Journal

Allswell, that IS well.

Today was my stage at Nate Smith’s Allswell located in Willamsburg, on Bedford.

I met an amazing amount of extremely nice and talented cooks, bartenders, bakers and bakers and OH did I mention bakers? Turns out, Nate and his wife, Sophie own this restaurant/bar, he leads the kitchen and she leads the baking program. They make their own burger buns, loaves, baguettes, pastries, etc etc etc. I was so impressed within the first 10 minutes of being there I could hardly contain myself. I quickly met Chef Nate and his wife, then sous chef Kelly and the person I’d be helping for the day, Ian, a recent transplant from Seattle. He’s been here about a month and was working the pantry station for the day. I next met Jo, a singing sauté cook who whizzed through peppers and meatballs making the place smell so good. Next up was Dan who was manning the new grill (they recently upgraded from a griddle and man was that thing nice!).

The food here is really delicious. Nearly everything that can be done in house is. This crew really knows how to cook. The space is inviting and the 10 burner stove in the kitchen is busy. They are open everyday for brunch, HH, and dinner.

What I’m really loving about NY is that all of these business have downstairs basement areas that make prep really efficient. I now have grand ideas about the basement we have at St. John’s. If you’re reading Val, Michael, and Billy it will happen, oh yes it will.

They bought me a meal at the end of the night and I of course chose the burger. Really moist, delicious cheese, and a homemade bun. How could I not? I would like to go back for a few more things before I head back to Seattle.

I sat with a bartender who was visiting for some wine and supper as I finished my wine. We chatted about my project, what I was doing, and how exciting it was. “Noone ever does this,” she said. “You should write a book or something.”

Wouldn’t that be fun!?