Fine Dining Pedigree with a Beach Soul: Meet Mike and Stephanie Gaines of Glena's

Mike and Stephanie Gaines of Glena's restaurant in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood. 

We were eager to try the new Mexican restaurant that had been rumored to take over the space where the Mexican/Salvadorian Restaurant, The New Spot, had been a favorite of residents and workers in the neighborhood on 20th Street at Illinois for more than five years. The restaurant we discovered when Glen'a opened in February 2016 was not a traditional Mexican Restaurant and in fact, is actually more of a California cuisine bar bites and craft cocktail restaurant than a Mexican Restaurant at all.

Glena's has now become one of our favorite places to hang out in Dogpatch and given the increasing crowds, we are not alone in feeling that way.

When you enter the small space it feels well, breezy. And that's not just from the wind that can howl along 20th Street some days.  The small space had been transformed with fresh white paint, green tile, and the a rich dark wood for tables.  A bar now dominates the space. There is no artwork on the walls all lending to the open feeling of the space.  If you look close you can see a small figurine on the bar called Ekeko -- a bringer of good luck and prosperity from Bolivia -- a nod to owner Stephanie Gaines birthplace.

And yes, there are tacos and margaritas but there is also a Fire Dog (beef hotdog) and Fried Chicken Torta sandwich that can be washed down with any number of tasty cocktails.

The space and the food and drink menus reminds us of places we used to frequent when we lived near the beach in Southern California.  It has a distinct beach bar bite vibe and you almost expect to feel the grit of sand under your feet as you take your seat at the bar or one of the tables.

So we weren't surprised to hear that chef owner Michael Gaines grew up in Southern California. He and wife and co-owner, Stephanie, have many years of fine dining and start up restaurant experience between then including stints at Gary Danko, Manresa, Delfina, Central Kitchen, Plow and Kin Khao.

But they have always had the shared goal of wanting to someday open their own restaurant.

Stephanie Gaines
Why do you do what you do?
It is gratifying when a customer gets what we are trying to do -- we want customers to have a happy time and eat food made with good quality ingredients.  Go ahead -- stay awhile -- have another drink. Relax with your friends.

I've always loved cooking but certainly didn't get that from my parents who didn't cook at all! I mostly watched cooking shows and then tried out various recipes.  And I have been working in restaurants for most of my adult life.

I was born in Bolivia but moved to California when I was four years old. My dad is from Kansas and my mom from Tennessee.  My dad grew up in Bolivia -- his parents were missionaries.  My mom was an artist and was studying textile weaving techniques in Bolivia when they met.

My dad got a job teaching middle school in Martinez and my mom was a professor at Cal State Hayward so we settled in Berkeley.  But I never spent any summers in California as my mom was awarded grants to go to Peru and Bolivia every summer on archaeological digs. I have a vivid childhood memory of her describing to someone in great detail the right way to unwrap a mummy! I actually got to go on a dig with her when I was a teenager.

I went to college at U.C. Santa Cruz to study environmental studies and art history.  While I was in college I worked at Love Apple Farms in the Santa Cruz mountains. Love Apple Farms uses biodynamic and organic techniques to grow fruits and vegetables. It was there that I met David Kinch -- the chef and owner of Manresa Restaurant. The farm had a partnership with Kinch to provide his restaurant with fruits and vegetables. I actually also met Mike there but we didn't date until later.

I didn't know any better so I asked David for a hostess job at Manresa! Of course they don't have that type of job there but he did hire me and I was front of the house and worked there through college.  I graduated in 2008 which of course was a terrible time to be looking for a job so I did a bunch of restaurant gigs while I decided what my next step would be.

I wanted a place of my own but needed an affordable place to live so with the help of my step father who knew a lot about sailing I bought a 27 foot Coronado sailboat and docked it in the Berkeley Marina. Mike and I had started dating in 2011 and he thought it was pretty cool I had a boat and he actually knew how to sail it.

Mike was hired to work at Central Kitchen but the summer before he was to start he was offered a job as a chef on a mega yacht docked in Chicago.  I went with him -- we had been dating all of two weeks.  When we moved back to San Francisco I worked at several restaurants including Delfina and Four + Water before ending up at Plow -- the popular brunch spot in Potrero Hill.

We lived in Hayes Valley for about a year but eventually moved to Potrero Hill in 2013, married in 2014 and still live in Potrero Hill with our two little girls.

I've always been a front of the house person in a restaurant -- even if I wasn't hired from the beginning to be in that role! I think it is because I'm a great multitasker and I truly care about the restaurant and the customer experience.

Mike Gaines speeds by the nicely stocked bar at Glena's in Dogpatch. 

Mike Gaines
Why do you do what you do?
I enjoy providing a fun, approachable dining experience for your friends and family. I like that I can be creative and make changes to the food or drinks on a whim. That's a bit more difficult to do in the fine-dining world that I came from.

The type of food we are doing is really just bar food -- California cuisine. But it is good quality bar food and our bar program is solid. This is food I grew up on. I grew up on Balboa Island -- a small beach town located in Orange County in Southern California.

My grandmother -- Glena -- taught me how to cook. She grew up in the Midwest and her mom was from Louisiana so her cooking was of the eggs in bacon fat type of food. Kind of a southern Midwestern style.  Glena and my grandfather were great entertainers as well. She was a life long cocktail waitress so that is the sort of world they lived in.  They had great cocktail parties and their house was perfect for that type of entertaining.

She lived in Reno but she would often come and stay with us when we were growing up while my mom was at work.  My mom worked in finance and my dad was a contractor.

I was all set to go to U.C. Santa Barbara for college to become a teacher.  But Santa Barbara is on the quarter system so I wasn't going to start until October.  I got a job at a restaurant while I waited for school to start and was hooked.  I had always wanted to cook but didn't realize you could actually have a career doing it.

I came to San Francisco to go to the California Culinary Academy. My internship at Gary Danko turned into a full time job and I stayed there about four years followed by another four years at Manresa.  I was also the opening chef at Central Kitchen and helped to open Kin Khao.

But all along Stephanie and I wanted to open our own place -- to take all that we had learned from these Michelin starred restaurants about dining, technique and ingredients and create our own customer experience. We held pop ups around town to test the concept and opened Glena's -- named after my Grandmother of course, in 2016.

We continue to adjust as we learn what customers want and how we work best. We started with just counter service now we have table service, for example.  We are really proud of our bar program and customers can look forward to the cocktail menu changing seasonally. Matthew Campbell who made his mark at Comal in Berkeley recently joined as our bar manager. I think our small size and the ability to be creative with the program and make it his own really appealed to him.

We hope to one day soon sell our chips and hot sauce to stores and other restaurants.  Our space is small but we do offer it for private parties. We know customers can be disappointed when we are closed for a private party but that is just the reality of the cost of doing business in San Francisco.  We hope to open more restaurants some day but right now we are just trying to staff this one. Finding and retaining good team members is tough for restaurants and we are no exception. We feel great that we are fully staffed right now and have a great team.

Why Dogpatch?
We started looking in 2015 and looked for a long time in SF before we heard this spot might be available to lease. We were super close to signing a lease in Mission Bay at the corner of Channel and 4th Street across from The Market Hall.  We live in Potrero Hill and would have loved to stay close to our neighborhood.  It was a huge space and we were excited to get started but in the end the lease terms were too unreasonable and we had to pass on the opportunity. That space continues to be available by the way!

So, we kept looking.  Then we heard that the landlord of this space was looking for new tenants so we took a look. Even though it is a small space we were excited to find it.  We know Dogpatch well since we live so close and are happy to be part of this community.  We continue to learn what the neighborhood needs and have adapted since we opened to provide a fun place with good food and cocktails for everyone.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing this?
Stephanie:  I think for both of us this was always the goal to have our own place. So this is it!  If I left the restaurant world I would most certainly be doing something related to art -- perhaps in textiles given my education and from being inspired by my mom's expertise.
Mike:  It's been so long since I have thought of anything else but restaurants but I have always had an interest in Oceanography -- in learning about preservation.


Editor's note:  we interviewed Mike and Stephanie while sipping on Toes in the Sand -- a drink from their secret menu. Ask for one!  And also ask what else is on the secret drink and food menu....)

Ekeko the Bolivian bringer of good luck and prosperity stands watch behind the bar at Glena's in Dogpatch, San Francisco. 

Where Hospitality is Top Priority: Meet Jason Alonzo, Jordan Keao and Cheryl Liew of ‘āina

The owners of ‘āina in Dogpatch created an innovative Hawaiian themed menu of food and drink. They include Cheryl Liew, Jason Alonzo and Jordan Keao (Standing).

A change in ownership or concept in the restaurant business is not unusual but we were sad to see Joshua Shertz's hard fought efforts to convert his Cup of Blues cafe into Ensoleille Restaurant not work out after only a few months.

When the official SF notification of a change in owners was posted on the closed restaurant door in September 2015, we were excited to learn more about their plans.  The corner of 22nd and Minnesota is such a prime spot in Dogpatch that it seemed a waste not to have a business there.

Cheryl Liew, Jordan Keao and Jason Alonzo might be the new tenants but they are not new to the restaurant business.  They were the force behind the pop-up, ‘āina (ainasf.com), the weekend-only Hawaiian inspired brunch spot that had a successful but short run in the Bernal Heights neighborhood.  ‘āina was so successful they decided to shut down and put their efforts behind searching for a permanent spot -- they couldn't stand having to turn people away. Their dream was to have a restaurant that could be open for both brunch and dinner for more than two days at a time.

The offering at ‘āina includes Kalua Pork Belly (front),  Kalbi Loco Moco and Breakfast potatoes.

To say the last few months has been a whirlwind for them would be an understatement -- not only did they find the restaurant space, work through the usual SF red tape, and then build out the restaurant doing much of the work themselves, they did it while holding down full-time jobs. In addition, married couple Liew and Keao who already have one young child, welcomed their second child to the world.

Life isn't slowing down since they opened their doors to the hungry public in April -- the sidewalk in front of their restaurant is frequently crowded with folks hoping to get one of the tables that they keep open for walk-ins. (neighborhood tip -- early spots during the week are often available without a wait).  The ‘āina team hopes to start dinner service in the Fall and also has a few other creative ideas they are working on to make sure we all have our fill of malasadas and more.

We have dined at ‘āina numerous times and were impressed not only with the food and innovative bar program, but also by the warmth of everyone there.  They genuinely seemed like they were having a good time amid the chaos of a busy restaurant.  We often felt like they would sit down and join us for a leisurely chat despite the evidence of a packed restaurant and a line out the door that would prevent such an act. True hospitality seems to fuel the ‘āina experience.

Jordan Keao, Chef and Owner

Why do you do what you do?

I love the instant gratification I get when I see that a customer has been changed by something that we have done -- by creating this great meal and experience for them.  When we see a customer's smile then we get to see the real benefits of what we do -- why we work so many hours. When a customer is enjoying themselves in a space we created with food we created that is a powerful thing to us.

I grew up in Hawaii but moved to Boston when I was 13.  You might say I'm a balance of city and country.  I returned to Hawaii when I was 18.  I did a lot of fishing and thinking and decided to focus on becoming a chef.  I went to culinary school in San Diego -- it was a more affordable place to live while going to school.  The goal was always to move to the SF Bay area.  I wanted to be part of what was happening in the food and restaurant scene here.  After culinary school I moved to this area -- to the East Bay where I helped to open a sushi restaurant.  From there I dove into a more serious food and restaurant environment when I joined La Folie.  I was there for three years where I learned to prepare high quality food in a fast paced environment.  That's where I met Jason Alonzo who was in charge of the bar program there.

Don't miss the Malasadas - Portuguese style donuts - filled with guava custard at ‘āina in Dogpatch.

I then joined a restaurant management group who managed the food service for Google.  I learned so much there -- I realized that there are many different skill sets needed in the restaurant world in addition to having a great chef.  Marketing, finance and more are needed to run and manage a large team.

Eventually I left Google for Airbnb -- we had a newborn and the commute from where we lived in SF to Google became just too much. I was still interested in working with a technology company but wanted to work with a smaller company so that I could really be involved in building and growing their food program.  I really liked that Airbnb didn't contract out their food program but made it part of their company culture.

While at Airbnb we got the idea to do a brunch pop up on the weekends.  Jason and I had always talked about doing a side project together.

We called our project, ‘āina, which is a Hawaiian word which means "the land that feeds us." The name reflects how we approach our work.  To be mindful and to take just what you need.

From the start the project felt right -- we weren't forcing it to come together.  Cheryl heard about a pop up Ramen spot in the Bernal Heights neighborhood that was open Monday-Friday and they were interested in letting us do our project on the weekends.  It was a lot of fun but a lot of work.  Social media and word-of-mouth made it a success but ultimately we just didn't have time for it so we closed.

We realized that we might as well have a full time restaurant than only a part-time pop-up.  We all agreed on our direction and we all trusted each other.

Cheryl Liew, CFO and Owner
Why do you do what you do?

Well, keep in mind that I work full-time at a recruiting firm and love my work there.  I wanted to support Jordan's dream of owning a restaurant.  I look at the three of us as being the three pillars that will make ‘āina a success -- management, creative bar program and amazing food.  It all comes together in our desire to provide a great experience for our customers.

I have always been a major foodie.  I was born in the U.K. but grew up in Singapore which is a food obsessed country.  Jordan and I first met as foodie friends -- we wanted to try all that the SF Bay Area had to offer.  I went to school for economics and my original goal was to work for the World Health Organization or for the U.N.  I thought I could use my expertise in economics to help developing countries.  I did an internship at an investment banking firm in Singapore.  It was intense but I loved it although I knew I didn't want to do that type of work long term.  I then worked in media including stints at CNBC and ESPN.  All of this experience led me to the recruiting industry -- I love the combination of finance and psychology.  I so enjoy hearing other people's stories.  I moved to SF in 2010 and started working in recruiting for technology positions. Jordan and I were married in 2012.

I knew he wanted to start a restaurant some day.  I met the chef of a Ramen restaurant in Bernal Heights and that's how we found our weekend spot for ‘āina.  At ‘āina I was the server, the host, whatever they needed me to be and almost always with our son strapped on my back!

We started looking around for a full-time space and a friend who lives in Dogpatch told us about Ensoleille and Joshua.  It all started to come together after that.

Jason Alonzo of ‘āina mixes up a great menu of brunch cocktails at the Dogpatch restaurant.

Jason Alonzo, General Manager, Owner
Why do you do what you do?

I like making people happy.  Hospitality is our top priority.  To me, food is love.

I grew up in Boston but didn't meet Jordan there although it turned out that we had friends in common.  We had an immediate trust with each other when we met at La Folie.

I started in the beverage business in Boston when I was 19.  I was a bar back and learned the old school ways.  I then became bar manager.  I also worked at the Liberty Hotel where the chef there, Joseph Margate, was amazing -- he was doing California inspired food in Boston.  I became interested in creating specialty cocktails to complement  the food we were serving and to even use in the drink program some of the same ingredients that the kitchen was using to create their dinner menu.

Boston is a good place to be from but I always felt that I was born on the wrong coast. I had thought about moving to Southern California but moved to San Francisco when my then girlfriend decided to attend the Academy of Art.  I moved here in 2011 and went to work for La Folie.

I took over the bar manager program at La Folie.  I felt strongly that what the chef is doing with ingredients should also influence the beverage program and they supported my passion for crafting that type of bar program.

At ‘āina we have a low-ABV license which means I get to be creative with low proof alcohol like lillet and sparkling wine and use herbs, fruit and other seasonal ingredients to create drinks to complement our menu.

Why Dogpatch?
We were looking for a neighborhood where we felt we could make our own mark -- that wasn't yet too well known.  We looked in the inner Richmond, East Bay and South Bay. We didn't know a lot about Dogpatch but a friend who lives in the neighborhood told us we should look at the Ensoleille space after it closed and we made contact with owner Joshua Shertz.  We liked that it was still a "hidden" neighborhood -- not yet totally discovered but well on its way.  It reminded us of where we had our pop-up restaurant in the Bernal Heights neighborhood.  This neighborhood also feels like an East Coast neighborhood where everyone knows their neighbor and are vocal about what they like and don't like. All the pieces started coming together here. We really felt like we could be part of the changing face of the neighborhood in a good way.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing this?
JA:  I would be a session musician I play guitar, bass, and drums.
JK:  A professional windsurfer.  I did a lot of it as a kid in Hawaii.
CL:  Well, I'm also still working full time at a recruiting firm so I think I would find some balance in my life.  Two jobs, two kids and a husband is plenty for me right now!