AMY RUIS, the OWNER

Amy took her first serious interest in food at a young age when her dad fed her an anchovy. Blue cheese followed soon after, and then sardines. The rest is history. Amy will eat almost anything (except cooked peas and sea urchin)

Somewhere along the way, Amy also caught the retail bug. She has enjoyed the presentation of food and drink from the early age of eight when she sold lemonade and cowboy cookies at the curb. Art of the Table has been a perfect vocation for Amy for 20+ years already! Amy’s love for decorating, entertaining and enjoying great food & drink lends perfectly to varied & quality selections for Art of the Table and now Aperitivo!

Because Amy loves to work hard, sleep little and enjoy people, food & drink, she happily teamed up with (now former) business partner, Kate Leeder, to open Aperitivo. With limited space in each store, the hope is that Art of the Table and Aperitivo work together and complement one another as they feed Grand Rapids their favorite things.

Amy’s favorite things (lately) revolve around wines from the Pacific Northwest and Spain, cheeses from any animal ~ but especially goats as well as double cream style cheeses slathered on a fruit & nut style cracker or a fresh hunk of Field & Fire bread. Yet if she had to pick one food to eat for the rest of her life, it would be a close contest between steak and ice cream…