In 2002, he decided to follow his passion for bread baking, which began in the early 1990’s, after he baked his way through “The Village Baker,’’ the bread book by Joe Ortiz, who with his wife Gayle owns the iconic Gayle’s Bakery in Capitola. He baked the breakthrough recipes from “Tartine Bread.’’ He tackled others from “Nancy Silverton’s Breads from the La Brea Bakery.’’ Along the way, he also worked with Pascal Rigo to build a farmers’ market channel for Bay Bread’s pastries and breads.
Two and a half years ago, he decided to meld his flair for starters and start-ups by opening his first restaurant, Steak Out, a burger joint in downtown Mountain View. Like any start-up, even one with house potato brioche burger buns, it involved many early mornings and many long nights. But for Finley, it was a labor of love.
In fall 2013, wanting to evolve his establishment in a more distinctive direction, he transformed Steak Out into Bierhaus to showcase traditional European and American craft beers with American classics and traditional German fare built with the best Northern California ingredients around.
A native of Orange County, where so many landmark fast-casual restaurants got their start, Finley knows when it comes to food that simple can be sublime – and done well at a reasonable price.
That’s what his philosophy is all about at Bierhaus. Oh, and a great bun, of course.