Long beloved on the Upper West Side, nearly as much for its amiability as  for its fresh and innovative Mexican cuisine, Gabriela’s was well on its way to becoming an institution – when suddenly, unceremoniously, its doors on the corner of Amsterdam and 93rd were closed and its windows soaped.  Furthermore, a second Gabriela’s on lower Amsterdam, had closed nearly a year before.  Signs were posted, promising a new restaurant at a new location – but at the construction site, signs went up, only to be covered over again in plywood.  Months and months passed and it appeared that Gabriela’s would become another one of those fabled Upper West Side memories

Ah, but this month, at long last, the new and improved Gabriela’s has opened on Columbus, between 93rd and 94th – and the difference between this Gabriela’s and the other two is akin to Charlotte Vale returning to Boston after a season-long cruise.  In the years since the original Gabriela’s opened, Manhattan diners have been exposed to a finer, more subtle side of Mexican cuisine, as represented by such restaurants as Sue Torres’ Suenos, and the ever-popular Rocking Horse Cafe, as well as the dueling Rosa Mexicanos’ – and the new Gabriela’s, now called Gabriela’s Restaurante Mexicano, takes its cues from these sisters.  With a smashing architectural design, complete with huge portal and outdoor seating alongside a self-contained tequila bar, and an interior both sleek and comfortable, with curtained alcoves, this Gabriela’s gives the impression of having been on a Santa Fe sojourn, with a stop at Chimayo, and Abiquiu –  and rarely has a city block benefitted so from the opening of a restaurant.

As for the menu, Fernando Aquino has returned with many of his regional signature dishes.  A portobello mushroom, for example, baked in a crock with spinach, corn, tomatoes, and black beans, retains the flavors of all, while marrying them beautifully.  The chips are warm and salty, and the guacamole chunky and rich.  And the salads crisp and brightly-seasoned.  In fact, everything tastes so fresh, so clean and delicious, it feels as if you’re eating at someone’s home: a favorite aunt, a loving grandmother, the uncle who always loved to cook.  And the entire experience reminds you that sometimes you’d don’t realize how much you miss something until, finally, it returns.  Welcome home, Gabriela.