New restaurant keeps it local

People have told Burlingame resident David Hunsaker that opening a restaurant today is crazy. But that hasn’t stopped him. He’s wanted his own restaurant for a long time.

And now he’s made it happen. Soon downtown San Mateo diners can experience Hunsaker’s dream for themselves at 31st Union, which opens June 28 and offers "California comfort food” with a focus on seasonal, local ingredients.

"I’m just looking forward to having people come through the door and see them enjoy the offerings,” Hunsaker said.

This business isn’t new for the 38-year-old — he ran bars and restaurants in Los Angeles before moving to the Bay Area 16 years ago. However, Hunsaker took a job in sales after the move and then started a family, so a career in restaurants was "put on the back burner.”

Then after 2008 when incomes began to go down, Hunsaker decided he’d rather work more hours at a job he wanted to do rather than something for which he had no passion, he said. His job in sales used to make him happy, he said, but he wasn’t getting anything out of it anymore.

"I just needed a little spark,” Hunsaker said. "Just kind of a jolt in what I was doing.”

So two years ago, he decided to get back into the restaurant game — except this time, he would be opening his own place.

In picking the name for his restaurant, Hunsaker said the intention was to tie in the name to the fact that all the food would be sourced from within the state, and the name 31st Union "makes people think a little bit.” California was the 31st state to join the Union.

He chose San Mateo because he realized that a place offering comfort food was missing from the area, Hunsaker said. San Mateo already has a lot of Japanese and Italian restaurants, he said, and has turned into a "food mecca.”

One priority of Hunsaker’s with the restaurant is using local product. He’s a fan of farmers’ markets and was intrigued by how many local farmers there are in this area, he said. And highlighting those farmers at the restaurant is important to him — one wall of the restaurant will feature a map of California with actual arrows cut off and attached to point out from where various products come.

But origin won’t limit the restaurant’s offerings. Because of the state’s ethnic diversity, Hunsaker said California comfort food could include a variety of things like gnocchi, fish tacos or chicken pot pie. The cuisine at 31st Union will have many influences with a common theme of local product, he said. In addition, the menu (which includes deviled eggs, fish and chips and an ice cream sandwich) is small, to better focus on seasonal ingredients.

He’s excited about the restaurant’s lamb meatball sliders and smoked duck tacos. He’s also a big fan of crab, and said the restaurant will have nights when customers can get a whole roasted crab for $18. Hunsaker said he and the restaurant’s chef Paul Burzlaff are on the same page with their goals for the restaurant’s food, and using local and seasonal products is also a priority for Burzlaff.

The menu also features local wines — one winery Hunsaker sources from is Siduri Wines in Santa Rosa. The wines they serve might be less well known to customers and more pricey, but Hunsaker said he wants 31st Union to provide an opportunity to try more unique local wines that are always changing.

As for the decor, the style is rustic with some modern twists, Hunsaker said. Wood paneling on the walls is a warm element that he said will make people happy — and the lights are made out of conduit material to add an industrial modern element "so it doesn’t feel like a log cabin.” Hunsaker also wanted to create a city vibe with communal seating and smaller tables so people will be closer together, he said.

Hunsaker said he wants 31st Union to be a casual restaurant where people can come and sit for a few hours with friends or come before a movie at the nearby theater. He’s also trying to keep the price point at around $30 per person so customers don’t feel like they’re spending too much, especially in today’s economy.

"People still want to go out and have fun, but they’re watching what they spend, so I think I’m hitting that price point niche as well,” Hunsaker said.

Knowing where the food comes from and that it’s all local is what will attract customers to 31st Union, Hunsaker said — and the restaurant will also emphasize good customer service. He likes to make people happy, Hunsaker said, so the restaurant business is a good path for him.

And the type of restaurant he’s opening is a smart choice, Hunsaker said — successful restaurants today do things that he’s doing, like keeping the price point down and keeping the menu simple and straightforward.

It’s been a long process since Hunsaker first decided to open a restaurant — it took 10 weeks just to get the architectural plans approved by the city, he said. He makes about 50 decisions each day and wonders every night whether they’ll work out, and while he’s made mistakes during the process "that’s part of life,” he said.

The opening on Thursday won’t come without stress for Hunsaker — he said he’s freaked out, but in a good way — it’s the "excited nervous,” he said. And he doesn’t regret this life choice.

"Almost all the time when I go home at the end of the day I’m happy with the decision I’ve made,” Hunsaker said. "I always tell people this is something I should have done 10 years ago.”

The address is 5 S. Ellsworth Ave., San Mateo.

For anyone attending San Mateo’s summer concerts in Central Park over the next seven weeks, the restaurant will have a booth as another opportunity to sample its fare.