Stone Creek Kitchen to permanently close come February 2021.

Linda Hanger and Kristina Scrivani have joked they decided in 2010 to open their wildly popular Stone Creek Kitchen during one of the worst recessions the country has ever seen, and have made the decision to close it during the pandemic, a disaster of another type but one with financial ramifications for all, especially mom-and-pop retailers.

"It's bookends to the decade," Hanger says.

That's 10 years of teaching people to cook, of winemaker dinners, of catering special events, of supplying the home cooks of the Peninsula and beyond with all of their kitchen tool needs. Ten years of those amazing curried chicken salad sandwiches on raisin-studded bread ("We make the curry powder before we make the curry salads," Scrivani pipes up) and 10 years of that crunchily delicious lettuce salad loaded with cherry tomatoes and creamy blue cheese and bacon. Ten years of grabbing a quick healthy bite from their deli counter, and of course please add a giant cookie, and 10 years of weary Highway 68 commuters not having to cook when they got home because Stone Creek had done it for them.

And of course, that's 10 years of one of the most popular nights around—Paella Fridays—billed as "a party in a pan"—which has Scrivani getting out her enormous paella pan and making the traditional Spanish dish, with bomba rice, smoked piquillo peppers, dry Spanish chorizo, seafood, chicken, wine and seasonal vegetables. 

The 11-member staff was told last week in a meeting both women say was emotional and heartbreaking and meaningful. With Stone Creek's lease on their space off of Canyon del Rey Boulevard coming up for renewal in February, and business hammered by the pandemic, the longtime business partners have decided to close as of Feb. 5.

They are going out with a bang, ramping up for the December holidays with a catering menu that features prime rib roast, turkey galantine, beef tenderloin, citrus roasted plank salmon, wild mushroom ravioli, plus salads and sauces, plus homemade pies and something called the pecan pie cheesecake "bombshell," which is a whole pecan pie baked into a vanilla bean cheesecake and then wrapped in a spiced cookie crumb crust and topped with dulce de leche.

"We're really proud of what we accomplished, but to sign on for another five- or 10-year lease would be challenging," Scrivani says. "It is bittersweet but we're feeling really grateful as women in business with a community that supported us. 

"We have great customers and incredible team members and we're trying to stay in that vibe," she says. "because life is hard enough as it is."

Over the years, Stone Creek has employed 150 people. When the pandemic struck, they were forced to furlough a number of team members and dropped from 17 to a staff of 11. The cooking classes they held three times a week, plus their afternoon teas and frequent wine dinners, drove a lot of their retail business, with class participants or tea drinkers shopping the retail section after their event.

All that had to stop.

"It's been really hard," Scrivani says. "At the beginning of the pandemic there was not a soul who even wanted to think about buying retail anything. We didn't have to close because half of our business is fresh food and grocery."

They quickly changed their menu to everyday comfort foods and shopped their store pantry for ingredients and began offering themed specials with items they had never made before. "Dinner in Old Monterey," for example, brought shrimp scampi and spaghetti and meatballs and clam chowder and garlic bread. 

"We tried to feature things that would pique people's interests," Scrivani says. "And be able to make it pay off because of lost revenue from events. I went back into the kitchen full time." 

Customer loyalty—and vendor loyalty—paid off. On Thanksgiving, for example, people started lining up to buy at 8am, two hours before the store was to open. 

"We have some amazing local vendors," says Hanger, who handles the business side of the business while Scrivani cooks and markets. She rattles off a list that includes Acme Coffee, Russo Produce, Wrath Wines and Swank Farms, saying, "They showed up and trusted us to do great things with their products. They put their faith in us and we so appreciate it."

Scrivani chimes in: "I can call Swank Farms and there's Dick Swank on the phone, telling me how the beets are today. I can call Russo with a sudden need and he's here because he's only five minutes away.

"We couldn't do it without those people," she says. "They are all so capable and willing. When I know I have those partners behind me I can get creative about doing the job."

Both women have backgrounds in the corporate world. Hanger was CEO of legal publisher Nolo Press in Berkeley, then moved to Monterey as president of Evan Moore Educational Publishers. Scrivani worked in marketing and education at Whole Foods when the now-massive, Amazon-owned chain was much smaller; there she taught cooking, hired cooking teachers and educated people about ingredients that customers may have never seen in a market before. She also did personal cheffing for some high-profile clients, traveling with them to their homes and doing the cooking for them.

They met at a dinner party, where Scrivani was serving her paella. Hanger was looking for her next business adventure after six years with Evan Moore.

"And we brainstormed," Hanger says. She once asked Scrivani if there would be enough for both of them to do in a small business.

"I have never lived that down," she says.

What life will look like after Feb. 5—and after both take a break—is this: Hanger plans to work part-time at her husband Dan Finklea's construction company, Handy Dan Construction, and Scrivani plans to resume cooking—including Paella Fridays.

"I don't think I'll take any major break," Scrivani says. "I have plans unfolding as to where I'll be, but I''ll be visible, with Instagram and Constant Contact, I can post where I'll be and what will be available."