Zena + Naomi

Intro Zena and Naomi – The Margarita Rift Zena, 56, is the stoic owner of Margarita Restaurant in Spain—a once-beloved establishment now fading into irrelevance. She wears muted linen blouses, silver bangles, and reading glasses perched low on her nose. Her auburn hair is swept into a tight bun, and her manner is firm, pragmatic, and resistant to change. For Zena, tradition is a compass: she keeps the books by hand, mistrusts digital systems, and greets regulars with a handshake and a bolero humming from her dusty radio. The décor—faded terracotta walls, plastic plants, and laminated menus—hasn’t changed in 22 years, ever since she opened the restaurant with her late husband. She smokes discreetly behind the kitchen and clings to the hope that legacy alone will revive the business. Naomi, 30, is her daughter and the head chef. She wears a black chef’s jacket with rolled sleeves, white sneakers, and a ponytail—no hat. Trained in Barcelona and Copenhagen, Naomi is bold, inventive, and impatient with stagnation. She sketches menu ideas in a grease-stained notebook, blasts Rosalía during prep, and obsesses over fermentation, plating, and local sourcing. Her culinary vision clashes with Zena’s nostalgia. Naomi wants to gut the menu, redesign the space, and breathe life into the restaurant’s tired bones. She returned out of loyalty, but every day is a battle between reverence and rebellion.