Here is a copy of my column on food that appears in the West Village Weekly.
The new Fedora, Jeffrey’s Grocery and Joseph Leonard are all new; the oldest, the latter, beginning in 2009, are all doing capacity business. They all are about quality food and drink, good service and have a gentle old fashion look that does not have much flash and in addition they appear as though they are already deeply rooted as West Village neighborhood haunts.
Gabriel Stulman came New York via the University of Wisconsin after graduating in 2003. During school he worked as bartender, and upon arriving in New York he was taken with the restaurant and food business. He developed a plan and worked with Joey Campanaro, a chef and opened Little Owl and then Market Table, which quickly became two of New York Cities hardest reservations. They split up and Gabe has gone on to open 3 new, different and small restaurants in a short period of time, which has garnered a good bit of media attention including The New York Times alluding to the fact that three have become “Little Wisco” or a small taste of Wisconsin in the West Village based on.
I would be very keen to visit the Wisconsin that these restaurants represent. There is little attitude, an open and friendliness that do not happen that easily in the cool big city, good drink and a focus on very good food that is carefully prepared, though not inexpensive. They work to appeal to locals by having a no-reservation policy or, in the case of Fedora, a same-day only reservation policy. Continue reading
