Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Beechler. Brian and his wife Alexa share their story with us below:
Brian and Alexa met in 2016 when he was pursuing his dream operating a café in North Park. This venture was called Grinds & Vine Coffee Bar, where the community was the most important factor of his establishment. About a year after opening the operation, Alexa came in as a guest to study and have some coffee. She was quickly mesmerized by the PB&J sandwich and their delicious cold brew options. They shared some great conversations about food and life then quickly became friends, which then blossomed into something more. Who would have ever thought a PB&J, a cold brew, and a conversation would turn into love and marriage. They now reside in Ramona with their three dogs and daughter Harper Belle.
As time went on, they both realized that it was time to close the book on that awesome chapter of life and step out to write a new story. Off the Vine Dining was birthed out of a deep desire to show love and excellence to others through handcrafted meals and excellent service. Rooted in love and humility, Brian and Alexa seek to understand the challenge every client has, then offer beautifully presented, delicious solutions. Off the Vine Dining is turning moments into memories by crafting really good food served by really good people.
Through love, care, and attention to detail, Off the Vine Dining was created to serve others to the fullest.
As a San Diego native, Brian has enjoyed creating memorable experiences in the restaurant industry for 26+ years. He’s learned that the necessary ingredients for a happy stomach is maintaining high standards, providing great customer service, and offering a flavorful menu. At the heart of Off the Vine Dining is authenticity, friendliness, and love. This is evidenced by the close relationships that Brian and his staff have with each and every guest who comes in contact with them, for they believe that, “When you’re dining with us, your family.”
When you try one of our creations, don’t give all the praise to Brian just yet. After a lifetime of shadowing his biggest role model and his most inspirational chef, Brian credits his father with all he knows as he, “Learned from the best.”
When Brian is not grinding with Off the Vine Dining, you can find him creating memories with his wife Alexa, their daughter Harper, and their fur babies, Walter, Cabbie, and Leroy. Brian credits Alexa for turning his life around, and states “She is hands down the best thing ever to happen to me, and I thank God every day for her entering my life”. It is Alexa that introduced Brian to Awaken Church, where Brian’s life has been radically transformed since surrendering his life to God. Here is where you will find Brian every Sunday as he has the honor to cook for the worship team, whom he credits with healing his heart during his moments of greatest need. While God is the centerpiece of the Beechler household, wine and food are a close second! You can find their family wine tasting around San Diego County, Paso Robles, or simply hanging out at their beautiful home relaxing and enjoying mother nature; of course, with wine and food! He is kind of a wine and food pairing guru. If Brian is not doing either of those things, you can usually find him at Petco BallPark. As an avid baseball fan, his passion and expertise in service can all be traced back to the ballpark. Growing up playing and loving baseball, he learned how to be a team player and build long-lasting relationships.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Absolutely not, haha. This has been one of the most interesting and challenging experiences of a lifetime. You see, I had no culinary or BOH (back of house) training before, nor did I ever work for a catering company before either. So, the processes, recipes, and the foundation had to be created. So, we just honestly started creating as we went and served our guests. We focused on our culture as the most integral part and foundation of our business. We launched in August of 2019, then COVID hit. That was an interesting time where we pivoted and focused on food deliveries and some events that still were taking place. We just maintained our faith in what we knew best, serve our guests with love, excellence, and be consistent! Now our biggest challenge is ahead of us as we’re growing quickly and figuring out the best way to scale. We believe and trust our employees very much, now it’s time to set them up for success and allow them to breathe our culture into the city by themselves.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Being that I have no formal culinary training or degree, I like to consider myself as a “Creator of Deliciousness” as opposed to being a chef. I love making food, and love serving it!!! I absolutely have a servant heart and love to create memorable experiences with anybody who hires us. Our passion is wine and food pairings, I nerd out in those environments. I was very blessed to work at some amazing restaurant establishments where I was a waiter, and we really focused on suggestive selling and having wine knowledge to do so. Taking a dish and suggesting a certain wine that can elevate a meal to another degree, is so much fun. I love to see food and wine dance with one another and wow our guests.
Another sphere that we specialize in is weddings, we’ve served too many to count, which is a good thing. I feel the most important thing we want our clients to know is that they don’t need to worry about anything on their special day. We handle it all for them, and it’s a stress-free experience from start to finish.
I’m most proud of our culture that we have set with our staff and enable them to serve from the heart. The backbone of our business is built on I Corinthians 16:14, “Do all things with Love” this has been a foundational principle with our company. Not only do we have great customer service, but our food tastes delicious, and we also ensure the presentation is at another level. It’s an overall experience from start to finish, it’s not just food showing up to be served.
We’d love to hear about what you think about risk-taking.
Yes, we are risk-takers that’s for sure!! I remember the time we were asked to cater a conference for 700+ people, I said yes of course! It took some serious planning and preparation to make sure the event went extremely well, and without any hiccups. And, our staff handled it so well, probably one of the most gratifying moments we’ve had. Now we’re getting ready for an event with 1000+ people in a couple months. The key is digging deep and knowing you are mentally strong enough to handle certain situations and that we’re built for this. Always, plan for the worst and expect the best, which always seems to be the outcome once planned well. We’re not about taking big risks, but we do them if we feel prompted to do so. We’re stepping into taking a risk this month, where we just created an Al Fresco dining experience in Ramona. Super excited to see this blossom into something amazing, but it’s a scary thing! Follow us on instagram to see how our new chapter unfolds!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.offthevinedining.com
- Instagram: @offthevinedining
- Facebook: @offthevinedining
- Twitter: @offthevineSD
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/off-the-vine-dining-san-diego
