A native of San Francisco, one of Alicia's fondest childhood memories is the ritual of dinner. Alicia's dad called her the "dessert lady" since she had an overwhelming sweet tooth and made dessert nearly everyday. At 16 she started to bus tables in a neighborhood restaurant and she was off and running.

After high school, Alicia started waiting tables, but her true love affair with food and wine began when she started working at Campton Place Hotel. Alicia refers to this time as her fine dining education. Alicia made the decision to move to New York in the fall of 1994, and immediately began work at Gramercy Tavern, which had just opened. There she met sommelier Steven Olsen, who suggested she pursue management, and she assumed the role of reservations manager, managing a small team in running a crucial department in a tremendously successful business.

Alicia returned to SF and went to work the door at Hawthorne Lane with Richard Coraine. Though she found this experience invaluable, she wanted to take her skill set to the next level, so she accepted a position as General Manager at 2223, an 80 seat neighborhood eatery in San Francisco. Alicia was responsible for all aspects of running the business, from managing and training the staff to creating the wine list, beverage purchasing to setting and meeting profit goals. In 1997 Alicia opened Jardiniиre in San Francisco with Traci Des Jardins and Doug Washington. This was her first restaurant opening as a manager. She was hooked.

In the spring of 1998, while visiting New York, she was re-united with Richard Coraine, who had joined Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group. Alicia moved back out to New York to help open Eleven Madison Park as opening co-service director. Alicia helped design the style of service at Eleven Madison Park, as well as create and manage the tableside cheese program there.

After 2 years at Eleven Madison Park, Alicia met Jimmy Bradley and Danny Abrams and joined their team to be the GM of The Red Cat. Alicia helped define the style of service at The Red Cat, contributing greatly to the enormous success it has had year after year. In January 2003, she took on a larger role in the growing company as Director of Operations, helping to operate The Harrison and The Mermaid Inn. She worked in many different capacities during her time as Director of Operations of Beanstalk Restaurants, which helped her tremendously in pursuit of opening her own restaurant.