El Naranjo, a Mexican restaurant that led with authenticity for more than 15 years in Austin, is closing July 18. James Beard Award-winning chef Iliana de la Vega and her husband, El Naranjo's co-owner Ernesto Torrealba, have stated in an emailed letter that they are choosing not to renew the restaurant's lease so they can partially retire. The pair also posted a shorter announcement on Instagram.

The letter thoughtfully lays out the entire El Naranjo journey from Oaxaca, where it started in 1997, to South Lamar Boulevard, where it currently resides. The restaurant was named after a 100-year-old orange tree in the original location's courtyard. When the restaurant opened, Chef de la Vega cooked to serve traditional family restaurants and held onto her own personal touch.

Ernesto Torrealba and Iliana de la Vega working in Mexico.Photo courtesy of El Naranjo

"The early years were difficult, but slowly the restaurant flourished to become a culinary destination," de la Vega narrated. "Then, in 2006, the social turmoil in Oaxaca devastated the city’s economy. We lost the restaurant, we lost our income, and our lives changed forever."

De la Vega later spent some time in San Antonio at the Culinary Institute of America, where she served as the Mexican cuisine specialist for five years, developing a greater commitment to representing Mexican traditions elsewhere in the world. This informed the subsequent Austin restaurant's adherence to true Mexican food.

"Since my days in Oaxaca, I think I have a line of work that I didn't want to change," says de la Vega in a phone call with CultureMap. "I have a very dear friend, for example, that said when we were about to open in Austin ... 'I give you a couple of weeks [until you] have chips and salsa on your menu,' which is not Mexican. ... We still don't have it. So I think I have my own style on things, and that is what makes us maybe different."

El Naranjo's original Austin location was a food trailer that opened in 2010 on Rainey Street, followed by a brick-and-mortar in the same location in 2012. It remained there for seven years until rent became too expensive, and El Naranjo moved again, this time to its current home. The move was complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic, but a high point came in 2022 when de la Vega won Best Chef: Texas at the James Beard Awards.

De la Vega and Torrealba after decades in the restaurant business.Photo courtesy of El Naranjo

The next year, the chef and her daughter, food writer and cultural anthropologist Isabel Torrealba, started leading culinary tours to Mexico, which they plan to continue after El Naranjo closes. De la Vega's other daughter, Ana Torrealba, served as chef de cuisine at El Naranjo; de la Vega says Ana has a new job lined up that she'll start in the next "couple weeks or so."

De la Vega still has plenty to do in what's she's calling her "new chapter of semi-retirement." She already works as a culinary consultant at universities, helping students learn about traditional Mexican food, and she hopes to continue with more clients everywhere, especially in the United States. She's also working on a writing project that she hasn't fully announced yet.

"Nothing is wrong, nothing is right ... good or bad. This is not the point," she says of the philosophy that's driven her career. "[It's] more what is my perspective on Mexican cooking?"

El Naranjo presents Mexican fine dining without Americanization.Photo courtesy of El Naranjo

Finally, fans of de la Vega's signature salsa macha can rest assured that the chef is working on extending its production after the restaurant is closed. They can stockpile jars in the meantime and get some of El Naranjo's recreated best dishes as service winds down. Fans can check Instagram to find out what dishes are in the works.

De la Vega encourages people to stop by and say goodbye, and extends her ask to advocate for small "mom and pop" businesses of all kinds. The restaurant industry is a constant test of resilience, and the chef is ready for a break: good news for her two dogs.

"There is a moment in your life that you have to make choices, you know, what can you do and when is viable," she says. "So, I think it's time for us, for my husband and I, to step out. New generations may take new directions with Mexican food in Austin, and all those things, and we'll just keep a quieter life."