Coastal Traveler - Winter 2008 - (Page 46)

coastaltraveler The Point Reyes Pine Cone Diner “Good Food & Prickly Service.” Local, sustainable and organic breakfasts and lunches. 4th and B St., Point Reyes 415.663.1536 www.thepineconedine.com “Good food, prickly service.” That’s what a reviewer once said of Joannie Kwit’s Pine Cone Diner. Another restaurant owner would have prickled at the criticism, but Kwit stood behind the statement and even put it on the diner’s t-shirts. “It’s not about being servants,” Kwit said. “I took it for a long time — 30 years — so my staff doesn’t have to take it.” The Pine Cone Diner has given Kwit a chance to strip away the pretense and conceit she dealt with as a waitress at other restaurants. What’s left behind is good food, and service that’s as good as the customer deserves. Tom Kent, a regular from Inverness, said that he eats at the diner as much as he can afford. “They make you feel so comfortable,” Kent said. Long-time waitress and manager Gina Ventresca said that she spends more time at the diner than at home, and that customers can tell. “It’s like going home for lunch.” Of Kwit, she said, “Joannie and I are best friends. Our kids worked here… We’re like a family.” Kwit moved to Point Reyes Station from Los Angeles in 1971. After collecting unemployment for three years (which you could do in those days, she explained), Kwit began making the round of restaurants, waiting tables. In 1997, she became a business partner in the Pine Cone Diner. A year later she found herself the sole owner. “It’s hard work — it’s the hardest I’ve ever done,” Kwit said. Talking about how the town has changed, she took off her glasses and rubbed the short brush of her silvering hair. When subdued, her voice loses its raspy edge. “Nobody can afford to live here anymore,” she said. “I don’t want to do this without the help I have. They’re an incredible crew. They’re really loyal and hardworking,” Kwit said of her coworkers. She reached out her hand and palmed the table to make her point: “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have them.” Kwit feels a special responsibility to her young employees. “You have to work your whole life. Your first boss should give you a sense of self.” The Pine Cone’s reputation extends far beyond Point Reyes Station, making a name for itself by serving up breakfast and lunch classics for a sophisticated palate, and often serving organic, locally sourced produce. Kwit is almost reluctant to admit her success: “I tell people that I wait tables.” And on most days, that’s exactly what she’s doing. That, or washing dishes and taking out the trash. “If workers see you doing everything, then they don’t mind doing it themselves,” she said. The diner has been up for sale in the past, but prospective buyers were never a good match. “I wanted to see it through,” Kwit said. For 15 years before she married Van Vandermaaten, Kwit was a single mother. It was not always easy. “For my daughter to see me accomplish this,” Kwit said, turning to consider the booths and the bar that is her world, “that’s my greatest accomplishment.” Kwit and Vandermaaten are now looking to start another restaurant in New Mexico, where they have bought their first home. For now, regulars content themselves with perhaps the best Huevos Rancheros in California for breakfast and Thai Beef Salad for lunch. Some just come for the milk shakes or a slice of fresh baked, organic pie. But visitors should be sure to mind their mannors. 46 coastaltraveler winter http://www.thepineconediner.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Coastal Traveler - Winter 2008

Coastal Traveler - Winter 2008 Contents Coastal Hotel Coastal Adventure Coastal Gambler Coastal Rider Coastal Skier Coastal Art Santa Barbara Pismop & Avila San Luis Obispo Big Sur Carmel Monterey Santa Cruz San Francisco Sausalito Mill Valley Stinson Beach Bolinas Olema Point Reyes Station San Geronimo Fairfax Iverness Marshall, Tomales Sebastopol Petaluma Sonoma Coast Redwood Coast Napa Map

Coastal Traveler - Winter 2008

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