Justine seems to have stumbled upon one of the best gigs in town. The sociology and criminal justice major was taking a break from working at the Restorative Justice Center in Boston when she decided to move to San Francisco and start working in restaurants. She landed a role behind the counter at Souvla part-time and quickly got to know Charles Bililies, the owner, and Jen Pelka-Bililies, his wife and owner of Magnum PR.  The next four years is history: Justine was promoted to the first ever Souvla Supervisor role, then the first Manager role, and as the fine casual Greek phenomenon grew, Justine helped open the second location and became the General Manager of all San Francisco locations. Most recently, Justine was promoted to Service Director when the third location opened. 

ON HER IDEAL DAY OFF:

I embrace being out and about in San Francisco. My favorite days are the rare very hot days. If I can catch the weather on a day off and get to Baker Beach with a picnic basket, that’s what I love to do. I like to get up and out early to be there in the morning hours, leaving the afternoon open for a happy hour and early dinner.

I usually go to Bi-Rite to fill the picnic basket. I always pack grapes and whatever beautiful fruit is in season. Baby carrots and hummus are great for another healthy option. I always do this really good Italian sandwich that I love and is great to share. There’s this salt cod brandade that I eat with  Dosa chips, sold at Bi-Rite, and it is an amazing combo. All the snacks. And rosé, of course!

I try to be a good reader so beach bag staples are a good book and music. I’m currently reading This is How by Augusten Burroughs and I just finished the new Dave Eggers book, Heroes of the Frontier. I have a travel backgammon board so I usually play backgammon games on the beach and sometimes throw a ball around with friends.

ON FITNESS:

I try to keep active so that I can consume greek fries on a daily basis. On the beach days, I’ll start with a jog and some body weight exercises in the sand. Yoga and fitness in general are a priority for me. I just did a month-long unlimited membership at Yoga Garden. They offer a lot of classes between 7am and 8pm so it’s easy to find one that works with a busy schedule. The classes run the gamut from being really athletic and intense to more low-key. Sometimes, when you are worn out from a physical or stressful job, it’s hard to get into a fast-paced intense workout headspace, but I can always get myself to a mellow candlelit yoga class. Love Story Yoga is a beautiful space that has hot yoga, which is great for when you need to go just sweat it out and detox.

ON PYG-ING:

My boyfriend and I have been trying to explore different SF neighborhoods. He has a blog called Poor Young Gentleman where he highlights places that are budget friendly in an expensive city. So we’ll do a lot of what we call “PYG”ing - where we go out and try a lot of different places in one neighborhood and share one dish at each place.

Yesterday, we went to the Mission and spent the day on 24th Street. We checked out Whiz Burgers and Sycamore, which is an awesome beer bar with a great patio. We also went to Krispy Krunchy Chicken on Van Ness, which I had never heard of before but is this great fried chicken place located in a gas station.

Last week, we spent half a day in the Inner Sunset. We got the chicken curry pho at PPQ, also know as the #8 and it is just so special and different.

ON HER DAILY GO-TOS:

I go to Media Noche all the time. It’s a pretty space and I love the verde salad with the black bean soup. If I have a burger craving, I go to 4505 on Divisadero. The Mill is great for breakfast meetings or post-yoga pizza slices. It’s hard for me to walk by The Mill and not get a slice of pizza. Wise Sons just opened in Hayes Valley and I’ve had to ration the amount of bagels I eat every week, which is difficult because I want one every day.

ON HER SHOE CHOICE:

My Doc Martens help me run 3 restaurants across the city. It’s embarrassing but I probably have 5 or 6 pairs of Doc Martens in my closet at all times.

ON THE FINE CASUAL CATEGORY:

To me, fine casual is an experience that’s more elevated than your casual, cafeteria-style, counter service place. Any restaurant that emphasizes great food, beautiful design, and really great customer service can be considered fine casual. Media Noche hits the nail on the head in this category.

ON WHERE SHE’S Traveling NEXT:

My dream vacation is Southeast Asia because I really want to visit Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. I would obviously love to go to Greece to try Greek wine and food firsthand. The last great vacation I went on was a week in St. John (before the hurricane). We stayed with friends and had much more of a local experience than your standard resort vacation.

ON HER FAVORITE SWEET TREATS:

I’ve been addicted to the coconut macaroons from Wise Sons. It is the perfect sweet bite. Also, Arlequin has these brioche donuts that are amazing. There’s a chocolate filled one that’s to die for and they had an Earl Gray filling once that was really, really good. But I’m much more of a salty person than a sweet person. French fries all day.

ON HER SOUVLA ORDER:

Chicken salad, greek fries, and all the yogurt sauces for extra dipping.

(opening photo credit: Kassie Borreson)