Grainne Trainor is happiest when she’s watching people dine in her restaurant.
“I like to see that look in your eyes after you’ve had a great meal,” she says. “It’s that instant gratification that comes, not just once, but hundreds of times a week. I like to surround myself with people.”
Trainor hopes to experience that feeling again in 2021, when G’s on Liberty opens and life goes back to some semblance of normal.
The plan is for the eatery, located in the former Alexander’s Italian Bistro at 5104 Liberty Ave. in Bloomfield, to be a neighborhood gathering place with an emphasis on affordable food, a curated wine list and creative cocktails.
An original co-owner of Oakmont’s The Mighty Oak Barrel, Trainor is once again teaming up with chef Eric Liebering, who helped her launch Blue North restaurant in Allison Park five years ago. The North Hills spot closed permanently at the start of the pandemic, but the majority of her staff members are following her to Bloomfield.
The team plans to offer a rotating menu of approachable American eats, including scratch-made bread, dressings, cheeses and fresh fruit cocktails.
G’s, Trainor’s nickname since the Gaelic “Grainne” is hard for people to pronounce, is expected to open by St. Patrick’s Day.
Born with the gift of gab in Northern Ireland, Trainor developed a love of hospitality helping her parents run a small pub. She’d come home from school, finish her homework and then put in a few hours at the family business.
After college, she moved to the states and worked in hotel management with The Ritz-Carlton, Hilton and the DoubleTree Hotel Group.
She co-owned The Mighty Oak Barrel from 1998 to 2014.
G’s will be the same kind of neighborhood joint, where customers, servers and even vendors become friends. Bloomfield, she says, is the perfect place for that kind of “Cheers” establishment.
Since August, Trainor and her crew have been gutting the 2,500-square-foot building. In addition to the main dining room, there will be a downstairs bar where live performances and charity events will take place.
Everyone involved with the project has put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears to make G’s on Liberty a reality.
“Buying a restaurant is not something you do on a whim,” Trainor says. “My staff, they have faith; and faith can move mountains.”