Prawn toast; Photograph by Emily J. Davis
It’s a perfect winter-like day in San Juan Capistrano. Warm in the sun, chilly in the shade. Chatty shoppers and local dogs walking their owners bustle along the narrow sidewalks, making for great people-watching from my seat at Mayfield’s colossal window, wide open to the brisk air. Cocktails arrive and they’re magnificent. Only the ubiquitous face masks reveal this is not a typical late November day.
Mayfield is one of 2020’s restaurants that never knew life before the pandemic. Its existence has always included masks, curfews, distancing, and outright closures. Imagining this split-level space at its capacity is unsettling after months of dining inside 6-foot bubbles. George Barker can picture it, though. He has nursed that vision for five years.
Q&A With George Barker, Owner of Mayfield in San Juan Capistrano
Photograph by Emily J. Davis
Originally from London, Laguna Beach resident George Barker moved to O.C. to pursue his dream of opening a restaurant.
What led you to opening Mayfield?
I grew up in a family that owned restaurants. My parents opened a restaurant when I was 5. I (grew) up there, helping on Saturdays folding napkins that kind of stuff. I worked at various fine dining restaurants, hotels, and gastropubs. My brother lived (in O.C.) two years before I did. I came out two times before coming up with the idea of opening a food truck (The Hungry Royal). I saw the food truck as a good opportunity to get a visa and look for a restaurant. I can learn how to run a small business, test things, see what it’s like in different areas of Orange County, and see if I want to commit to opening a restaurant. This has been about four years in the planning and the food truck was a step towards it.