Inside Glen Ellen Inn

Posted from Glen Ellen, CA

We’ve enjoyed dining at Glen Ellen Inn. Owners Chris and Karen Bertrand kindly shared their story.

Chef Chris and Karen Bertrand on the patio

When Chef Chris and Karen Bertrand opened Glen Ellen Inn 20 years ago, Chris literally chased their first customer down the street.

After years of working multiple restaurant jobs and pinching pennies to realize their dream of owning their own place, they bought Glen Ellen Inn. In a wildly ambitious turnaround schedule, they planned to prep the building the day after the purchase, and then open the next day. Laughingly calling themselves “dumb young kids who just jumped in,” Karen said they needed to start making money fast and try to keep the previous establishment’s clientele.

Their would-be customer unexpectedly walked through the door on prep day when they were scrambling to get ready. He asked if they were serving lunch. Chris said they weren’t even open yet. Exasperated, the man left, complaining that all the nearby places were closed.

Sympathizing with the hungry man’s dilemma, Chris ran out the door after him. There were some tomatoes and bacon in the kitchen, Chris told him, and he offered to make him a BLT sandwich.

“That was our grand opening,” Chris chuckled. “He was happy to sit down and eat lunch, and we charged him maybe $3. He became a regular.”

The warm and inviting interior

Fast forward two decades and that same sense of camaraderie, creativity, hospitality, and receptivity to customer requests still flourishes. Now more fully called Glen Ellen Inn Oyster Grill & Martini Bar and featuring California cuisine prepared with classic French techniques, the path forward has been a steady evolution.

The building dates back to the 1940s, and morphed from a combo liquor store and beauty parlor, to a burger joint, and to an intimate four-entrée California cuisine restaurant with eight tables. The Bertrands initially continued that latter concept, gradually adding their personal imprint: lunch service; local sourcing of ingredients; espresso; house-made desserts, scones, bread, and dough; fresh pasta; hand-cut French fries; house ground and aged meats; house smoked mozzarella; slow churned ice cream; and fruit and vegetables from their own home garden.

One of the “secret” cottages behind the restaurant

They created a bar, an open kitchen, more indoor seating, outdoor seating with a garden, and four guest cottages comprising seven rooms. According to Karen, overnight accommodations seemed inevitable with Inn as part of the name.

“People called wanting to sleep here,” she said. “It was a business waiting to happen. Even the locals thought we were a bed and breakfast.”

Chefs at work

Chris sure knows his way around a kitchen. A Sonoma native, he grew up working at Mary’s Pizza Shack, a local landmark. Instead of attending culinary school, Chris further honed his culinary chops in New York City, taking on every back-of-the-house position from “busting suds” to sous chef. His self-described laid-back, surfer dude personality didn’t always jibe with the Manhattan vibe, and, homesick, he returned to his roots, where he worked for such fine restaurants as Kenwood and John Ash & Co.

Karen, who put herself through college with restaurant jobs, handles the front of the house, wine cellar, and cottages. Realizing that the local winemakers were up to here with wine, she added martinis to the bar menu, noting, “They’ve said it takes a lot of martinis to make a good wine.”

Ever gregarious, the couple built the business by chitchatting with customers.

“It’s just like coming to our house – comfortable, fun, simple, easygoing, and good fresh food.” Chris said. His mantra, “If we cook it, they will come,” certainly rings true at Glen Ellen Inn, as we can attest.