Gina Petti
A foodie from birth, Gina grew up in a household where every meal was reason for celebration. Born to an Italian father and Japanese mother, many of Gina’s fondest memories are of being in the kitchen with her entire family. Gina’s parents were both involved in the food business from a very early age. Her Dad assisted at his grandparent’s bakery while her Mom helped out at the family sushi restaurant. Now with the success of ASADA, Gina loves that simply by chance she is continuing the family tradition.
Born and raised in San Diego, California, Gina earned a BA in Clinical Psychology from San Francisco State University. She and her life partner Roberto met in San Francisco.
Gina started her professional career working with autistic children. Seeking another challenge she then got into construction accounting. While both careers were very rewarding and interesting it was always in the back of her mind that when she and Roberto retired they would come up with some really cool way of introducing the world to their culinary talents. “We had even sketched and planned it out years ago. Today we get a good laugh when we look over our so called retirement project folder. To think it evolved into ASADA years earlier than planned, makes me giggle out loud.”
Because Gina’s thoughts are constantly centered around food, it just makes sense that her reading material is mostly cookbooks and food magazines. “I don’t have any formal culinary training. I just love and have this desire to create good food and then to try to feed everyone what I crafted. I believe fresh healthy food should be accessible to everyone and get the greatest satisfaction when people who are not familiar with ASADA try it for the first time. Then when they tell me how much they love it and become regulars, it makes my heart sing to make bellies happy!”
Between the brick and mortar location and the food truck, down time is rare. But when Gina does have a few moments she loves Pinterest for all the visual culinary goodies, hanging out with family and friends, exercising with Roberto, walking their fur babies and traveling, especially to any and all beaches. Gina freely admits social media is not her strong suit but she does sneak on and put her two cents in frequently, sometimes to Roberto’s dismay.
The one other thing Gina loves almost as much as Roberto and good food is getting to know people. She enjoys being able to connect with her customers on a personal level. A self proclaimed chatterbox, Gina has certainly never met a stranger and anyone who walks in the door or up to the window is greeted as if they were a long lost friend.
She truly believes in the quote, “Ultimately we are all linked through food” (Unknown) ― and says: “We may all come from different places and cultures but the one thing everyone has in common is the love of food.”
With her priorities clearly in order…family, friends and food…Gina would like to invite everyone who she hasn’t already met to come out to the brick and mortar location at 903 Wade Hampton Blvd. or stop by “LOLA“, the ASADA truck when you see it out and about!
