Corporate to Culinary: Gabriela Cristian’s Recipe for Success

We spoke with restaurateur Gabriela Cristian, founder of The Warehouse Caffè and Cucina Sana, to learn about the inspiration behind her successful businesses, how she navigates her day-to-day as a hands-on owner, and how Sapaad has helped her restaurant operations thrive since day one.

Can you tell us about yourself and your role in The Warehouse Caffè?
I came to Dubai in 1990 as a textile engineer, and I worked in supply chain operation for 22 years. When I left, I wanted to do something to remember my previous career, so I thought why not open a restaurant and call it The Warehouse Caffè?

In my previous job, I was involved in system and software implementation. So when I was looking to open The Warehouse Caffè back in 2017, I knew that an intuitive software that allows me to automate and streamline repetitive tasks can provide plenty of value, so I spent a lot of time researching restaurant software. I asked my coffee bean supplier which software they were using, and they recommended Sapaad. So I thought, okay, I’m going to give that a look.

I also attended demos for restaurant management software, but Sapaad really stood out to me. I remember looking at the screen and thinking wow, it’s very intuitive and I could understand how it worked almost immediately. The other software just didn’t give me that experience.

I also loved that the initial setup for Sapaad was very easy to do on my own. I know you have a great support team, but it was pretty easy just doing it myself. I set up all the suppliers, uploaded the menu items, updated the prices, and all of that. It’s great!

Which target audience did you have in mind when you were conceptualizing the menu for The Warehouse Caffè?

When I worked in an office prior to opening The Warehouse Caffè, I found that the food options outside of our office were limited and quite expensive. So I thought, when I open my own restaurant, I want to create something for the office workers. I wanted to create a menu and set prices that would make us affordable to the average office worker, even if they choose to eat at our restaurant every day. 
Just recently, I opened a couple more shops in Jebel Ali, and one of them is Cucina Sana which is Italian for “Healthy Kitchen”. I started this because I wanted to offer a greater variety of food options for office workers. I also do catering for offices. Mostly when they have meetings and they prefer to have finger foods available.

What does a typical day at your restaurant(s) look like?

I come in early because we serve breakfast, and at the same time, we’re also preparing for the lunch rush at 11 AM. We’re like a family, and there’s plenty of teamwork involved. For example, if our barista isn’t busy serving coffee, they’re chopping up vegetables and fruits, because everyone understands that we have to be prepared for our customers, and that we’re ready to serve them as soon as they walk in.

I understand that lunch periods are short, so we need to be able to serve our customers quickly. It can be challenging, especially when multiple groups come in at the same time, but we manage. After lunch, things slow down a little so we have time to clean before we close at 5 PM. You really need to have a good system in place, in terms of SOPs as well as the restaurant management software you’re using because otherwise, you might get overwhelmed.

We have about 15 staff members now, including myself, across four different shops, and we use Sapaad in all of them. We use it for everything!

What do you think sets your restaurant apart from others in the area?

We’re very flexible with customer requests. Even if you’re looking for something outside of the menu, we’ll do our best to accommodate you as long as we have the ingredients for it. I want my customers to feel like they’re at home in my restaurant. I remember we had this one customer from Jordan who suggested that we offer a chicken musakhan sandwich wrap (musakhan is a spiced, roasted chicken served over taboon bread; a popular Arabic dish). A few days later, we’ve officially added the chicken musakhan wrap to our menu!

What are your favorite Sapaad features?

Placing and processing orders through Sapaad is super easy for me and my staff. The interface is intuitive and everything is well-categorized so we can process orders quickly even with very little training. I personally adjust the settings to include the tax in the pricing, and I’m also the one who adds suppliers on the system, and overall it’s just really easy to work with.

Do you have any advice or tips for aspiring restaurant owners, especially in terms of integrating technology into their operations?

My advice would be to look for a cloud-based system that’s easy to operate. Being able to use it easily, and from anywhere in the world, even through your mobile phone, is a great benefit. If you have Sapaad in your pocket, you can go wherever you want and still be able to collaborate with your team. You also need to spend smartly, and Sapaad gives a good price for all of the features and benefits you’re getting.

When you start a business, it’s important to have the right partner. Otherwise, it would be difficult to thrive.

Gabriela’s journey from office worker to successful restaurateur is proof that inspiration, a solid game plan, and the right business partner form a winning formula. Her commitment to providing high-quality, flexible, and affordable dining options for office workers shows that loyalty goes both ways, and her personal approach has set The Warehouse Caffè and Cucina Sana apart as standouts in Jebel Ali’s dining scene.