Meet Amy & Elion Prodani | Restaurateur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amy & Elion Prodani and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy & Elion, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My husband and I had always dreamt of working together and creating a lasting legacy for our children. We both came from different career paths and we wanted to create something unique and special using both of our skill sets.

Elion has worked in the restaurant world since he was 14 and has always loved being in hospitality. He spent the last 10 years at the Wynn Las Vegas and he saw firsthand what a successful operation looks like, and was inspired by many successful guests that he met along the way. This was a major drive for him to pursue his life long dream of opening a restaurant.

My background is in real estate and interior design and I spent the last decade selling, staging and flipping homes in Las Vegas. My passion is to transform and reinvent spaces.

Our goal was to create a casual yet chic restaurant and serve high quality American cuisine with fine dining elements. We wanted our guest to feel comfortable and relaxed while enjoying a menu of fine ingredients.

We always thought of San Diego as a perfect place to open a restaurant and live near our family. During Covid we made the decision to finally make it happen. In 2022, we moved to San Diego to pursue our lifelong dreams and open Bun & Patti.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Our goal in opening Bun& Patti was to have fine dinning accessible to the masses. We felt that unless you spent $60-$80 per person, you would usually end up at a mediocre restaurant. We embarked on a journey to change that.

Once we located the spot in Little Italy, San Diego we immediately started renovations. We had thought of this concept for a while and had formed a clear picture as to what it would look like. Amy has an amazing gift for interior decor and reinventing spaces. We thought of dark colors and marble tables as we wanted to bring to life a mix of our travels to Europe, our lives in NYC and the glamour of Las Vegas. We faced numerous challenges but the biggest one was the bar area. The previous space did not focus on the bar at all so creating a functional yet sexy and slick bar was a huge endeavor. We didn’t want to demolish anything as it would have prolonged our opening time due to permit requirements. Through innovations and sheer persistency we finally got the bar area to look and feel as if it were an original part of the restaurant. Throughout the process we have learned to stay faithful to our vision and to not veer off course. We have been recognized by Yelp and Fox 5 as the number 2 burger spot in all of San Diego where we beat staple names who have been in the scene for a very long time. This was a huge moment for us and we believe that we achieved this because of our team, the quality of ingredients and the loyalty of our guest who have been a major force in our success. Our goal is to expand throughout San Diego and California while staying true to our principles.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Showing people a good time is what we do professionally and personally in our private life. We are so lucky to live in a magical place as San Diego with so many great choices. If we are enjoying a day with our children then we would definitely visit the San Diego zoo. Its one of our favorite places. They can see all the attractions and build up an appetite. We would have dinner at Bun&Patti where we could enjoy perhaps the Smoke Show burger or the Steak Frites. We would have dessert next door at Bobboi Ice cream (all organic). Perhaps visiting USS Midway is always fun but also a hike at Torrey pines park or perhaps visiting La Jolla coves and saying hello to the seals could be a great adventure for the whole family. One can grab drinks at the top of Intercontinental Hotel with amazing view

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would like to give a shoutout to our parents for always believing in us and giving us the confidence to pursue our dreams. They taught us about hard work and perseverance and to never give up even when things get tough.

We named our restaurant Bun & Patti in honor of my mom Patti. She always loved a great family meal together sharing laughs and lots of love. We hope every guest that walks through our door will feel the same JOY that people felt when they spent time with Patti.

Website: www.bunandpatti.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bunandpatti/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bunandpatti/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bun-and-patti-san-diego?sort_by=date_desc

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fS6VdoSB9t8