Where Everybody Knows Your Name

When Chef Gina Stanley arrived on the Vineyard in 2000, she didn’t necessarily plan to stay. But what started as an adventure has turned into a life rooted in food and community, both inside and outside the ArtCliff Diner.

Not only did Gina take on a beloved institution (opened in Vineyard Haven in 1943 by Art Silva and Cliff Luce), she trained many young cooks who have since pursued their own culinary ventures. “I love hearing how this person or that person is doing,” she said in a recent interview with The Vine. “Every time I see a Mo’s Lunch sticker, I tear up,” she said. “I’m so happy for them.” Mo’s chef and co-owner Austin Racine worked for Gina for years, on and off, starting when he was 19 years old.

But running the diner has been anything but easy. Staffing and housing shortages have remained a challenge, in addition to maintenance and being a solo chef/owner. She faced her first real test in 2020 when the pandemic hit. She then closed the ArtCliff in 2021 for what would become a two-year renovation.

There are certain items on the menu that just can’t be taken off – customers would riot. – Jeanna Shepard

There are certain items on the menu that just can’t be taken off – customers would riot. Credit: Jeanna Shepard

“The pandemic and the renovation put me behind a lot,” Gina said. “The renovation was the hardest thing I ever did.”

After the ArtCliff reopened, Gina resumed running the kitchen as well as catering private events. Her boyfriend Vincent Patricola relocated to the Island, which allowed her to be open to another opportunity: the Martha’s Vineyard Museum asked Gina to take over the First Light Café.

Since there isn’t a production kitchen at the museum, she and Vincent supply the café with a wide variety of “grab and go” items which Gina creates in the ArtCliff kitchen. She sends over baked goods, salads, quiche, soups, and pita and hummus boxes. Her homemade pita bread — baked in the diner’s pita oven — is legendary. Gina and Vincent also started a special Sunday event at the First Light Café called Sunday B-Side Bites, with Vincent spinning records while guests enjoy an espresso drink and lunch special.

But 2026 is a particularly bittersweet year for Stanley: the diner turns 83, Stanley turns 60 and it is the first year Gina is without her dad, who she misses terribly. “It was the most important thing to me to take care of my dad,” she said. And she is grateful for the community she met through caring for him.

“Island Hospice and The Center for Living opened me up to a whole new group of friends,” she said.

Gina also managed to turn a small kitchen fire last fall — which resulted in a multi-day closure – into a much-needed vacation. “Since losing my dad, I hadn’t been able to take time off,” she said.

Some like it hot. – Jeanna Shepard

Some like it hot. Credit: Jeanna Shepard

Gina’s enthusiasm for the diner is irrepressible, and she has plenty of ideas she wants to implement this year. Her biggest accomplishment so far has been hiring Chef Nick Roberts to help her in the kitchen. “He’s super talented,” Gina said, admitting that his presence might help her escape the kitchen now and then.

The diner menu will remain the same aside from minor changes and daily specials, because Gina knows the regulars want what they want.

“We always try to switch things up, like put a new crêpe on or take a Benedict off,” she said. “But it’s hard because there is stuff I just can’t take off the menu, like The Bull’s Eye [codfish cake, two eggs, arugula, spicy hollandaise] and the sandwiches and the Spicy Chicken Hash.” Gina knows her customers (many by first name), and that’s one reason no one minds waiting in line on a busy summer morning.

After a successful New Year’s dinner, Gina and Nick are planning themed dinner nights this spring. (More information will be posted in the diner and on Instagram @artcliffmsn).

Her beloved food truck will also be open two to three nights a week, parked in the diner parking lot. The temperamental truck can no longer hit the open road. Another project will be the re-opening of the Joy World coffee trailer in front of the diner. Gina bought it years ago, because the diner doesn’t have an espresso machine. “I want to get it open so people can have a coffee drink while they wait,” she said.