More than a decade after Frank Léal opened The Grove as a farm-to-table restaurant on his Léal Vineyards estate off Pacheco Pass Highway, the venue has reemerged under a new name and a new business model: MOHI at the Grove.
The restaurant, which reopened this summer after shutting down during the pandemic, is now one piece of a broader “MOHI” brand Léal is building across South Valley, anchored by MOHI Farm in Morgan Hill and extending to a forthcoming MOHI Pasta location as well as the recently renamed hotel “The MOHI.”
Léal said the name is a deliberate marketing choice, not a reference to Morgan Hill alone, despite the restaurant’s Hollister-area location.
“Years ago I read an article on marketing, and it said if you want to brand a name, make it two syllables,” Léal said. “I looked at Morgan Hill and thought, that’s three syllables—what am I going to do? So I took the ‘Mo’ and the ‘Hi; and tied them together. I called it MOHI, just like Uber, Google, Apple.”
The rebrand comes with a significantly different operating model than the one Léal introduced when The Grove first opened in 2013. Rather than full table service, the restaurant now runs on a hybrid counter-service system, with guests ordering through self-service touchscreen kiosks and cocktail servers circulating to handle drinks.
“Back when I had full service, you’d need enough staff out here to control 400 people on the patio,” Léal said. “That’s why now we run it more like a hybrid. Counter service, but with cocktail servers too.”
The restaurant currently operates Friday through Sunday, with brunch service on Sundays. Léal said he plans to add days incrementally, starting with Thursdays, as staffing allows, with a goal of reaching four days per week within the next year.
Léal has also deepened the restaurant’s ties to his own farmland since the 2013 opening. He said roughly 70% of what’s served at MOHI at the Grove is now grown on his own farms. Léal said he has been growing row crops for about three years and keeps roughly 140 chickens on-site, supplying eggs for the restaurant’s breakfast menu.
“I like knowing where my food comes from,” Léal said. “It goes to my restaurant, it’s in my salad, and there’s something to be said about that. We need to support local farmers, and restaurants that support local farmers.”
The menu continues to lean on seasonal ingredients, a philosophy Léal said drives much of what appears on the restaurant’s pizzas, salads and specials.
“Honest cooking is not changing the product by adding extra bells and whistles,” he said. “When a vegetable is in season, present it for what it is. That’s why we stick to what is seasonal, letting the vegetables do their thing.”
Léal, who got his start in construction before moving into wine and eventually into restaurants, said the MOHI branding reflects an “ecosystem” approach he has taken with his other Morgan Hill properties, including a downtown building purchased during the pandemic.
“People are waiting for a room or a table at the hotel, and they can walk across the street and get a glass of champagne,” Léal said. “It’s an ecosystem.”
The restaurant continues to host live music, with bands and DJs performing several nights per week. Léal said acoustic sets are planned indoors once the outdoor patio season winds down for the year.
MOHI at the Grove is located off Pacheco Pass Highway outside Hollister. Hours and additional details are available through the restaurant’s website and social media pages.
