One of SF’s best new restaurants already taking extended hiatus

Less than four months after opening to lines of up to 150 people that didn’t relent for weeks, Secret Garden — a delightful new Mission District restaurant in Stable Cafe’s greenhouse — is already taking an extended hiatus.

And according to its owners, it has nothing to do with any sort of “doom loop.”

“We are eloping in Oaxaca,” co-owner Guillermo Perez told SFGATE of his pending nuptials with co-owner Najla Turczyn.

And while they’ll be back in October, Perez and Turczyn plan to then transition their attention from their own wedding to others’ celebrations: Stable Cafe’s back patio (which includes Secret Garden’s greenhouse) doubles as one of the most popular small, 70ish-guest wedding venues in San Francisco. It’s why the couple — who runs the cafe’s private events and weddings — gave Secret Garden very industry-friendly operating hours: 4-8 p.m., Monday through Wednesday.

“Our options were either to work 80 hours a week, which is not healthy, or we have to take a break,” Perez said. 

How long the hiatus will last is very much up in the air. Perez pointed to cold weather and a deserted neighborhood during holiday-heavy November and December as reasons the restaurant may just have to be put on hold until next year. And even then, it could be a seasonal offering that’s open only four to six months a year.

“We think it will be more of a Sunday-Thursday thing next year. Everything has just been really positive since we opened. The only negative thing that happened was the 150-person line. It was too big,” he said with a laugh. “It’s 19 seats. That would’ve been 30 turns for everyone to sit.”

Secret Garden’s last day of service (for now) is scheduled for Sept. 20.