Our story
Six seats and a borrowed grill.
How the restaurant began, what the kitchen holds to, and the people who cook your dinner.
Our story
[Your story.] We started with six seats, one fire and a menu short enough to say out loud.
The room has grown since, and the menu with it, but the fire is the same idea. We buy from people we know by name, cook what they send over wood, and try to stay out of its way.
We keep the dining room small on purpose. The person who lights the fire in the afternoon is cooking over it at night, and can tell you where everything on your plate came from.
The hearth
The fire is lit at two and kept in until the last table leaves. It is the only stove we have ever wanted.
What the kitchen holds to.
-
Wood, not gas
Oak for heat and applewood for sweetness. It is slower and less forgiving, and nothing else tastes like it.
-
People we can name
Every farm and boat is on the menu. If we cannot tell you who grew it, we do not serve it.
-
A short menu
A dozen dishes, written that morning. When something runs out it comes off, and something else goes on tomorrow.
-
No hurry
No table is turned. Dinner takes as long as it takes, and you are welcome to the last candle.
The people at the fire.
A small kitchen and a smaller floor. You will meet most of us before dessert.
- Chef’s name
[Chef’s name]
Chef and owner
Started Vesper with six seats and a borrowed grill. Still lights the fire most afternoons, and still writes the menu by hand.
- Sommelier’s name
[Sommelier’s name]
Cellar and floor
Buys from growers small enough to answer their own phone, and would rather pour you a taste than describe it.
- Baker’s name
[Baker’s name]
Bread and pastry
In before anyone else. Bakes the hearth bread at four, when the fire is at its quietest, and the tart after that.
