All Spice restaurant owners to open cafe at Half Moon Bay airport

With windows overlooking the general aviation airport and surrounded by local farms, the building once decorated with aviation memorabilia will be filled once again with sunlight and also hanging plants after the couple’s monthslong renovation project takes shape, explained Chopra.

Having served dinner at All Spice for nearly a decade, Chopra and Wolff have been imagining what a breakfast and lunch menu might look like for their new coastside restaurant, some 6 miles north of Half Moon Bay on Highway 1. According to a San Mateo County staff report, the 3-Zero Cafe was closed in March when the owner announced his retirement after 25 years of operation. At its Nov. 5 meeting, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved a five-year lease agreement with Chopra and Wolff to operate a restaurant at the airport, which is managed by the county.

Though the couple has earned four Michelin stars in their nine years of operating restaurants in San Mateo and San Francisco, they are looking forward to focusing on a smaller set of menu items made from quality ingredients and served in a family-friendly setting, said Wolff. She said the couple is planning to offer a selection of traditional breakfast and lunch items — including egg bowls, sandwiches and toast — at prices similar to those offered at the 3-Zero Cafe.

“It’s just beautiful, there’s incredible light inside,” she said, of the building at 9850 Cabrillo Highway. “It’s … not your traditional big, square dining room in the strip mall … it’s really unique and it has a special draw for people to come and watch the airplanes go.”

Though Chopra and Wolff searched for just the right antique pieces to furnish All Spice at 1602 S. El Camino Real, they largely felt the layout of the Victorian home met the needs of their patrons as well as Chopra’s preferences as a chef. Because the coastside space hasn’t been renovated in decades, the pair has been working with a local architect to revamp the building’s kitchen and flooring, among other changes, with the goal of opening their doors in April.

In the years since the couple opened All Spice, Sachin said the restaurant’s menu has evolved from offering dishes influenced by Asian and Indian cuisines to more modern items with many of the same spices and rooted in Californian ingredients. Though the couple is looking forward to starting a business much closer to their home on the coast, Sachin noted their new venture will give them an opportunity to try their hand at a more casual dining experience, where customers can order dishes at a counter.

Chopra said he has long sought to create dishes that are substantively different from what diners might find in other restaurants by experimenting with texture, preparation and ingredient combinations. But he said he’s looking forward to creating a more simple menu for the couple’s coastside restaurant, adding he hopes to work with local farms to incorporate the crops grown on the coast.

“It will probably be good for our sanity,” he said. “It will be good for hopefully the business, too, to make things simpler.”

With the exception of a freshly-baked sourdough bread the couple bakes at All Spice, Chopra and Wolff said they don’t plan to transition too many menu items from All Spice to their new restaurant. Though Chopra acknowledged dishes like a Thai-inspired soup he makes with carrots, lemongrass and cashews may go a long way to warming spirits on the foggy coast.

With some 20 years of experience as a chef, Chopra opened a restaurant in New York City in 2001 and was part of the opening team of Amber India in San Jose’s Santana Row. Chopra noted a shortage of restaurant workers in the Bay Area has been a challenge, but said working with talented chefs and workers throughout his career has been very rewarding.

“I have had really good people go through my kitchens over a period of time,” he said. “It’s really nice for me to see them … grow and go onto different things.”

With a master’s degree in viticulture and enology, Wolff also dedicated much of her career to working in restaurants, and said sharing years of memories with diners in San Mateo has made the hard work of running a restaurant worth it. She added some of their staff at All Spice have worked at the restaurant since it opened and have also developed a personal connection with many of their patrons.

“People have brought in their children and over the years I’ve watched them grow up,” she said. “We’ve had a couple of wedding dinners and people … come back for their anniversary, it’s very sweet.”

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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