Lisa Flores, 44, came to Boston from San Antonio to attend Boston University. She put herself through college by working as a part-time hostess at Mistral, then the hottest fine-dining spot in the city — and she never left. Twenty-four years later, she’s the sales and marketing director for their Columbus Hospitality Group, which also operates Ostra, Sorellina, and Mooo. Soon, the group will switch gears a bit to open Gary’s Pizza, serving Roman-style pies and wagyu meatball sandwiches in the South End.
Flores paused to chat about her favorite back-in-the-day BU dives, her role as an instructor at BU’s hospitality administration program, and the importance of handwritten notes.
Twenty-four years is a long time to be at a job. You must like it.
I love it. I think the company has wonderful ownership. They’re really great and supportive. I really believe in everything that we do.
What makes a good restaurant group? Why has it endured? Because we hear a lot about kitchen culture being brutalizing and hard.
Our chef-owner, Jamie Mammano, is very respectful. He’s tough. His expectations are high, but he’s very respectful. If we see anything wrong, we call it out immediately.
What I love about working in the company is that when I bring input to the table, it will formalize a decision — it’s not like I’m coming to the table without anything happening and just offering an opinion. It’s: OK, how can we implement that?
We’ve really been focusing on education. We’re teaching English as a second language, making sure that our back-of-the-house staff can speak English. One woman in our office, Suzanne Krieger, is amazing. She’s been really pushing for this program to help the back of the house grow and develop. We’ve been really focused on making sure that everyone is equally seen and heard at all times: What does our staff need? Even just things like a lot of the green junior managers who don’t have as much wine education: We will pay for [wine education] classes. We’ll pay for you to get your sommelier certification. We’re going to help them get to the next level.
And, in the last three or four years, we’ve been really focused on checking in on our staff’s mental health.
What does that look like in practice?
It’s checking in and seeing: Do you feel happy at your current job? How are you doing today? It’s about remembering that everyone is human.
I think sometimes we get so robotic, running efficiently, and things can get very automatic. I always remember that human-to-human element — just checking in not only about work, but: What is your personal life like? Are you happy? If they’re in college, how are things in college? I think those things help us all really work together and understand where someone’s coming from on a day-to-day basis.
You started with Jamie straight from BU. What made you want to get into this business?
I really wanted to work in fashion. I put myself through college, and I started as a part-time hostess at Mistral junior year. I just thought everything they did was consistent. It was very organized. I just knew it would be even bigger than Mistral; I knew there would be more restaurants. I could see the dedication level and that everyone was really in it together, and I just decided to stay.
When I graduated, my parents were really concerned: You’re going to work in the restaurant business? I majored in international business. I had moved from Texas to Boston [for college], and it was very funny, because in Texas, the culture is very different for food. It’s more casual. My parents were like: “Are you going to work at Chili’s?” My whole family in Texas was very confused.
How has the food scene evolved since your Mistral days? And where do we still have some opportunities to do better?
It’s a strong community, very supportive, with younger restaurant owners.
When I started, which seems like forever ago now, it was Barbara Lynch, Lydia Shire, Jody Adams, the classic chef-owner.
Dimitri Tsolakis owns the Xenia Restaurant Group, and they’re so innovative. And there’s of course my favorite, Garrett Harker, whom I love. I think he’s wonderful. I think he’s always on the pulse. He actually connects with everyone. You reach out to him and he’ll be like: “Let’s sit down and have a coffee. Let’s talk about what’s going on.” I feel like he knows more than I do about what’s happening in Boston.
And then there’s Kevin Liu, and he owns Matsunori Handroll Bar. The product is incredible. And I’m very particular about where I’m eating.
I love fine dining. I really wish there were more fine dining restaurants, because I find that it’s us, maybe Contessa, and maybe a few others. La Padrona is doing an incredible job, too, and they’re local, which I love. I just wish there were more local [fine dining] restaurant owners expanding in our space.
Where do you eat when you’re not working?
Kaia is amazing. I try to go there every couple of weeks. I think the menu is so consistent. The scene is amazing. And Garrett Harker is a good friend, so I love to support him. I go to Eastern Standard, and they just opened a new restaurant, Standard Italian, which is incredible. They’re doing these great Sunday specials, like chicken parmesan, two for 48 bucks, which I find to be a deal.
And I went to this great restaurant on Friday — have you heard of it? — Merai. Boong [owner Chompon Boonnak] is amazing. It’s tucked a little farther away, and the food is incredible. As soon as we sat down, five dishes came out. There was salmon crudo that was incredible. There were these little tuna nachos that were amazing. [Boong] kept saying: “This is our dive bar!” And I was like, this is a really elevated dive bar!
Tell me about Gary’s Pizza. Who’s Gary?
It’s so random. It’s the middle name of Chef Jamie and our other owner, Paul Roiff. It doesn’t even sound Italian, but they think it’s funny.
Chef Jamie had gone to Rome and had this pizza: light, rectangular, so completely different in shape. And he wanted to do a really high-quality pizza with super gourmet toppings and make it something very much for the neighborhood, right? This is for families on the go. You can stop by to pick up a pizza and it’s a larger, hearty slice.
The cool one that I think you would like is a spring asparagus pizza with a salt-cured egg yolk. It’s my favorite pizza right now. We’re also doing a wagyu meatball sub, which is going to be incredibly delicious.
Speaking of lower-brow food: Where did you hang out when you were at BU?
We did Cornwall’s a lot. And Maluken, the karaoke spot in Kenmore. It was a very divy Japanese restaurant with old-school furniture and very inexpensive. You could go there, drink, and stay there all night and do karaoke at the table.
And now you teach Introduction to Food and Beverage Management at BU. What advice do you give your students?
I always give them a couple of pieces. One is to network and maintain relationships. It’s such a digital era right now. I think that students think that they can just email someone, say hello, and that’s how they form a relationship. But it’s meeting for a coffee, sending a thank-you card when someone meets with you — a handwritten note, which is such a lost art form. I wish I had done that when I was younger. I wasn’t so great at it, but I would say in the last 20 years, I’ve really learned that it’s all about maintaining your relationships — not only making them but maintaining them. I think that’s been very helpful to me in my career and just in life in general.
Quick question time: What food do you never want to eat again?
I hate broccoli and cauliflower. I feel like everyone’s using cauliflower puree right now. I hate that taste.
When you’re not working, where else will we find you?
I actually teach etiquette courses to first-generation Americans. I’m half-Korean and half-Mexican, so I’m from two very different cultures. Boston University’s administration reached out and asked me to teach first-generation students on modern business dining etiquette. And that was something that I knew, right? I grew up using a lot of chopsticks and eating with my hands, eating tacos, and so I really didn’t know how to properly use a knife and a fork in a setting like Mistral. I really taught myself how to properly use silverware. I remember watching as diners came into the restaurant: “This is how they’re sitting; this is how they’re standing.”
I volunteer my time. I actually have [a class] on Thursday in front of 60 students, and I just teach them very casually. It’s also the confidence-building piece. This is not about: You don’t know how to use your fork properly. This is about being confident at the dinner table, where you’re getting interviewed or with your colleagues or potential clients. I love it. I think it’s been really impactful.
What’s the biggest etiquette faux pas?
People are always taking someone else’s water, wine glass, or napkin accidentally. I see it all the time, even in business dinner settings. But if it happens: It’s OK! Just notify a server.
Interview was edited and condensed.
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com. Follow her @kcbaskin.