This landed in my Inbox today, so I’m sharing it in its entirety…
thank you. and, goodbye 100 Steps.
Thank you.
Let’s get that part of this conversation out of the way right up front. Thank you.
Yes, there is a big part of that thank you that is directed to you, our customers, but, bare with me here, this is going to be a bit of an open love letter to some very special employees too.
Today, Tuesday, April 11th, starts a new chapter at 100 Steps. Today, the Steps will be passed over into the very capable hands of a couple of very talented gentlemen, Joe and Jack. What it will no longer be, is ours.
We made the decision to sell the Steps. It was not an easy decision. It was a decision made all the more difficult because the crews there, the crews both front and back are killing it these days. Open Table honors. Customer comments. Reviews galore. The news is out - the Steps is finally all grown up. The little spot that could. It took nearly 4 years - but the Steps finally grew into everything it could be. Everything we wanted it to be.
The food. My god. Jim and I love food. We eat. We eat well. And the cooks at 100 Steps are the best that I’ve had the pleasure of training and working with in my career. These are working cooks. Hardworking guys who paid attention to every word I had to share. The fish, perfect. The shrimp, perfect. Every dish, so much heart. Talented, hard working cooks, with a desire to put the best dish out - not much more that anyone can ask of them. Thank you.
The service. Finally, right there with it. We’ve run with so many crews since we opened at OHS. But this crew, finally got it. They embraced Jim, they understood what we wanted to do for the customer - what was important to us. And they worked together. A good night was a really good night. Finally seeing waiters invested in our food, talking about, and selling our food - it was fun to watch. Thank you.
So why? Why now? Because Jim and Andrea, want to be Jim and Andrea. We love what we have accomplished here at OHS, we love these amazing crews, and we love the enthusiasm that all of you have finally brought to the door. But, we want to find time to try and be Jim and Andrea, and running two spots, across 7 days, made that nearly impossible.
And we finally found someone who wanted to continue what we built. Jack Tagmouti will be the new owner going into this week. He is a former manager of The Frog and The Peach in New Brunswick, and someone who we hope, and believe, understand the amazing alchemy that we’ve created here. To help him, he’s brought with him a very talented chef, Joe Beninato, formerly of the The Frog and the Peach and Ursino. Both gentlemen are ready to embrace what we’ve created here and hopefully find their own spin on it.
So, the best we can say, is thank you. Thank you for an amazing ride OHS. Thank you for making it 4 of the best years. And thank you to the crew - to Luis, Carlos, Matt, Dago, Katrina, Mike, Rick, Julian, Sachelly, Del, CJ, Shannon, Garrett, Rey, Maria, Jack, Gabe, Alex, Alyse, and many more. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for helping us to make 100 Steps into an amazing place.
And thank you to you. You know who you are. To each and every one of you who made OHS your “spot”. To each of you who became our regulars, who helped us navigate the good and the bad. Thank you. Thank you for making OHS so unique, and such a remarkable place to be a part of.
And to Jack and Joe - good luck. We think you’ve got an amazing team, an amazing spot and some amazing customers too. We wish you the very best in helping to write the story of what the future of 100 Steps has to hold.
See you soon. Andrea