Before becoming a New York chef, before he'd even graduated from Iowa City West, Sam Gelman knew the spot as Pearson’s Drug Store.
"It was amazing," recalled the chef, sitting in the latest iteration of the northside space. "It was a drugstore up front and they had a small lunch counter in the back with an old-school soda fountain...
"My father worked (and continues to work) across the street and my grandfather worked at Mercy Hospital, so when I was a kid, I would come down and have lunch with either my grandfather, my father or both."
Gelman's grandfather was an orthopedic surgeon named Webster. So when Gelman and his wife Riene moved back to his hometown to open an upscale restaurant, naming it was the easiest part.
The couple came to Iowa City in 2019 after years in and around New York City, building their respective repertoire in running restaurants. There is more than 30 years of experience between the two of them, rubbing elbows with the likes of Tom Colicchio, Ken Oringer and David Chang.
Riene, the location's general manager and co-owner, is originally from Arizona. She migrated to New York and found work at Eleven Madison Park and Craft.
After graduating high school in 1999, Sam attended the Culinary Institute of America, earning degrees in Culinary Arts and Culinary Arts Management. He spent 12 years working with acclaimed East Coast restaurant group Momofuku before coming back to Iowa City and setting up shop at a location with great significance to him.
In returning to Iowa City to raise a family, Sam decided to embody in his menu the state's seasonal experience, allowing offerings to change throughout the year.
"That’s just sort of ingrained in me from growing up here," he explained. "We had sweet corn in the summers and pole beans when they were ready and peas in the spring.”
Sam touched base with local organizations like Friendly Farm, looking to add regional ingredients to his menu.
"In New York, lots of restaurants rely on the Greenmarket (for ingredients), which is a huge, huge farmers market," Riene said. "(For us) it’s kind of a normal part of dining."
The week before the restaurant's opening, Sam talked about getting local radish, rhubarb, asparagus and other produce into The Webster. The still-developing menu also uses butter from Wisconsin and beef from Nebraska.
“We’re certainly not trying to be just a (locally sourced) restaurant," Sam said. "But we are trying to source as much product from the Midwest as possible and trying to play within the boundaries of the seasonality of the Midwest.”https://www.press-citizen.com/story...uilt-ic-memories-sam-riene-gelman/4971867001/
"It was amazing," recalled the chef, sitting in the latest iteration of the northside space. "It was a drugstore up front and they had a small lunch counter in the back with an old-school soda fountain...
"My father worked (and continues to work) across the street and my grandfather worked at Mercy Hospital, so when I was a kid, I would come down and have lunch with either my grandfather, my father or both."
Gelman's grandfather was an orthopedic surgeon named Webster. So when Gelman and his wife Riene moved back to his hometown to open an upscale restaurant, naming it was the easiest part.
The couple came to Iowa City in 2019 after years in and around New York City, building their respective repertoire in running restaurants. There is more than 30 years of experience between the two of them, rubbing elbows with the likes of Tom Colicchio, Ken Oringer and David Chang.
Riene, the location's general manager and co-owner, is originally from Arizona. She migrated to New York and found work at Eleven Madison Park and Craft.
After graduating high school in 1999, Sam attended the Culinary Institute of America, earning degrees in Culinary Arts and Culinary Arts Management. He spent 12 years working with acclaimed East Coast restaurant group Momofuku before coming back to Iowa City and setting up shop at a location with great significance to him.
In returning to Iowa City to raise a family, Sam decided to embody in his menu the state's seasonal experience, allowing offerings to change throughout the year.
"That’s just sort of ingrained in me from growing up here," he explained. "We had sweet corn in the summers and pole beans when they were ready and peas in the spring.”
Sam touched base with local organizations like Friendly Farm, looking to add regional ingredients to his menu.
"In New York, lots of restaurants rely on the Greenmarket (for ingredients), which is a huge, huge farmers market," Riene said. "(For us) it’s kind of a normal part of dining."
The week before the restaurant's opening, Sam talked about getting local radish, rhubarb, asparagus and other produce into The Webster. The still-developing menu also uses butter from Wisconsin and beef from Nebraska.
“We’re certainly not trying to be just a (locally sourced) restaurant," Sam said. "But we are trying to source as much product from the Midwest as possible and trying to play within the boundaries of the seasonality of the Midwest.”https://www.press-citizen.com/story...uilt-ic-memories-sam-riene-gelman/4971867001/
