The operators turning a café success into a full-service concept

Nick and Dakota Monica made their hospitality debut with Gnarwhal Coffee, a bright Santa Monica, CA café that quickly became a neighborhood anchor.

Five years later, they expanded that ethos into Companion—a Cal-Ital trattoria and listening-room-inspired restaurant built on community, creativity and chaos in equal measure. We caught up with the powerhouse husband-and-wife team to reflect on scaling up, staying sane and learning that in full service, the biggest challenge isn’t the menu—it’s yourself.

—Interview by Kelly Dobkin, edited by Lesley McKenzie

You went from running a coffee shop to opening a full-service restaurant. What led up to the decision? 

Nick: Blissful ignorance.

Dakota: Having a restaurant is something we both wanted in different versions of ourselves and together. We’ve been together for 12 years now and we’ve been thinking about it the whole time. My dad is a chef so I grew up in the service industry. He always said, "Never open up a restaurant." But I ended up marrying someone that was equally passionate about it as I was.

Nick. I actually worked for Dakota’s father and he inspired me a lot.

Dakota: Gnarwhal, our coffee shop, was like our foot into the hospitality industry, I’d say. When we were thinking about growing and scaling, we had so many ideas and were really inspired by so many groups that had multiple concepts, versus a copy-and-paste. We use all these businesses as a creative outlet; we’re both very creative people. We wanted to open up something that was different. Companion was an idea we had for a long time. When we were looking at spaces and we saw this place with a pizza oven and a full kitchen, we were like: "This is it!" The rest kind of just fell into place when we met our chef, Jack, and got the ball rolling with that.

Above: Companion. (Courtesy Emma Marie Jenkinson)

What challenges did you face when scaling up, if any?

Nick: At the end of the day, you have to give up that thought that you can be in two places at once. That’s actually the hardest part; it’s actually more emotional than it is physical or logistical. To be totally transparent, we’re still reckoning with how to do it. In one year, we have figured out what we’ve done wrong. I think now our challenge is how to do it right. I’m excited for year one into year two because we have the tools, but we just need to figure out how to use them.

As for specific challenges, it’s sh*t you can’t make up: Ice machines broken at both locations, someone steals your water pipes for copper scraps, sinks overflowing, you name it.  

Dakota: You can get pulled in a different direction every minute, so it’s about trying to keep the spirit alive without getting mired in the issues. We can’t do everything, we can't control everything. In this process of letting go, we’ve allowed this event's side of the business to flourish. They’re doing three events a month over there at Gnarwhal—chess night, jazz night, poetry night, etc. We’ve given them creative liberties. It’s cool to see that develop as a result of us letting go of the reins a little bit.

Nick: I didn’t know how to delegate at first. There is a right way to do that. You have to make a system, you have to create a training manual and sit with the person and empower them. 

Dakota: Finding the right people that want to take it to the next level of leadership and management has been more challenging. Nick is such an amazing leader that I think his lack of presence has been hard for our team. So, figuring out how everyone can feel supported with or without us.

What have you changed/adapted after being open for one year? 

Nick: Predominantly, trying to build our way out of the schedule — figuring out how to afford that. Managing cash is so much more difficult than we could have ever imagined. Taking care of yourself: your mind and your body. Small things we tweak every day like reorganizing the wine storage, reorganizing shelving and making it more efficient, the list goes on and on. At the end of the day, it’s my mindset that has changed so much. Every time you think you're working hard, the restaurant can tell you how to work harder. The right mindset is to stay positive and build in some time for yourself. 

What advice would you give to other operators who are looking to expand into full service? 

Nick: I would say make sure you take care of yourself. Expect everything to go wrong and it actually will. If you're expecting it, you’ll be prepared to deal with it. 

Dakota: Investing in collaborators. It’s priceless when you can bring people in to do things that aren’t your strength and help the business grow. And really appointing those people early on to have more space to take care of yourself to do the things that light you up inside.

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The Prep is written by Kelly Dobkin and edited by Lesley McKenzie.