Bistro owner Kimberly Walker says she wanted to create a space for customers to enjoy the unique atmosphere and have a glass of wine paired perfectly with the cheese plate or tapas, enhancing the flavors and notes in the wine.
Walker also owns Barracha, a company that manufactures wine wipes, which remove the stains from teeth caused from drinking red wine.
Walker, recently back from a week-long surf safari in Mexico, also writes an adventure column for Central Coast Magazine. She says she has always wanted the opportunity for a restaurant.
The bistro was named Granada Bistro after the Granada building which became available in March making it the “perfect opportunity to do something that I said I’ve always wanted to do,” Walker said.
Perhaps one of Walker’s favorite things about the bistro is the intimacy. Customers are able to connect with one another with good company, she said. “It’s so small, and that’s the reason people love it so much,” she said.
“I’ve been coming to Granada since the day it opened,” said John Galbreth, former restaurant owner and San Luis Obispo. “I’ve traveled all over Europe cooking in restaurants. The space Kimberly created definitely has the same European feel.”
The bistro is also a place where friends can meet up before dinner, or have a glass of wine, feeling like you never left your house, Galbreth said.
“You get a group of like-minded individuals all coming on their own, but they end up almost having a dinner party. It’s really cool to be a part of,” Walker said.
Located directly across from the bistro is Walker’s other business manufacturing wine wipes — a new way to wipe that red wine film left on the teeth and lips after drinking red wine.
“Barracha,” the Spanish word for intoxicated woman, has a different meaning to Walker. Instead it represents being intoxicated with certain enjoyments in life, with whatever it is you love to do most in life.
Shortly after Walker’s personal experience with red wine where the residue from the pigment left her mouth purple, she wanted something to solve the problem.
“I love red wine, but I don’t like having that stain on my teeth and mouth. One night after drinking too much red wine I thought, why couldn’t I invent something to get rid of that?” Walker said.
The teeth become porous after drinking a lot of red wine, and dentists don’t recommend brushing the teeth after drinking, so a formula was created in order to be safe on the enamel. The product was eventually created and approved by the FDA and CDC after collaborating with dentists and product development teams, Walker said.
Wine wipes can be found at wine tasting shops, grocery stores, large chains stores like Bevmo, and on the Internet. After being on the market for a year, the product continues to grow every month and will eventually be sold throughout Europe, Walters said.
Besides staying busy with her two businesses, Walker makes sure she finds the opportunity to travel whenever she can.
“I love to travel,” Walker said. “I’ve been all over Africa, Central America, Europe. I think my favorite thing to do is traveling and exploring.”
Her experiences with the column have led her in some interesting situations.
“(This has been a) huge highlight in my life (because) it’s so much fun,” Walker said.
“I get to go do all different sorts of outdoor activities,” Walker said. “I’ve done things like finding hiking trails to turning off TVs at local restaurants and bars.”
The bistro has given the perfect opportunity for Walker to express her love for traveling the world and sharing it with a small town like San Luis Obispo. Although all of the wine is imported, the produce is from local farmers and her employees are all local residents.
After traveling the Caribbean as a chef on a dive boat for the past year, Kimberly Lemmons happened to be on land and stumbled across Granada Bistro looking for a job.
“It was a pleasant surprise when I came back to town,” Lemmons said. “I do like working here. It’s fun.”
Lemmons works as a chef both on dive boats and at the Bistro, adding her expertise in preparing food for the bistro which reminds her of Europe, Lemmons said.
Walker made sure to keep the price of wine by the glass at $8.00 to prevent people from choosing the cheapest wine and not being able to enjoy something that hasn’t been tasted and experienced before.
“This encourages people to try something new, and hopefully our customers learn something about the wines and something they might not have chosen,” Walker said.
The food includes cheese plates, tapas, paninis and cupcakes featured by Amy bakes cupcakes by Amy Okane who has been recognized by The New Times, The Tribune and Taste magazine.
All of the food is simple and the flavors are traditional with a twist, Walker said.
“The influence (of the bistro) was definitely from places I’ve been through travel, just those small little cafes that you spend hours enjoying some wine and a panini,” Walker said.
Granada Bistro is located at 1126 Morro Street, and can be followed on Facebook and Twitter at @Granadabistro.