TEAM
We have a passion for Mexico’s cuisine & culture.
GENERAL MANAGER & BEVERAGE DIRECTOR
MANFRED MENDEZ
Manfred was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco and raised in Marin County. His artistic background paired with the experience of living in Veracruz and Mexico City, are the inspiration for his creation of enticing and innovative cocktails at Playa.
His restaurant career began at the age of fourteen at Harbor Grill in Sausalito. After studying Fine Arts and Multimedia, he began working in restaurants again. Given the opportunity to tend bar after the resident bartender did not show, Manfred had found his new passion. Having built a strong foundation with classic and contemporary cocktails at Cafe Arrivederci, he has since worked in various establishments throughout Marin, Sonoma and San Francisco.
Manfred combines the flavors of his childhood, along with the vast array of ingredients used in Mexican, Latin American, and Caribbean cuisine as inspiration to create the cocktails at Playa, of course, always with his creative touch.
PROPRIETORS
Bill Higgins
Born and raised in Chicago, Bill’s career began at Lettuce Entertain You working for Richard Melman as the General Manager of the famous stomping ground for celebrities, Pump Room. Moving out to the Bay Area in the late 70’s, he has become a prolific restaurateur and is the owner of Real Restaurants which include many SF Chronicle Top 100 restaurants and have garnered much acclaim. In 2009 he was honored to be a James Beard semi-finalist nominee for Outstanding Restaurateur in the US. After opening 4 restaurants in Marin over the last decade which include Picco, Picco Pizzeria, Bungalow 44 and Bar Bocce, Bill was excited to open Playa in his local town of Mill Valley. His many other well-known restaurants in San Francisco and Napa include Pizzeria Tra Vigne, Fog City and Bix.
Peter Schumacher
Born and raised in Switzerland, Peter Schumacher grew up under the tutelage of his family’s restaurants learning the breadth of the business from the kitchen to the front-of-house. He relocated to New York City to work at the Grand Central Oyster Bar and the Drake Hotel where he worked with Jean George Vongerichten. In 1992, Peter migrated to San Francisco with his wife Liz and joined the managing team at BIX. In 1999 he landed into the newly renovated Buckeye Roadhouse and has realized his dream of creating a sophisticated yet comforting location. Now as General Manager and Co-Owner of both the Buckeye Roadhouse and sister restaurant Bungalow 44, Peter continues to create and direct the restaurants with amazing skill and leadership.
Vanessa Higgins
Vanessa graduated from The Hotel School Sydney in her home country Australia and went on to become the Director of Food and Beverage Outlets at the world renowned 5 star hotel, Park Hyatt Sydney. Brought to San Francisco for work, she became the General Manager of Beaucoup in Nob Hill and later the Event Planner at Daniel Patterson and Peter Thiel’s restaurant Frisson on Jackson Square. Making the move back to hotels, she managed events at Morgans Hotel Group’s Clift Hotel working alongside Richard Branson, Russell Simmons and Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. Continuing her passion for the culinary world, she enrolled in the famed Tante Marie’s Cooking School in San Francisco, graduating in 2008.