Linda Edson
CHEF-OWNER
With a deep passion for not having to wash dishes at night for her massive family or having to endure eating hamburger helper (brother's favorite thing to cook), Linda traded dish duties with her siblings, for cooking, and developed an intense love for planning menus, creating recipes, and producing dinners and events for her family of 15 kids. As a teenager she could often be found at bookstores reading cookbooks, with a fond memory of reading a new book called "The French Laundry Cookbook" for the first time cover to cover. Shortly after she decided she wanted to go to a school for cooking, with no clue it could be a career.
Born and raised in Argentina to an American dad and French mom, her background has a mix of many cultures and experiences, which contributes to the mix of flavors she enjoys incorporating into the menu. At 17 years old she landed in the Bay Area to go to culinary school in San Francisco. With stints in New York + Kansas City she made her way back to the Bay and proceeded to stage at some of the finest restaurants including Masa's, Campton Place, The French Laundry and Michael Mina's.
During her time working at Gary Danko's she fell in love with a cafe in Potrero Hill called Axis Cafe and spent a lot of time thinking of ways to improve it, although she was convinced she would be in fine dining for life and had plans of traveling all throughout Europe to work at the best restaurants. However, life had other plans and after being asked for months to come work at this cafe she finally made the decision to leave fine dining. Eventually becoming co-owner and then taking over the business entirely and changing the name to Aracely, her daughter's middle name.
In 2014 the space in Potrero Hill was demolished and the cafe was relocated to Treasure Island. One year later while pregnant with baby number 2, Linda quietly opened Aracely Cafe.
The quiet little corner continues to be a surprise and a joy, bringing so many interesting people, relationships and moments of celebration.
While her passion for food + great wine is still high, a passion for people is what drives her now. She is so grateful to be able to create a space that people can come together, have some great conversations, moments, memories and experiences with others.
Ramon Villarreal
Executive sous Chef
Hailing from a small town in Mexico, Villareal’s large family meant he started working in the fields at a young age to help support the household. As a young boy, he knew nothing in the way of cooking, yet after moving to the United States at age 18 he landed a job as a dishwasher at a French restaurant and worked his way up.
At this first job, the chef he worked for never shied away from playing with ingredients and trying new things, approaches Villarreal held onto as he progressed through the industry.
In 2012 landed at San Francisco’s Axis Café, where he worked as a line cook under Linda, who was the Chef at the time. In 2013, construction of a new development forced Axis Cafe to close, and Edson broke ground on her current Treasure Island location opening Aracely Cafe. In the meantime, Villareal assisted in the opening of a different Bay Area restaurant and returned to Aracely Café as executive sous chef upon its completion.
With a hard work ethic, consistency, and continual passion to learn and improve, Ramon has helped shape the back of the house into a kitchen that consistently churns out fresh-baked pastries, delicious flavors, and seasonal variety. A tenet of respect extends to his employees, too, who benefit from Villareal’s openness and empowerment.
After work, the San Franciscan chef returns home to his wife and two children, often unwinding by playing soccer with the kids.