Marble Dessert Bar
The power couple + all-star pastry-chefs that keep things sweet and seasonal -- while navigating the pandemic's uncertainty with a New York City police officer.
Mauro Pompili and Manunya Sittisuntorn (Maya) are the Chefs and Owners of Marble Dessert Bar.
THE RESILIENCE SERIES | 3 FEB 2021
By: Daniella Decker
Illustration by Angelica Reisch
Many small businesses made adjustments to the way they conduct their businesses — or have shifted their approaches entirely. In the face of a truly catastrophic financial environment, small businesses have used their creativity to spur them forward as entrepreneurs and adapt to a business environment no one could have predicted.
Entrepreneurs and small business owners have done these things under the stress of laying off employees, shutting down brick and mortar shops, or giving up on their dream entirely. For a small dessert bar nestled in the West Village, their doors remain open, despite the evolving uncertainty and volatility of mandated regulations.
Mauro and Maya met in the West Village in 2015 on a quaint corner on Bedford Street.
The two food entrepreneurs' paths crossed for the first time when they both were tasked to expand ChikaLicious, a popular dessert bar that can be found in large cities across the globe.
When they first met, they were headed in different directions – and to opposite corners of the globe. They would not see each other again for another several years, but fate brought the international duo together again back in New York City during the summer of 2018.
Mauro and Maya dreamed of starting their own small business together – and in the exact spot where they first met over five years ago. Their flagship, dessert-focused restaurant, Marble Dessert Bar, opened its doors only six months before governments began to mandate social distancing and to only travel outdoors for essential activity.
Now, the sweet power couple has been struggling to keep their doors open as restaurant regulations continue to fluctuate.
Marble literally gives guests a front row seat at the familiar marble table to witness the ins and outs of dessert artistry and creation. The restaurant’s small team goes a step further to create a tasting experience as well as an optional wine pairing. Each week, Maya and Mauro source seasonal ingredients from the Union Square Greenmarket to incorporate into their sweet dishes.
But now, the couple struggles to find ways to connect with their customers in an alternative dining format.
“We love our frequent in person customer relationships, they have helped keep our business and dream alive. When you dine at Marble, it’s not just a transaction, it is a relationship. We truly enjoy meeting our guests and bringing people together through food. It’s been difficult to offer the same experience with this evolving dining environment,” said Chef Mauro.
Like most restaurant owners in New York, the unpredictability of the future of indoor and outdoor dining has exhausted the Marble team, both emotionally and financially.
“The most difficult and challenging element of this last year has been the uncertainty, not only financially, but also the availability of what we can offer and when,” explained Chef Maya.
“The inconsistent and very short notice change in regulations affect our client’s behavior. Sometimes we have to change a dessert concept and then close out and clean everything to make sure the store is up to new COVID-19 regulations. All the while, we are working as owner-operators -- trying to calculate, reinvent, launch and reopen. This all has to be done simultaneously with a small staff within a very short amount of time.”
The Marble staff is made up of three employees in addition to Chef Mauro and Chef Maya. Like many individuals working in the restaurant industry, Marble also risks unexpected days off due to weather conditions, or another temporary mandated closure. The inconsistent workforce, unpredictable regulations and financial instability offers little consistency for small business owners or restaurateurs.
“The true small businesses have difficulty receiving help from the government. Many small businesses do not qualify for grants and loans including the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) because of certain eligibility requirements. For example, Marble has not been open for more than two years, therefore, we cannot apply to receive dozens of grants or loans,” said Mauro.
For small businesses like Marble, it is hard to keep the lights on without the proper financial support and anticipated income. Restaurants that are still soldiering on have been forced to pivot and reinvent. While it is not certain when restaurants will fully reopen, New York restaurants that are open continue to operate with great difficulty and uncertainty.
“We do not have backup from financial institutions, or investors. Resources are limited because we are solely dedicated to daily operation and creating new dishes, which leaves no time to truly work on the back end of the business. We have to focus completely on staying alive, while struggling to keep staff. For an employee working in a restaurant in New York City, it just makes more sense to stay home and receive unemployment,” explained Chef Maya.
After nearly a year of pivoting, building outdoor dining structures, surviving the New York winter, and trying to keep Marble staff safe, Mauro and Maya say running the restaurant feels about the same as it did in during the early days of the pandemic, except with colder winters and more of the unexpected.
At Marble, every day is different.
“We spent a lot of money to build an outdoor dining environment. We put plants all around the space to add some decoration. There was one plant outside the structure. A police officer nearly fined us $1,000 because the plant was in violation and was considered an obstruction. One of our neighbors dropped by and told the officer, please leave them alone,” explained Chef Mauro.
Despite all the unforeseen turbulence, there are still glimmers of hope on Bedford Street. The pandemic has brought a renewed sense of community to neighborhoods across New York, as patrons gather at outdoor restaurants in freezing temperatures or stop to listen to musicians performing improvised concerts on closed streets. Marble operates day to day thanks to the support of the West Village community.
“The private messages with words of encouragement or support from our regular customers and the neighborhood … has helped us become a big part of the community. It reminds us that what we are doing is worth it. At the end of a long day, just a smile helps us get through it. We are still proud to be here and will keep on fighting until the end,” said Chef Maya.
ABOUT CHEF MAYA SITTISUNTORN
Maya Sitti took a quite different route than most of her culinary colleagues. She grew up in Bangkok, Thailand, but was sent to the United States at 13, where she later earned a BFA in Industrial Design from one of the most renowned schools in the nation for her field, Savannah College of Art and Design. Along with building and drifting cars, Maya discovered her other passion, food.
ABOUT CHEF MAURO POMPILI
Starting off young at the age of 16, Mauro Pompili decided to pursue his path in pastry with the world-renowned chef Beatriz Chomnalez in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the very same city where he was born and raised. This association led to exceptional opportunities in which he traveled and worked in such desirable places as Paris, where he started his serious career in a three Michelin-starred restaurant, L’Arpege;
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“We love our frequent in person customer relationships, they have helped keep our business and dream alive. When you dine at Marble, it’s not just a transaction, it is a relationship. We truly enjoy meeting our guests and bringing people together through food. It’s been difficult to offer the same experience with this evolving dining environment.” ”