Stephanie Kurtz

Service work taught Stephanie Kurtz the basics of timing, presence, and pace before she ever co-owned a dining room. Training at Stevenson High School led into work in Stevenson, Washington, where the floor and the line demanded the same thing every shift: close attention. As a cook and server at Family restaurant in Stevenson, Washington, Kurtz learned both sides of a small-town operation, moving between the heat of the kitchen and the rhythm of the dining room. Returning there as bartender at Family restaurant in Stevenson, Washington added another register of control, where the work turns on conversation, sequencing, and a clean pour. Steady, detail-driven service also defined Kurtz’s work as a nail technician in Stevenson, Washington (from 1997). That role sat alongside restaurant labor rather than apart from it, building a working profile shaped by direct contact, careful hands, and repetition done well. The overlap matters: salon work and food service both reward precision, speed, and the ability to read what the room needs. Piki Grill Restaurant (since 2004) gathers those earlier roles into one operating context. As co-owner, Stephanie Kurtz brings a floor worker’s sense of flow, a cook’s timing, and a bartender’s awareness of atmosphere to the day-to-day running of the place. The value here is practical: experience across the room makes for better decisions in the room.