Day in the Life: Anne Baker

The first stop in the workday for multi-restaurateur Anne Baker is the lofted office whose windows overlook the empty Finnegan’s Wake bar, its original stamped-tin ceiling tiles close enough to touch.

This is the base of operations from which Baker oversees the four downtown Springfield establishments she co-owns: Finnegan’s, an Irish-themed tavern with a college vibe; Tinga Tacos, with a creative array of fresh-ingredient tacos; Civil Kitchen, offering what it refers to as scratch-made comfort food and handcrafted cocktails, plus outdoor dining right on the city square; and J.O.B. Public House, a shotgun-style bar specializing in whiskey-based cocktails and casual fare.

The businesses have different ownership groups. Finnegan’s is Baker’s original hospitality investment, which she purchased 18 years ago. Her husband, Clayton, joined her as co-owner in 2018.

Civil Kitchen came next in 2015, owned by the Bakers and bar manager Thomas Hong, and the trio opened Tinga Tacos in 2017.

In 2024, the Bakers and Mudlounge Owners Nicole and Chris Brown bought J.O.B. Public House, following the death of its founder, Danny Schlink.

Each of the businesses has its own general manager, something Baker says allows her Clayton to enjoy evenings at home, including family time with their 7-year-old daughter Elise.

Even so, Baker’s day has a wild mix of ingredients, kind of like Civil Kitchen’s eighth annual Kentucky Derby Tasting, set for May 3  – and sampling the cocktails to be paired with its seven-course menu is on the agenda for today.

Baker says the empty Finnegan’s, which doesn’t open until 5 p.m., offers a quiet spot to answer emails and coordinate catering. She also oversees a number of real estate investments in the area and is always on the lookout for new ones. In fact, the day’s agenda includes a walk-through of a historic house at the corner of Walnut Street and National Avenue that she thinks might have potential as a rental property.

Tackling it all can wait, though, as Baker takes a walk down the block to Mudhouse coffee shop.As she strolls and sips, Baker says her restaurants all have different clienteles.

“Whether it’s my dentist or whoever it may be, they’ll ask, ‘What do you do?’ and depending on the demographic of the person, they’ll say, ‘Oh, I’ve never heard of that one, but I’ve heard of this one,’” she says. “It seems like it’s always a different answer.”

Baker says some people think being a restaurateur is all glamour – schmoozing and sipping cocktails. But what she most enjoys is working the Tinga Tacos food truck.

“Sometimes we have two or even three events in one day. Those are the ones that are fun,” she says. “If I could, I would love to be on the truck and send some tacos out and meet people.”

Back at Finnegan’s, Baker holds a management meeting with Clayton and the Finnegan’s GM, nailing down details of upcoming events, including graduations and Ozarks Pridefest, and discussing personnel issues and a small construction project that’s in the works.

After that, it’s off to a meeting with other downtown businesses owners and city of Springfield officials to discuss the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival and the temporary disruption it causes for some businesses.

Baker and Carol McLeod, owner of Hold Fast Brewery, have agreed to help the city iron out some of the issues, and at the meeting, festival director Cora Scott explains some road closures, stage relocations and other measures that are intended to coax some of the estimated 65,000 attendees into local businesses.

Scott thanks the Bakers for helping with problem-solving.

“They have been instrumental in helping us plan for 2025,” Scott tells the attendees.

Baker explains after the meeting that lots of visitors to the festival hasn’t always translated to a surge in profits. In fact, regulars can be driven away in favor of festivalgoers who are more likely to buy their food from food trucks brought in for the event.

She says she’s hopeful that some of the measures worked out by the city will change the nature of the festival for businesses that are currently losing money during the event.

Baker has two more management meetings today – a Tinga Tacos meeting over the lunch hour and a Civil Kitchen meeting at 2 p.m.

For the first of these, the owner group and Tinga GM Jessica Diamond gather at Pocket Park SGF – also a Baker property – at the corner of McDaniel Street and South Avenue to sample a taco designed for this year’s Vegan Chef Challenge in Springfield. With Missouri-grown blue oyster mushrooms, fried for a surprisingly crispy texture, the entree also features pickled vegetables, red cabbage and a lemongrass chimichurri, as well as gochujang sauce – a Korean fermented red chili paste. This iteration of the recipe has honey – not a vegan ingredient – so there is discussion of an appropriate substitute, possibly brown sugar.

Everyone at the tasting approves.

At Civil Kitchen, Mandi Young, owner of Trailblazer Design Agency, offers a few looks at designs to transform one of the restaurant’s dining rooms. After that, it’s bespoke cocktails all around – ranging from a spiked peach iced tea to a bourbon espresso martini to a sazerac, but only a taste of each, ladled into shot glasses.

Baker ends her workday with a visit to J.O.B. before popping up to a loft being renovated upstairs into a capacious short-term rental property with a disco ball motif as its theme. Some chairs are being reupholstered by Nicole Brown with orange velvet cloth as Pat Jesse paints. It’s transforming into a mod setting with a weird footprint, small sets of stairs leading up to the two bathrooms and a back door that opens to a rooftop lounge area. Everyone involved in the project is keenly fixed on the smallest detail – an example, maybe, of the restaurant mindset applied to other aspects of life.

After a quick real estate tour by Anne and Clayton, the workday is over. Baker picks up Elise from her after-school Pokemon club, has dinner at Before & After Brewing with family and friends – “I like to support local restaurants,” she mentions – and then enjoys an evening bike stroll on the Galloway Creek trail.

With Elise tucked in, Anne and Clayton talk business for an hour, and then it’s a true-crime documentary, followed by sleep around 1 a.m. That allows six hours of rest before it all starts again, with a personal morning routine she caps at 10-15 minutes. Today, that meant sporting a long-sleeved Finnegan’s Wake T-shirt, shorts and sneakers to ensure speedy rounds.

“I’m not a morning person, so I figure the less time spent on getting ready, the more time for sleep,” she says.