A team consisting of a father and his daughters, David, Jacqueline and Jeanette Gaistman opened the first location of Our Green Affair in San Diego's Pacific Beach in March 2020. The "sexy salad bar" has its roots in Mexico City where David first opened frozen yogurt spots called Nuny’s Yogurt that had 14 stores throughout the country. At the yogurt shops, Jacqueline learned from the bottom up the process of hospitality and how to get a business up and running. While the primary owners are the father-daughter team, the foundation of Our Green Affair would not have been possible without the help of family matriarch Ana, who demonstrated that healthy food can be delicious and put countless hours in helping to create recipes for the new eatery.
"The idea behind Our Green Affair was planted with a diagnosis," explained owner Jacqueline Gaistman. "Growing up, my family had always been major foodies. In fact, our parents taught my sisters and I to always try everything and anything. That staple in who we were became a little more complicated when my little sister was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease which causes severe abdominal pain and heavily regulates your food options. She was forced to change her eating habits entirely. It became clear that we were going through this together, and as a family we had to eat clean. But we weren’t willing to give up something that defined us: our love of food. With a change in lifestyle without compromising the taste in food came a realization: we wanted to share with the world that healthy food can be desirable."
The second location of Our Green Affair will be located in the 1,700 square-foot space that last housed a Freshii in San Diego's Hillcrest neighborhood. Like the original, the eatery will offer a design inspired by the inviting colors of Tulum complimented with neon lighting and repurposed materials. Then menu will be based around fresh seasonal produce with offerings of soups, salads, bowls, wraps, loaded potatoes, and homemade beverages, as well as a separate seasonal menu that will frequently change. A third location of Our Green Affair is also in the works to open at 905 Lomas Sante Fe Drive within Lomas Sante Fe Plaza in Solana Beach.
Our Green Affair's new location will sit at 1255 University Avenue in San Diego's Hillcrest neighborhood and is expected to open as early as September 2022. For more information, visit ourgreenaffair.com.