Couples Cooking Up Restaurant Success Together
Owning a restaurant is widely considered to be an exceptionally demanding business. Between long hours and being involved in decision-making for every aspect of the business, it is bound to be stressful. But when you own a restaurant with your spouse, does that create added stress or does it make things more manageable and fun? Perhaps the answer to both questions is ‘yes,’ but these couples make it look easy. The key is having fun together while working for a mutual goal, respecting your partners’ strengths and, possibly most challenging, keeping married life and work life separate.
Dave and Aimee Anoia met when she accidentally walked in on him in a unisex bathroom at Bar Marco. Dave had attended culinary school in Williamsport and then moved to California. When he moved back East, he worked at Spoon and BRGR, helping the owner to open the restaurants. When he met Aimee in 2013, she was working in marketing at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. After three or four trips to Italy, the couple decided they wanted to open an Italian restaurant. “We kind of saw a void of an all-day eatery of casual breakfast and lunch food, and sit-down pasta and entrée dinner segment,” said Aimee.
In November 2016, their dream became a reality when they opened DiAnoia’s Eatery in the Strip District, which, over the past decade, has become a wildly popular and beloved restaurant in Pittsburgh’s Italian food scene.
While Dave is in the kitchen, Aimee works behind the scenes. “I handle marketing and social media but also take care of accounting, bookkeeping, and general operational things,” she said.
The two of them have a young daughter now, and that family life complements their family-style restaurant. They believe that really knowing someone else positively affects their ability to work together. “I think it’s a great working relationship because of the fact that Aimee brings people into the business, and my aspect is keeping people coming back to the business; it’s very complementary,” said Dave.
“I think it adds an element of trust to it that maybe doesn’t exist in a regular workplace,” added Aimee. “We have to trust that the other person is doing what they need to do; we don’t really have to question that. We’re both in it for the same cause, and we both trust the other person will handle what they need to handle,” she said.
The two of them still manage to impress each other with their business skills, with Dave commenting on how remarkable Aimee’s marketing skills are. And while Aimee always knew that Dave was a good chef, she’s learned more about her husband from being his business partner.
“I learned he’s a lot more than just a chef. He’s incredibly great with numbers and with the finances of the business and making sure it’s profitable. He has a lot more to bring to the table than just great food. It was fun to see that all blossom in the process of opening the restaurant,” said Aimee.
Lena Laskaris and James Wolfe met in 2007 when they both worked at Monterey Bay Fish Grotto. Moving to Virginia, they worked for a restaurant group that was frequently, and quickly, opening restaurants. James would always make buttermilk biscuits for Lena’s family during the holidays, so when they moved back to Pittsburgh, they started selling them at farmers’ markets. That sparked the idea for Wise County Biscuits and Cafe in West Allegheny, which the couple opened in 2023.
“In the beginning, we had long nights, which felt like 24-hour days stacked on top of each other. We were both here all of the time in the beginning, and we’re still pretty much here all the time,” said Lena.
Lena takes care of all front-of-house aspects of the business, acting as general manager, while James works in the back-of-house, focusing on cooking and menu development. “We trade off being the big picture person and the little detail person, which makes a difference so that you can give that part of your brain a break,” said Lena.
But the two certainly cross paths throughout the week, as their respective jobs overlap. It’s the trust and communication developed in their marriage that translates well into their business relationship.
“Most of the time, we’re on the same wavelength, like if we’re ramping up, we’re both in the same mode at the same time. We also try to give each other some kind of ownership of our own areas. We leave each other a bit of independence. There’s a lot of trust that goes into it,” said Lena.
James added that working with your spouse means not taking anything that happens at work to heart. “You have to remember that nothing is personal; it’s all business. And at the end of the day, you clock out and you move on with it,” he said. And should any work disagreements arise, they try to resolve them within one hour.
The two get great joy out of seeing another side to each other. For Lena, she observed, “I definitely learned that James has the best work ethic of anyone I’ve ever met, so it’s always nice to see your partner doing something they are really good at. It’s a nice thing to be witness to.”
James also enjoys seeing how Lena is thriving at the restaurant. “Watching her own the front of the house, making decisions on the fly and handling customers and staff, you know you’ve made the right decision.”
Danielle Cain and Rob Hirst first became friends when they worked at a Big Burrito restaurant, Soba, eventually falling in love and marrying. Though they both had extensive backgrounds in the restaurant industry, they waited until their daughter left for college to make their restaurant dream a reality.
After East Liberty’s former YMCA had been converted into the Maverick Hotel, the couple leased the first-floor bar/lounge and dining room space, thoughtfully renovating it to become both a fun and elegant restaurant and lounge. They named the restaurant Hey Babe to reflect their own term of endearment for each other.
Having studied architecture and design, Rob took the lead on the design, working with Elizabeth Usnick from Wildman Chalmers, and currently runs the front of house and the business and accounting side, said Danielle, who worked as a chef for more than a dozen years. “I run the kitchen and events and take the lead on special menus,” she said.
So, what is it about being married that can make a good restaurant business partnership? For Rob, it’s one and the same. “We have our strengths and weaknesses, both in the business, and in life, so I feel like for me, Danielle picks up those things I’m not strong at and vice versa, and that is the same way our marriage works,” adding that communication is key in both their business and personal lives.
Danielle agreed. “Rob is my best friend in the universe, and we get along really well. We knew then that we work well together; we respect each other for that. We are friends at the base of it. If we get frustrated sometimes, it’s not at each other but just stress in general.” They know that they can count on the other to get the job done, whatever that job may be.
When you share both a business and a life, it’s hard not to talk about work at the end of the day, but the two manage to avoid any business issues from seeping into their personal lives by being good communicators.
One bonus of being in business with your spouse is seeing new sides of them. Of her husband, Danielle said, “I always knew he was a really hard worker; now I see him every day, and his work ethic is really impressive.”
And Rob is impressed watching his wife thrive in the kitchen. “We’ve both been in the restaurant business for a long time, and it is very rewarding to build this together.”
I can definitely relate to this. Working with your spouse can be really rewarding, but I’ve also found that it’s easy for work conversations to follow you home. I think having clear responsibilities and trusting each other makes a huge difference. We’ve had our share of stressful moments, but being able to work toward the same goal makes it worth it. When I’ve needed help with business credit or checking business information, I’ve also used Experian Business customer service as a resource.