JOHN CRANCER
Managing Partner • Napa Flats • Tulsa
John loves Tulsa and it shows.
“We had no immediate plans to open a second Napa Flats Wood-Fired Kitchen. The timing just didn’t seem right. We were still working on our menu, developing our team and creating our culture in College Station. In reality, we were cash poor but ambition rich.
Our thoughts changed when John, a proud graduate of Texas A&M University, approached us. I’ve known John for more than 20 years, starting when he worked for me as a young manager with Outback Steakhouse in College Station.
When John asked if we would consider doing a partnership with him in Tulsa, there was one big hurdle – raising the money.
We all went back to our friends, family and investors to pool our resources. They believed in us, we believed in John and his family, and the money soon followed.
A few months later and we were recognized for having the “Best New Restaurant Concept” from the Oklahoma Restaurant Association and voted one of the “Best New Restaurants in Tulsa."
John loves people and has a passion for food and service. Details are his specialty and laughter is his calling card.”
- Tom Kenney
Founder & Chief Bus Boy
Napa Flats Wood-Fired Kitchen
Justin Blewett
Some people are pre-destined to be in the career they have, and excel at what they are doing, Justin Blewett is one of them. However, in Justin’s case, he took the circuitous route to his destiny by literally circling the globe only to finally come back to his home town to find his true calling was there all along as Napa Flats Tulsa’s Catering Manager.
Born in Miami, Oklahoma and raised in Tulsa, Justin was a percussionist with the Pride of Broken Arrow High School’s renowned music program. His career trajectory took off at the tender age of 12, selling the Tulsa World newspaper door to door. A rousing success that Justin’s father attributes to Justin’s ‘gift of gab’.
Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma scratched Justin’s insatiable curiosity for higher education where he majored in speech communication and business management.
Not content to merely be a business desk jockey, adventure called after graduation and next thing Justin knew, he was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan after joining the U.S. Navy where he was an operational specialist on the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) aircraft carrier.
The USS Kitty Hawk was what the Navy calls forward deployed, and it meant Justin was on the water 8 to 10 months out of the year. This suited Justin’s adventurous spirit just fine and allowed him to experience the sites, sounds and cultures of many countries, including Korea, Hong Kong, mainland China, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and more. This world view and ability to communicate with people from all over the world would later serve him well at Napa Flats.
Catering Manager • Napa Flats • Tulsa
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After the Navy, Justin lived in San Diego for a short time, then moved to Los Angeles for graduate work with ABA where he worked with children on the spectrum for over a decade. His specialty was taking away maladaptive behavior, so high functioning students could maintain in typical classrooms. A career Justin found hugely rewarding.
And, as life would have it, the road forked again for Justin when he had the opportunity to open up his own marketing firm in St. Louis, Missouri, His entrepreneurial talents became honed to perfection as he put sales and customer service reps into big box retailers like Costco, Sam’s Fry’s, Walmart and Best Buy with his biggest client being DIRECTV.
At last count, Justin has had a mailing address in three different countries and 17 different states.
So, how did Justin finally come to become Napa Flats Catering Manager? It turns out, while being a land surveyor, he worked with John Crancer, the co-owner manager at Napa Flats. Since Justin started two weeks after Napa Flats opened, he has spent a lot of time in this amazing restaurant. It was the perfect second job for Justin as he has always sought out hospitality work when between jobs or when he needed a second job.
The Napa Flats magnetic pull on Justin is hard to ignore, as it turns out, Justin’s wife, Victoria Blewett, worked for John Crancer for ten years at Outback Steak House, and she was the reason Justin got the job in the first place at Napa. Interestingly that was 20 years before Justin and Victoria started dating.
Now married, Victoria and Justin have four children, one biological daughter named Loghan Maree Blewett, and three stepchildren named Xavier, Estella, and Zoey Marrs.
As Napa Flats Tulsa’s Catering Manager, Justin follows the ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’ approach. Which Justin describes as, “giving each guest an experience that goes beyond just a good meal and good service, to a full and rewarding experience”. To ensure every customer experience is outstanding, Justin thrives in training new staff members to become great staff members using this approach.
John says, “Napa Flats has become family to me, and I will continue to work as hard as possible to increase sales and awareness for this amazing establishment”.
we created our first Napa Flats Wood-Fired Kitchen in College Station. Our vision was simple: cuisine inspired by California flavors with an Italian flair, made from scratch and then prepared in an open kitchen over a wood–fired grill.
Our menu feels familiar without being common offering an eclectic lunch and dinner menu, edited to just two pages, that offers great flavors and variety for the most discriminating diner.
We make our own tender mozzarella and hand-cut our steaks and fish. Our pizza is hand-tossed, and we make all of our gelato in-house.
Our interior design complements our menu, and focuses on the details that create an engaging ambiance – natural light, an open kitchen, and appealing textures.
And, of course, we offer a variety of our favorite Napa Valley and California wines at an exceptional value either by the bottle or glass.
Finally, we understand that our people are the critical ingredient to a successful restaurant and we have assembled a well-trained team and created a great culture.
Our managing partners are invested in the success of their own community’s restaurant, both financially and emotionally.
It is a dining experience you will want to rediscover again and again.