SARAH KIRNON grew up with her grandmother in Barbados, moved to London and came to the Bay Area in 1999. She made her name at the Front Porch in San Francisco and Hibiscus in Oakland before opening her own place, Miss Ollies. When she was the opening chef at Front Porch and Hibiscus, she got raves for her brand of refined, Caribbean-inspired cooking — "California-Caribbean," as one critic called it. But unlike Kirnon's tenure at Hibiscus, there's no pretense of fine dining at Miss Ollie's — the food is, in its own way, pretty enough for Bon Appétit — especially served, as it is, on brightly colored vintage enamel plates. But the plating is home-style (a mound of rice here, a pile of greens or pickled vegetables there), recalling the soulful, abundant, steaming-hot plates of food someone's grandmother might serve you — say, Kirnon's own grandmother, the Barbadian sugar plantation cook who raised her and for whom the restaurant is named. In addition to the consideration she gives to her customers, Kirnon cares deeply about her employees. She’s in the process of turning Miss Ollie’s into a co-op so that they can all own a portion of the restaurant and serves as a nurturing figure.