Finding the Restaurant
We have been a pop-up for six years - at first by choice and then by circumstance.
After our first few years in business, we decided that the only way we could secure long-lasting growth was to get a permanent spot of our own. We’ve had great experiences with shared kitchens and sublets but quite a few horror stories too.
For the past three years, we’ve been on the hunt, walking neighborhoods asking people if they knew of any upcoming vacancies. We’ve put offers on spaces and turned down others because of the exorbitant asking prices. Nothing ever felt right.
Mostly it was because we were trying to fit our business into places that weren’t the right fit - in size, location, and rent. It was only until we stopped chasing and started defining for ourselves what we were looking for that we were able to settle on a space that would work.
When I followed up on a listing for our restaurant space, I thought it was a long shot as their were many interested parties, many of whom had big money. But the landlord was looking for a tenant that would fit in with the neighborhood and listened to our concept thoughtfully.
The day I realized it could be ours, I was walking up Bernal Hill pitching our business plan on the phone and puffing up the hill. By the time I got to the top, we were more or less verbally committed. And there I was standing on top of San Francisco, looking down on our spot, only seeing possibility - feeling high on the world.
People often ask: what does your gut tell you? Never before has my gut screamed so loud: THIS WAS THE PLACE.