Matt Abramcyk is only 33 and already has several storied boîtes under his belt -- Smith & Mills, Warren 77, Tiny's, the legendarily embattled Beatrice Inn, and his latest, Super Linda, a Latin grill in Tribeca, where he partnered with Serge Becker (Miss Lily's, The Box, La Esquina) and Richard Ampudia (La Esquina, Cafe Habana). This morning, he understandably sounded sleepy.
 
Is it unusual for you to be up at 10:30?
It's unusual for me not to be up already. My wife and I have a six-month-old daughter. When Super Linda was being built I had to get up at five or six every morning.
 
You must be exhausted.
I'd like to sleep for a long, long time.
 
I had the impression you were someone who stayed up all night, from when you were running Beatrice Inn. It was such a magical place for creative people for a time, but it got raided over and over for noise complaints. What was the greatest night there you remember?
That's too difficult a question, there were so many great nights.
 
What was the low point?
There was a succession of low points. When something you love is being taken away, it hurts. We were forced to go away.
 
You were partners with Paul Sevigny on that. Do you think you'll do something together again?
I don't see Paul very much now. I think he's in L.A. I'd like to, though. He's a great guy.
 
I read a profile of you in the New York Times, about how you ended up in the hospital from having panic attacks over trying to keep Beatrice Inn open.
I'm not a panic-oriented person; I have a pretty high tolerance for stress. But I was working really long hours and still building a place that was already open. It was a very frustrating process to work at night, sleep three or four hours and then spend the day rebuilding the place to bring it up to code. We were told conflicting things by experts and kept making changes and then would be told we had to do something else. I'm not blaming anyone, but I think there was some agenda that played a part. Graydon Carter has taken over the space now, along with my friend Brett Rasinski, who was the general manager at Waverly Inn. I think they're opening it sometime this year.
 
Is it bittersweet for you?
Not really. I was there a couple of days ago. Going through that scenario was really difficult and traumatic and I was really nervous. There was such a community aspect to it, not about pretension. It captured something special for all of our friends. It was one continuous party, so much fun. Now, for me to look back on it, everybody would be lucky to have such validation to have done something like that.
 
For Super Linda, no sports figures are involved? [Hockey greats Sean Avery and Henrik Lundqvist are his partners at Tiny's; Avery is also involved in Warren 77.]
Not working with any athletes this time, unfortunately.
 
How did you end up partnering with Serge Becker?
He's a New York legend and I was excited to talk to him about doing something. His daughter goes to school in Tribeca and he'd been walking by the place for awhile (Super Linda is at 109 West Broadway at Reade Street). We met through my dad since he has a sign on the door. He's in real estate -- he was the broker for the property.
 
I read that the Super Linda building dates back to 1860.
I love the old buildings in Tribeca. Smith & Mills is over 200 years old, Tiny's building is 170 years old. They have a lot of character; they're kind of warm and there's something special about each one. I've always been interested in the idea of New York being preserved, a time when it was a little bit less modern, a refuge for people from around the world.
 
You've been working on the space since 2010, right?
It was a really difficult project because we had to consider all these different elements, redoing the infrastructure of a building where tenants were living, constructing shaftways in people's homes. There were so many components making it more complex -- two dining rooms, a private dining room, sidewalk cafe seating, a taqueria, a lounge downstairs. Without my partners -- Serge and Richard -- their experience and vision, it simply could not have  happened.
 
Why Latin American?
I had done trips with my wife, who's Uruguayan [Nadine Ferber, owner of the women's clothing and accessories boutique, Mick Margo], to Argentina and Uruguay and saw how people eat there with their families, how social they are, the festive nature people bring to it. I picked up on ideas down there and Serge and Richard and I wanted to feel we were broadly interpreting it, not trying to dissect a cross-section of some culture. We tried to strike a balance by doing food that's simple and fresh and tasty, inspired by beach culture. It's not typical Argentine-Uruguayan-Mexican food. At the end of the day it's about having a fun time, remembering not to take it too seriously.
 
When will you be opening for lunch and brunch?
By March 20th, we hope. Right now we're open for dinner until one a.m. on weeknights and two a.m. on weekends.
 
Do you have an idea of what you'll be doing next?
Yes, but I can't talk about it. I definitely want to keep looking for things in New York. I've always been interested in old buildings, ever since I was a kid and would go to look at properties with my dad. He's why I'm in this business -- it was a go-to-work-with-your-dad kind of thing.
 
It sounds like you work so hard all the time, what do you do to relax?
Read art books. I like going in vintage shops, junk shops, antique shops, shopping at flea markets, seeing weird shit. I've lived in New York my entire life -- except for one year in Connecticut -- so I've always been a local person. I think of ways of preserving the character of the city by doing things that are financially viable. I studied business so I know about the red and the black. I live in Tribeca and like going to my local coffee shop, local bagel shop, local pizzeria, local sandwich shop, local sushi place. It's therapeutic to spend time with my wife. I feel sad about mom-and-pop shops going away, being replaced by big box stores and franchises backed by tens of millions of dollars. It's nice to be somebody who's starting things up. Being in the restaurant business, I feel like I'm part of a band of outsiders.

Photo by Matteo Prandoni/BFA