Today we’d like to introduce you to Kris Warren.
Hi Kris, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
An’s is really the story of four best friends who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Travis and I have known each other since we were kids, and I met David, our chief gelato officer, right after I graduated from UCSD and moved to Europe for a couple of years. David was a gelato scooper but was working his way up in the business, eventually working with Michelin restaurants and celebrity chefs across Spain, Italy, and France. Jimmy came into the friend group through Travis, back when the two of them were in law school together.
For years, David would visit me in San Diego and half-joke that with our year-round weather, we were sitting on the perfect place for a gelato shop especially compared to Barcelona, where shops like his would have to shut down every winter. Eventually the joke turned serious, and in 2017 we found a 1930s storefront in North Park that had been a dry cleaner for over a decade. We hadn’t landed on a name yet, and one night, kind of as a throwaway idea, Keenan Hartsten, our designer, suggested just keeping the old dry cleaning sign. We laughed, then got quiet, then realized it might actually work.
Then over the course of the next few years, one location has now become five, each having its own unique immersive experience. Somewhere along the way, USA Today started noticing us too, and we’ve now been named the best ice cream shop in the country for two years and in the top two for four years.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There are always issues with construction, day-to-day operations, ingredient sourcing, call outs, etc. but those come with the territory. We were all working a lot of hours balancing family with multiple jobs and not getting paid. That was stressful and exhausting, but I can’t complain. We’ve been lucky that people like our product and enjoy the experience at An’s. That’s always been true.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think we’re a hospitality company first. Yes, we have made-from-scratch, small-batch gelato with a menu that rotates every couple of weeks, so there’s always something new to try. Our CGO (Chief Gelato Officer) learned the craft in Europe, so the quality bar is genuinely high, not just a line we say. But all of our discussions are about the experience at An’s and the gelato is one part of that. We also take each guest on a “flavor tour” where they get to try all of our gelatos every time they come in. It’s like wine tasting.
Each of our shops has its own identity. Once we committed to keeping the “An’s Dry Cleaning” name, it felt disingenuous to walk in and slap our own personality over the top of it, so we leaned into the building or the area or the personality of the neighborhood to create something unique in each location. The flavors maintain that personality and theme for each location, so in the case of An’s Dry Cleaning, they are named after fabrics, the tables are shaped like ironing boards, and we kept as much of the original 1934 space intact as we could. Every location since has followed that same idea: An’s Hatmakers in Del Mar, An’s Athletic Field Services at Petco Park, An’s Electronics Repair in Ocean Beach, and now An’s Gate D5 in Oceanside occupying the historic Top Gun House.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I’m happiest when we create something new and refuse to cut corners, whether it’s a flavor, a collaboration, a shop, or a guest experience. I love the process of obsessing over every detail, putting in the hard work, and doing everything possible to make it the absolute best it can be. Seeing that effort become something people genuinely enjoy and share with the community is incredibly rewarding.
Pricing:
- All our shops have their version of a 3oz small (carry on, short, kilobyte, etc.) which is $6.65
- Large 5oz which is $7.75
- Pint $13.50
- Fresh made vanilla waffle cone $8.45
- Pricing does not include tax
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ansgelato.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ansgelato/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ansgelato
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ans-dry-cleaning-san-diego-4?osq=An%E2%80%99s+Dry+Cleaning
