Today we’d like to introduce you to Kris Warren.
Kris, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
An’s Dry Cleaning is owned by four best friends – Kris, Travis, David, & Jimmy – that have known each other for the last 15 years. David is our executive chef and has been making gelato and managing gelato shops since I met him in 2005. He is now a gelato consultant in Europe and has made gelato and designed recipes for Michelin restaurants and celebrity chefs. I (Kris) have a background in hospitality management and have opened and operated resorts and restaurants across the United States. Both Travis & Jimmy are attorneys in Southern California.
David would often come to visit me in San Diego and comment that with the year-round great weather we should open a gelato shop. Given our complementary backgrounds, it seemed to make sense the more we spoke about it.
We approached Travis & Jimmy and the team was born. One of the hardest parts was finding a space in the right neighborhood. What drew us to North Park was it felt like an area that had some history, was embraced by locals more than tourists, and seemed to have lots of character and personality.
Originally, we were going to call the shop Tre Fratelli Gelato (three brothers in Italian) but since none of us are Italian and there are four of us, that didn’t seem to make sense. At the time, we were working with a talented designer named Keenan Hartsten. It was his idea to keep the original name and embrace the history of the space. I personally really liked the idea – it was playful, genuine, and I felt it was a name that people would remember – “I got the best gelato at this dry cleaner today!” Dry cleaners also have such a strong ‘aesthetic’ in America that there were a lot of strings we could pull on such as the ironing board tables, iron napkin holders, flavors named after fabrics, etc.
The name was probably our first really big win. It was something people seemed to really be intrigued by and our pre-opening marketing was doing very well. Our Instagram was picking up lots of followers, people were signing up for our email list on our website, and the interest in our shop was growing.
David is a master when it comes to gelato. We had a list of over 300 flavor ideas that David was working on. We even took delivery of our gelato machine early and had it set up in a commercial space before An’s was ready so that we could perfect all of our flavors. We spent countless hours there trying multiple batches of the same flavor with small tweaks to get it just right. We wanted people to trust that by the time they ate our gelato we had done everything in our power to make it the best it could be.
When it comes down to it, we want to be known for two things. 1. Creating some of the most unique and delicious gelato in the world and 2. Having the best customer experience of any gelato shop in the world. I think to do this we needed to be fearless. I want our business to take risks for things we believe in.
One example is, before we opened, we consulted with lots of professionals that have been in the business for longer than we’ve been alive. They all told us we needed to serve at least 20 flavors and also serve food and drinks. This went against everything we wanted in our business. We knew how to make incredible gelato, not paninis or other food. I think to be truly amazing at something you have to be focussed on it and say no more than you say yes. So, we decided not to serve anything but gelato. Also, we decided to serve only seven flavors + a secret palate cleanser at a time. These were both risky decisions that everyone told us would not work but ended up being great choices for us.
First, by serving only seven flavors and a palate cleanser, we can let everyone taste every flavor on the menu. It also allowed us to think hard about organizing our flavors into a progressive menu so it takes each customer on a journey. We usually start with light, fruity flavors and then work our way to a bolder more complex flavor. Often we will start with light fruit sorbet and end on something like termeh (pistachio, vanilla, & saffron) or our famous plaid (honey, cinnamon, chocolate, pepper).
We noticed in our early days people want to try more flavors but are shy about asking for too much. By taking everyone on a guided tour of every flavor we eliminated this awkward feeling for our customers and provided something no one else does.
By not serving drinks or food we can put 100% of our focus on our gelato. On doing hours of research & development. On sourcing only the best ingredients — did you know we are the only F&B operation in San Diego that sources their dairy from the only local dairy in San Diego – Hollandia? the milk in our gelato was in the cow the day or two prior. It doesn’t get fresher than that. — And on creating the absolute best gelato we can.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course, we hit our fair share of challenges, such as getting permits through the city, construction issues, finding great staff, one night our gelato machine shut off and we lost all our products. But I’ve never dwelled on those. There are constant issues that arise in operating a gelato shop that is open 363 days a year. We problem solve those as they come up and focus more on moving forward, creating fantastic experiences for our customers, and serving them the best gelato that they’ve ever tasted in their lives.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I think and hope that An’s is known for serving the best gelato in San Diego. We try to push the envelope with interesting flavors but never crossing the line into what I would call novel flavors for novelty sake. One’s that probably sound like interesting PR stories, but that people might not want to eat… Like sea urchin gelato.
I also think that when you are doing something different like we are with our flavors, you need to educate. Hence our now famous “flavor tour”. While you’re in our shop, we want to take the opportunity to walk you through all of our flavors and explain to you why each one is special and what the process is/has been to create it. It makes for a fun experience.
I am most proud of the fact that we have never made a decision based on the bottom line. We run a responsible business, sure, but our big decisions are made around creating the best product and experience possible for our customers. We do not make decisions based on making more profit.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
When I was sick, my dad had a rule in the house that anyone that was sick could eat whatever they wanted. So I would always choose ice cream. It probably wasn’t the most healthy idea, but I remember loving it.
Contact Info:
- Address: An’s Dry Cleaning
3017 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116 - Website: adcgelato.com
- Phone: 619 450 6166
- Email: kris@adcgelato.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/adcgelato
- Facebook: facebook.com/adcgelato
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ans-dry-cleaning-san-diego-4
Image Credit:
In the photo, from left to right, David Aguilera, Travis Bailey, Kris Warren, Jimmy Blalock. The four owners of An’s.
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