Lauren Greene: creating a place people want to be
Lauren Greene and her husband, Jason, take the best trips.
Call it research. The owners of Grove Cafe & Market go on at least one journey a year to do what they call “our express dine-around,” in which they visit as many as 10 restaurants in a day “to check out the food scene.”
“We try to hit as many places as we can,” Greene says. “At 4:30, we’re getting an appetizer at this place, and then we jump in a cab, and at 5:30, we have an appetizer at this place.
“I just love to be in successful places that have really strong brands and … to just absorb what’s happening,” she said. “It’s just fun to kind of get out in the real world.”
Greene detoured from managing huge hotel service operations in Las Vegas, Nev., (the Bellagio and Mirage resorts) to the restaurant side of the hospitality industry after she met her husband, a chef who creates the dishes featured at their restaurant. The couple also are acting as “concept developers” to help plan the Sawmill Market, envisioned as an artisan food market in a former lumber warehouse.
Greene, who graduated from La Cueva High School after moving here from Chicago, knew she and her husband wanted to open a restaurant, but she never envisioned doing so in Albuquerque.
What made the difference was seeing the “completely dilapidated” inside of the spot near High Street and Central where she opened the breakfast and lunch spot that specializes in locally grown ingredients.
“We walked in here, and we got really energized by the fact that it was in this urban neighborhood that was going through a revitalization,” Greene said. “That was something we were interested in — to be in a neighborhood that was up-andcoming out from under the rubble.”
And while the Greenes are devoted connoisseurs, their passion for the finer things has gotten only partially passed on to the next generation.
“Our daughter is a total foodie, the real deal,” Greene said. “For her birthday, she asked for a bowl of mussels and sourdough grilled bread. But our son is mac and cheese all the way. Mac and cheese and chicken fingers, he’s happy.”
What brought you to the world of hospitality?
I would say I’m heavily influenced by my grandparents. They owned a travel agency, and they traveled the world. I thought that was so incredible that they would go to these places and they wanted to be among the local scene, eat the local food. So I think I got the thirst for wanting to understand other cultures, kind of be in that vibe. I feel that totally translates into hospitality. You create this vibe, this atmosphere that people kind of love being in.
What would you be doing if it wasn’t this?
I love people. I love listening to people and talking to people, and I love taking care of people, so … a therapist, perhaps. Sometimes I think I could have been in the life coach area, motivational speaking. But then sometimes I think I need a life coach.
It sounds like you’ve traveled a lot. What are your favorite places?
Well, I want to travel more. Let me be very clear, Ellen, we traveled a lot — until we opened the Grove. The Grove put a little bit of a dent in my travel. We were able to go to Italy about a year before we opened, and it was one of those give-me-chills moments. All the fresh food, and the farmers bringing it to the markets, and placing tomatoes right there.
What are your favorite foods?
Dark chocolate with nuts, or just great dark chocolate. I also love cheese. … I’m a sucker for ice cream. It’s always been in the back of our minds, maybe we should open an ice cream shop.
What do you not like?
Once in a while, Jason will want to go to a restaurant that is really wellknown, and it’s kind of fine dining and everything gets real scientific and molecular, and they have all these different techniques. I’m like, man, I wish we had just a really beautiful roasted chicken right now. I like it to be just real good food. I want to be able to pronounce it.
What were your food influences growing up?
I’m 50/50 Italian, Polish. So I grew up eating those two very distinct cuisines. At my Italian grandma’s house, every Sunday she made roasted chicken, Italian-style potatoes, pasta, salad. A huge meal. My Polish grandma was making pierogis (and) a Polish-style noodle with butter and sauerkraut. A totally different scene over there.
Any hobbies?
I love gardening. I have a little urban garden in my backyard, so I get super-pumped for gardening season. I like to be outdoors. We love to go hiking anytime we can, camping, paddleboarding,
if there’s a lake nearby.
What are your favorite restaurants, besides the Grove, of course?
I love so many types of food and restaurants, I seriously cannot name just one. I might just say any place that has rosé, great food and where the service just makes me happy.
What are your pet peeves?
When things are dirty, it makes me crazy. I have to have things organized and clean. It makes me feel very out of control when things are dirty. Maybe I have a touch of OCD, which I think is a plus if you own a restaurant.
What’s the most difficult thing you’ve ever done?
Other than raising children? I would say probably this business right here. It’s a continual learning experience, operating a business that you want to be incredibly successful. I think that allowing yourself to get pushed down and bring yourself back up and learn the hard way — sometimes, you know, you make mistakes and come back from them.
Is there something about you that no one knows?
“That I am completely obsessed with the ocean, love to scuba dive and once came face to face with a bull shark on a free dive in the Caribbean.”
Do you have any superstitions?
Yes, from the Italian side of my family. All kinds of weird things. Like the door you go into in a home, you should always go out that same door. So if you happen to walk through the garage because the door’s open, you have to go out that way. So that’s kind of weird.
What’s an important lesson you had to learn?
I definitely had a great childhood, a great family and parents who worked hard. I maybe in my mind didn’t realize how hard you have to work to give your family all of those things. Life throws curveballs, and you can’t be too delicate. I was a very sensitive child, and I think as I got older, I thought, “What is this going to do to me, the sensitivity?” I needed to turn it around somehow, (so) I let it fuel my empathy and caring for others.
Describe yourself in three words.
Optimistic, enthusiastic (Sometimes I’m too enthusiastic and my friends are like, “Lauren, stop, it’s not that good; it’s just a cheap place.”) and reliable.