Urbanite
Andrea Valenzuela
The Natural
text by Gabriel Cothes
The restaurant business is brimming with people who love to talk
themselves up. They are their own heroes and they would crown
themselves king or queen if they could. No one is to blame; it
is a perk of a highly social and energized industry. After all, I
have been one of those people for years. Some, however, are just
not that way. Andrea Valenzuela is cut from a different cloth.
Highly successful and ever humble, this girl has always been
short on talk and long on action. We meet at Serpentine, a local
haunt for the Dog Patch crowd. Andrea has lived in this up-andcoming, industrial swath for almost two years. Her roommate
and best friend tends bar across the street. She feels right at
home. Oysters arrive just as I sit down; we are cozied up to the
bar. Today is her day off, and high on her list of priorities are food
and drink. “Oysters, tons of horseradish, and beer! Such a good
way to go!” She declares with a little grin.
“I love everything about it, never sitting still. The mix
of it all. The fact that it becomes a lifestyle,” Ms. Valenzuela
declares. This woman has not left a single industry stone
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unturned. She has even waded through crowds of rowdy
Giant’s fans, serving food and drink to the loudest bid. Andrea
perfected craft cocktails while behind the stick at the highly
respected Town Hall. She has been a server, a manager, and
now, simply put, she is the top dog. After joining the highly successful restaurant team of Anna Weinberg and James Nicholas,
her ascension was quick. After spending brief stints at Cavalier
and North Beach’s Park Tavern, Andrea was tapped to reopen
and run Marlowe. Marlowe requires a special touch. A SOMA
neighborhood bistro that opened in 2010, this restaurant has a
devoted following and has been critically acclaimed. Keeping up
with it would challenge the most seasoned of staff, and Andrea
would not have it any other way. “This wouldn’t be fun if it all
went right, all of the time. Finding ways to work it all out, that’s
what I love.” Andrea shakes her head a bit and smiles. “I don’t
know any other industry. This is me. This is what I do.” And
believe me, what she does, she does very, very well.