to be “a regenerative culture hub curated for the arts and media,” and Did always wanted to just do the first one. To replicate it elsewhere, he realized he needed to ‘“concept the food” that would be part of it. However, he never wanted to be in the restaurant business, and thus didn’t design Mateada with a big-enough kitchen for a full restaurant.
“I didn't build this out to run as a restaurant. I did it because I had to do it,” he says.
From 2018 up until the pandemic, the menu was “food hey” while the 2.0 version after a post-pandemic restart through last year was “food light” with items such as samosas and spring rolls. After a special night of choripan, a traditional Argentinian grilled chorizo sandwich, Did realized that South American cuisine was perfect for a mateada. He hired renowned chef consultant Haan Palcu-Chang to develop a full South American menu, with items such as moqueca, empanadas and of courses choripán. The 3.0 version was a charm, as the menu proved financially viable. And then it was time to get out.
“if you're doing a restaurant, it's a wonderful, noble thing to do in itself, just that. But when you're trying to do that and a music lounge and create content media, it's too much to do it,” Did explains. “I needed to refine the food concept, to know what it is. And now I feel like I've done that.”
A big part of the timing to shut down the restaurant is that a former Guayakí long-time employee is aiming to open a Mateada in Austin, Texas next summer. Did says he will partner with him on some level. “Ultimately, it needs to be his passion, his creativity and a representation of him. I’m more like the DNA,” he says. “I’ll give him everything I’ve ever done, like ‘here’s what’s worked, go for it, he fun.’”
He sees Austin as an ideal fit for the concept. The Mateada in Ganges hasn’t been everybody’s cup of mate, as some locals consider it too urban hip for the island vibe. Did, who has been a SSI resident since 2004, is very familiar with that critique.
Did Karr, co-founder of Guayakí yerba mate company, started the Mateada Lounge in 2018 as a "brand temple." | Photo: Did Minkow
“I’ve heard that, felt that, and what can I do? I wasn’t only creating this place for Ganges. I created it here so it’s close to me, so that I could develop and refine what a Mateada concept would be for a larger dense urban market like Austin, where instead there’s 5 million people within a half hour, rather than 15,000 people,” he explains. “So I really wanted to work on the look and the feel and how the systems are going to work, and the concept. This place doesn't he to be for everyone. There’s a growing number of people who like what this place is about and they come down and it sort of fits who they are and that’s great.”
With the weight of a well-seasoned cast iron pot lifted off his shoulder, Did feels free to focus on his passion to curate arts and media. “It wasn't hard to let it go because I never really wanted to run a restaurant,” Did says. “You he to be passionate about running a restaurant to run a restaurant. And I was more into running a music lounge.”
Music at Mateada was never a money-maker, explains Did, who says he has always invested in the arts. He plans to do fewer events than before, with a more hands-off arrangement than when there were regular Thursday through Saturday weekly bookings. The new setup has people putting on the event n charge of the sound, the door, and ticket sales, while Did will hire a team to handle drinks and limited food as well as setup and breakdown. “Then, I’m just a venue,” he says.
As artistic director, Tommy van Deursen booked more than 350 shows at Mateada. He also dreamed up and produced the Convergence festival. | Photo: courtesy of Mateada
For at least the short term, Mateada will continue to be ailable as a rental. In addition, Did plans to work with Tommy in the beginning of the year on supporting emerging artists with content creation, such as a toolkit featuring still photos, three songs “live off the floor,” and musician profiles conducted by Did holding a traditional mate gourds as a faux handheld microphone. He also plans to help Tommy produce a Tommy Van solo music project.
Regarding longer-term plans, Did says his focus right now is taking a break until he comes out with the next thing he’s gonna do. As for the future of the Convergence festival, Did says it’s unknown at this point. He had planned to host this year’s Convergence at his Stowel Lake Farm, but when he decided to wind down the current incarnation of Mateada, he thought it would be good to bring the energy back to the venue for a final hurrah. He hasn’t spoken yet with Tommy about it, but thinks the energy is there to keep the festival going. He says this year was his fourite Convergence yet, a sentiment I agree with.
The events happening at the Mateada in December include: Improv night on Dec 5; Jacquest! and Rising Tide on Dec 6; Sacred Saucy (Safiya Labelle, Kaya Ko & Sun Rose) on Dec 7; Wine and Dine night featuring local food and Vivezza wines on Dec 11; Daryl Chonka on Dec 12 and 13; DJ Boomtown on Dec 14; Small Town Artillery on December 19; and DJ Chuckleberry Jam and DJ Boomtown on Dec 20.