Linda Edson
CHEF-OWNER
With a deep passion for not having to wash dishes at night for her massive family or having to endure eating hamburger helper (brother's favorite thing to cook), Linda traded dish duties with her siblings, for cooking, and developed an intense love for planning menus, creating recipes, and producing dinners and events for her family of 15 kids. As a teenager she could often be found at bookstores reading cookbooks, with a fond memory of reading a new book called "The French Laundry Cookbook" for the first time cover to cover. Shortly after she decided she wanted to go to a school for cooking, with no clue it could be a career.
Born and raised in Argentina to an American dad and French mom, her background has a mix of many cultures and experiences, which contributes to the mix of flavors she enjoys incorporating into the menu. At 17 years old she landed in the Bay Area to go to culinary school in San Francisco. With stints in New York + Kansas City she made her way back to the Bay and proceeded to stage at some of the finest restaurants including Masa's, Campton Place, The French Laundry and Michael Mina's.
During her time working at Gary Danko's she fell in love with a cafe in Potrero Hill called Axis Cafe and spent a lot of time thinking of ways to improve it, although she was convinced she would be in fine dining for life and had plans of traveling all throughout Europe to work at the best restaurants. However, life had other plans and after being asked for months to come work at this cafe she finally made the decision to leave fine dining. Eventually becoming co-owner and then taking over the business entirely and changing the name to Aracely, her daughter's middle name.
In 2014 the space in Potrero Hill was demolished and the cafe was relocated to Treasure Island. One year later while pregnant with baby number 2, Linda quietly opened Aracely Cafe on Treasure Island
This year, 2024, and opportunity opened up to take over the space on Prospect Ave that was previously a piano bar. In about 2.5 months the space was transformed into a space for people to enjoy brunch, dinner, drinks and host private events.
While her passion for food + great wine is still high, a passion for people is what drives her now. She is so grateful to be able to create spaces that people can come together, have some great conversations, moments, memories and experiences with others.
Franky Garcia
Executive sous Chef
Bio coming soon!