Award-winning chef Michael Mina made his name in fine dining in San Francisco where his namesake flagship still flourishes and his new more casual concept, International Smoke, recently took flight. But the global empire he presides over as founder of Mina Restaurant Group encompasses 30 restaurants from Chicago to Dubai.
Mina has an ability to key into the Zeitgeist whether it’s a desire for luxury tasting menus, fine Burgundies, or the current fascination with live fire and smoke. In the heyday of San Francisco's fine dining scene, his eponymous restaurant in the Westin Hotel was the crème de la crème. When no wine could be too fine for a deep pocketed clientele, he and über sommelier Rajat Parr opened RN74 named for the Burgundy highway. Now he’s teamed up with food celebrity Ayesha Curry—wife of the NBA star Stephen Curry—to mine the popular desire for smoky smells and tastes that strike a nostalgic longing for camp fires.
Even though he may be following an instinct for what the public wants at any given time, Mina carefully researches and tests new ideas, always aware that the restaurant business is a business. International Smoke is a case in point; it first proved itself as a wildly popular pop-up at his San Francisco MINA Test Kitchen.
Here, we ask Mina to reflect on his career.
How would you describe your new International Smoke restaurant?
International Smoke is a place where we celebrate global grilling. Our menu features lighter, flavorful smoked and grilled foods that are perfect for sharing with friends and family.
What inspired you to focus on grilling?
We do food trips to different countries and you always find yourself on that one street with store fronts and cool little places that are grilling. This happens in every country. In America, people have preconceived notions about barbecue so we’re getting to understand the global piece of grilling. We do very little American. We’re mostly pulling inspiration from those streets. It’s not exactly street food, but we’re pulling that inspiration and creating dishes around it. The coolest part is that it reminds me of Aqua, which was only fish and never had to be Italian or French. We could use the whole globe. It’s fun. The most enjoyable way to cook is sitting outside grilling.
What led to your partnership with Ayesha Curry?
Ayesha and I had the opportunity to meet through mutual friends at Williams-Sonoma some years ago. We immediately hit it off and couldn’t stop talking about our love for food, and sharing that food with friends and family. I invited her to be a guest chef at our Michael Mina’s Tailgate at the Super Bowl 50 when it was at Levi’s Stadium [in Santa Clara]. From cooking together—and partnering in that small capacity—the idea came about, and pretty soon we were running it as a test concept at the MINA Test Kitchen in San Francisco.
Why did this restaurant seem right for our times when you decided that RN74 had run its course?
RN74 was such a special restaurant. And when we opened it, it was unlike anything else out there! As time went on, other similar concepts opened. I felt it was time to try something new. Simultaneously, we were looking at opportunities to open International Smoke somewhere. The pop-up at MINA Test Kitchen had been beyond successful. The RN74 space checked all of our boxes and it made perfect sense.
Has the dining public in San Francisco changed dramatically in the last few years?
I wouldn’t say so. But like all things, it ebbs and flows. In the beginning of my career, it was all fine dining and white tablecloths everywhere you went! Then came the shift of the times and the economy. There was a need for a more casual, and less refined style of dining. Now I feel like we’ve come to a time when we need both. You’ll see that reflected in the types of restaurants we’re doing now.
You have many different types of restaurants in your portfolio. Why does such wide diversity work for your company? Is there a thread that unites the various concepts?
The diversity of concepts works for us, because people are looking for different experiences. We offer concepts at different price points, that highlight different styles of cuisines, that are partnerships with other incredible chefs—it really is amazing what we’re doing. The one thing that really unites all of our restaurants though? The hospitality. We strive to provide an incredible experience for every single one of our guests at every single one of our restaurants. I believe that a good experience is achievable at any level.
Can you describe the Mina Test Kitchen and how it leads to concepts that work or don’t work? Is this experimentation crucial to always keeping ahead of the curve?
The MINA Test Kitchen is such a special place. We have been so incredibly lucky to be blessed with it. Many chefs have test kitchens. But not many can say they have an actual restaurant, where they test entire concepts—I think that’s been an incredible luxury. We’ve tested over seven concepts in the MINA Test Kitchen, and many are being transitioned into brick and mortar establishments. As I mentioned, International Smoke started as a pop-up at the MINA Test Kitchen, as did Cal Mare, which recently opened at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. International Smoke killed everything. It did the most. Recently, we just finished testing Mi Almita with Hugo Ortega. It means “my little soul.” It was unbelievable. We’ll open in Los Angeles and a little cantina in Hawaii.
Did you ever have a flop?
We were going to do an Indian concept with Rajat Parr. We thought it was a complete home run. The food was amazing but over three months the reservations just dwindled. There wasn’t a market for it. It would have been a big mistake for us. Raj is making wine and he still does help us.
Do you still consider restaurant Michael Mina your flagship and the most complete expression of your philosophy? Do you believe fine dining tasting menus still have a place in today’s more casual preferences? It looks like some of your signatures like the lobster pot pie and trios continue to be popular.
It will always be the flagship. The lobster pot pie will never go away. I’ve cooked it so many times and smelled and tasted it so many times but I can’t ever take it off the menu.
Hero image courtesy of James Carriere.
