Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Crossland.
Jennifer, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started in the restaurant business shortly after graduating college. I got a job in Santa Monica at Houston’s Restaurant and just loved everything about the industry. After working my way into kitchen management, I was sent to Napa Valley to train in the kitchen of Rutherford Grill. From there I worked in multiple stores for the Hillstone Company in New York, Southern California and Dallas. While making the rounds, I got the opportunity to work with Felipe Armenta, who became a mentor and later who called me one day 4 years ago to help open his seafood concept, Pacific Table. In between working for Hillstone and joining Felipe Armenta’s Restaurants, I attended pastry school at El Centro in Dallas and worked for several hotels and restaurants in both Dallas and Austin.
In June of 2013 I moved to Fort Worth and helped Felipe open Pacific Table. He asked me to run the restaurant like it was my own, and I took him literally. Along the way I was offered the chance to become more of a regional manager and help run The Tavern (a Fort Worth staple) and Pacific Table. I took every opportunity Felipe has offered me and proved to be dedicated and a good decision maker. Next, Felipe offered me the chance to be a partner in his next venture, Press Cafe.
We landed the favor of CASSCO Land and Development and got to work designing and constructing Press Cafe at the Trailhead. This is my first from the ground up restaurant, and we spent countless hours working with designers and architects to get everything just right. Press Cafe opened in January 2016 and we have had overwhelming success that speaks volumes to the menu and quality of staff that we continue to work on and train in an effort to always be better than we were yesterday.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road is always a challenge. Work/life balance, difficult guests, projects that run late, kitchen equipment breaking, staff not showing up, food deliveries coming late and many other challenges present problems every day. You have to have a good, can-do attitude or the struggles can become overwhelming.
Good training, constant learning and always putting the guest first are 3 ways that you can overcome struggles.
I have worked every position possible in a restaurant, except President, and the one thing I have learned is that you don’t have to be the best at first, you just have to keep going and never give up until you reach your goal.
So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Press Cafe story. Tell us more about the business.
Our company, Press Cafe, specializes in a chef driven, California Eclectic menu. According to local critics and TEXAS Monthly, we make one of the best burgers in Texas called the Cafe Burger. It has a fresh ground chuck, huntsman cheddar, balsamic marinated onions, pickles, dijoinaise and a freshly baked Torta Bun. We bake all of the bread fresh daily at our sister restaurant, The Tavern,
Other menu items are incredibly fresh, we have a mix of fresh vegetables and comfort food favorites. We offer a fresh fish of the day, daily sandwich, fresh pasta, steak and chicken dishes. We make potato chips in house daily, they are a signature item, as opposed to the fries we serve at the other 2 restaurants. Our rice bowl includes green tea rice, quinoa and barley, a sweet soy glaze, broccolini, marcona almonds, avocado, raddicio and if you’re not vegetarian you can add any protein. All the dishes have clean, balanced flavors that really pop on your palate. I don’t think we have a single item on the menu that guests don’t rave about.
We also offer full service coffee program, breakfast daily and brunch on the weekends.
I am most proud of our food and cocktail programs. Our menu is more limited due to the high volumes we experience, but everything works well together.
The thing that sets us apart from other companies, is our attention to detail. The menus may be smaller in number of items offered, but we painfully evaluate and obsess over every aspect to make sure it is the best version it can be. We make everything from scratch. Salad dressing, muffins, cookies, cake, we chop lettuce every day, perfectly diced veggies, sauces, juice, bar mixers, etc.
One other thing we have become known for is the architecture, art and furniture. Most of what we have is either designed by a design/ architect firm, or local furniture makers. Almost everything we have in the restaurant is custom built for us, and that is a detail that I think makes us very unique. Our art selections are either original pieces or pictures I selected that match the theme of the building and the land that we are built on.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
For me, I would say more coincidence than luck has played a part in my life and business. I have worked really hard for a really long time, and in doing that have made friendships and relationships and business contacts that have all come together at coincidentally just the right time to help me get from where I started to where I am now.
If you have your eyes open, always do the right thing and keep going, things will happen.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4801 Edwards Ranch Rd. #105
- Website: www.presscafeftworth.com
- Phone: 817-570-6002
- Email: manager@presscafeftworth.com
- Instagram: presscafefwtx
- Facebook: Press Cafe
- Yelp: Press Cafe
Image Credit:
Relative Marketing and Media
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