Copita Tequileria y Comida

Copita is delighted to welcome back Aaron Sabido as our new Executive Chef. Aaron worked for Copita for many years as a sous-chef before going on to lead several kitchens in Marin County. His background includes positions in the kitchens of some of Marin’s most celebrated chefs including Roland Passot (Left Bank), Goetz Boje (Cacti) and Jeff Cerciello (Farmshop). Aaron’s original inspiration for his culinary career came from his mother who he helped make tamales and empanadas with and then sold around the historic Peto in southern Yucatán, where Aaron was raised. He immigrated to the United States at sixteen and now resides in Marin with his family.

Joanne Weir is a celebrity chef, having recently completed 26 episodes for her award-winning PBS cooking series, “Plates & Places”, filmed on location along the Mediterranean.  Joanne’s curiosity and passion for good food combine for a thrilling culinary adventure.  This series airs  nationally and marks Joanne’s 20th year anniversary on PBS. Prior to launching her publishing, television and teaching career, from 1985 to 1990, Joanne worked at Chez Panisse, one of the most acclaimed restaurants in the United States. Joanne’s first book, From Tapas to Meze (Crown, 1994) was selected by Julia Child as one of her 12 personal favorites out of 1000 cookbooks published that year. Her talents were then showcased in the PBS series “Weir Cooking in the Wine Country”, shot on location in the Napa Valley. The companion book, “Weir’s More Cooking in the WineCountry” (Simon & Schuster, 2001) went on to garner a James Beard Award nomination and an IACP Cookbook Award nomination.

Joanne’s adopted hometown of San Francisco was the culinary setting for “Weir Cooking in the City”, her 26-part PBS series and companion book (Simon & Schuster, 2004) for which she received a James Beard Award for Best Cookbook. A completely revised version of From Tapas to Meze (Ten Speed Press, 2004) won the 2004 Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Best Mediterranean Cookbook.

Joanne is the author of 17 cookbooks but One of her most recent book is an exciting all-in-one reference guide, TEQUILA: A Guide to Types, Flights, Cocktails and Bites (Ten Speed Press, 2009). This book was the inspiration for Copita and is a significant resource for Copita. You can purchase your own copy and Joanne will be glad to sign it for you when you visit Copita. For more information regarding Joanne, please visit her website.

Growing up in culture rich Chicago, IL, surrounded by culinary enthusiasts, it is no surprise that Amy Svendberg ended up leading a life in restaurants. Amy not only has a zest for food and wine, but also has experience in top-rated eateries from all around the world.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in French Business and Translation from Northern Illinois University, Amy headed straight for Paris, where her true passion for food and hospitality came to life. After five years in the lively restaurant world of Paris, Amy returned home to Chicago, continuing her career in food and hospitality, including four years as the general manager at Kimpton Group’s Atwood Café.

By 2007, Amy made her move to San Francisco, where she started at the famed Grand Café and soon crossed paths with Larry Mindel. “I was originally drawn to work for Larry due to his great reputation in the restaurant industry, the beauty of Sausalito and the outstanding talent in their kitchen,” says Amy. Her Parisian-instilled ideals of seasonal cuisine and the craft of creative dishes with locally-available ingredients were met in Poggio and its Certified Organic Garden.

Since becoming managing partner of Poggio in January of 2008, Amy has poured herself wholeheartedly into every aspect of the dining experience from greeting guests at the door, to serving plates, to regularly collecting feedback from servers on how to offer the best possible environment for guests. “My continual goals as the managing partner are to help create a memorable experience for each guest and to showcase what makes our restaurants so special through warm and personable service.”

In 2012, Amy added another role to her successful career, that of managing partner overseeing the opening and operations of Copita. 

Amy led the successful opening of Convivo at the newly remodeled Santa Barbara Inn in 2016. In addition to serving breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week, Convivo also provides catering and room service for the AAA Four Diamond hotel. Those at the Four Diamond level, just 6.3 percent of AAA inspected & approved hotels, must be "refined and stylish with upscale physical attributes, extensive amenities and a high degree of hospitality, service and attention to detail."

Overseeing three successful restaurants 300 miles apart is no easy feat but Amy does find time to climb some of North America's highest peaks and spend quality time with family and friends.

Larry Mindel has been at the forefront of the dining industry for over 40 years. Deeply influenced by the culinary traditions of Italy, his trailblazing restaurants influenced California’s dining zeitgeist. He began his career by selling instant coffee to local retail merchants in the Ann Arbor area while a student at the University of Michigan. He branded it “University Hall.”

Larry’s career took root in San Francisco with his purchase of venerable Caswell Coffee Company (founded, 1829) for 1 million dollars in 1963. He was 26 years old and had $36.00 in the bank. Emboldened by youthful naiveté, he overestimated his power of negotiating! Unable to bring the price down, he raised the money they requested, primarily from a local bank. With passion and hard work, Caswell doubled in size for 3 years. In the 4th year, he took a leap of faith and made a 15 million dollar commitment to become the exclusive buyer of Kona coffee from Hawaii. They locked in a set price and branded it as a premium product, “Kona Coffee”. Subsequently, Caswell’s success attracted a bidding war between larger Midwestern coffee companies anxious to gain a foothold in the rapidly growing West Coast market.

Following the sale of Caswell, Larry co-founded Spectrum Foods with the purchase of Chianti restaurant in Los Angeles. He and his business partner transformed Chianti from a failing trattoria into a restaurant with the most coveted seats in Los Angeles. Under Larry's direction, Spectrum created 14 trend setting restaurants in California. These included Ciao, with one of the nation’s first exhibition pasta-making stations, and Prego featuring a wood-fired pizza oven in the dining room. Both innovations were the result of spatial problem solving. In 1984, Saga Corporation acquired Spectrum Foods and Larry served as President of the Saga Restaurant Group, overseeing more than 200 restaurants generating a combined $375 million in annual revenue.

Upon the merger of Saga with Marriott in 1986, Larry departed and acquired Il Fornaio, negotiating the deal on the back of a napkin. At that time they were a collection of six money-losing small Italian bakeries in California. Under his direction, Il Fornaio reorganized every aspect of the operation into a bakery-backed restaurant and within ten months the first Il Fornaio Cucina Italiana e Panetteria opened in Corte Madera, California to overwhelming public and critical acclaim. By 2008 Il Fornaio operated twenty-two restaurants with annual revenues of $145 million.

Larry was the first American and the first person of non-Italian descent to be awarded the Caterina de Medici Medal from the Italian government, recognizing excellence in the preservation of Italian heritage outside of Italy. He opened Poggio Trattoria in 2003 near his home in Sausalito as the ultimate expression of his passion for Italy. For the past decade it has been a highly acclaimed, three-starred top-ranked San Francisco Bay area restaurant. In 2012, as the result of a contested margarita making competition between Larry and Joanne Weir, they co-founded Copita Tequileria y Comida together.

In 2016, Larry created Convivo Restaurant and Bar in the Santa Barbara Inn. The acclaimed restaurant was featured in the New York Times' 52 Places to Visit in 2019. In addition to serving breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week, Convivo also provides catering and room service for the AAA Four Diamond hotel. Those at the Four Diamond level, just 6.3 percent of AAA inspected & approved hotels, must be "refined and stylish with upscale physical attributes, extensive amenities and a high degree of hospitality, service and attention to detail," a description as good as any for all the restaurants Larry has brought to life over the span of an amazingly successful career. 

In his spare time, Larry serves on the board of the Cheesecake Factory, Inc., enjoys fishing and spending time with his family.