Q & A with The Local Store's Richele Benway

How often do you stumble upon a local store in the middle of
midtown Manhattan?   This just
might be the first.  Chef-owner Richele Benway
has brought a quaint sensibility to midtown east with The Local Store, a
new restaurant & wine bar, that serves creative sandwiches and small plates
made from locally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients.  The menu changes three times a day, and features simple, but
elegant dishes, like roasted tomatoes with garlic scape and goat cheese, corn chowder and gazpacho.  

Benway earned her culinary chops working for some of New
York’s best chefs, including Gotham Bar & Grill’s Alfred Portale, whom she
credits as one of her mentors.  So
why open a local store in New York City? 
“I knew there would be no other place like it,” she says.  You can’t argue with that, and the
neighborhood seems to be taking to it, especially her ham and manchego cheese
sandwich and her fresh-baked desserts, including a French Toast muffin. 

Single/Married/Divorced?  Single.

What
did you want to be when you grew up?   In order: pirate, farmer,
teacher, comedian.

What
was your first job in food and what did you learn?   My
first job in food was at Adel’s restaurant on Dry Creek Road in
Healdsburg as a
waitress. It was basically a glorified burger joint.  All of my
co-workers were
hardworking, lovely people with strong work ethics.  I was able to work with people who had such a
great
sense of timing, there was never any such thing as a guest having to
wait for
anything.

How
do you manage to come up with your menu, considering it changes several times a day?   I’m
always surprised that the menu happens in spite of me.  I tend to buy too
much
on impulse of whatever looks good at the market, or what I know I can
get
locally from a vendor. The staff and I then collaborate to make some
pretty
tasty stuff based on what’s in the pantry and coming in fresh. We use mostly
local here, but don’t have a problem
sourcing from small to medium farmers from all over that use good
growing
practices, like through Basis Foods.

What
are some of your favorite ingredients to work with?  
Anything that is so perfect and delicious on its own that it doesn’t
need much
fooling around with.

You’re
a northern California native, who has worked at some great New York
restaurants,
including Alto, Picholine, Convivio and Gotham Bar and Grill.   How has your
hometown
influenced your cooking here?  Looking
back, I realize how lucky I was to grow up in Sonoma County. Eating
seasonally
came easily since everyone had fruit trees and gardens in their yards.
One
could stop at the roadside in Bodega Bay for barbequed oysters and
mussels. The
whole county smelled like apples in fall. We got plenty of cheap produce
that
was mass produced in the valley from water they stole from Northern
California,
but even as little kids, my sister and I knew that lemons and apples
from trees
from the neighborhood were better than the bland, pithy stuff from the
grocery
store.

Who
have been some of your favorite chefs to work with?   Betsy
Reilly, Scott Conant, Michael White, Craig Wallen, and Alfred Portale,
because
he keeps it classy.

With
its farm-to-table café concept, The Local Store seems like a more natural fit for
downtown Manhattan
or Brooklyn than for its Midtown location. Why did you decide to open up
shop
in that neighborhood?   I had worked in midtown for Chris Cannon for a few years and knew from being here that there was nothing like it,
but
that people wanted it.

The
Local Store opened out as a bakery.  Do you like cooking or baking better?   I
don’t think I’m a great baker. It takes a lot of discipline and focus,
which I
don’t have. Cooking is great because there’s a lot of room to play.

The restaurant also has a great beer selection. What’s your favorite beer for summer?  
Anything
by Southampton Brewery.  I love the Double White and Keller Pils.

You have some pretty creative sandwiches on the menu, like ham with manchego cheese and
raisin mostarda
on a ciabatta roll.   Where are some of
your favorite
places to get sandwiches in the city?  The best place for sandwiches is Vito’s in Hoboken on Washington Street.  They make their own mozzarella everyday and it’s the best thing you’ve ever put in your mouth. 

What
are your goals for the future?  Lord of the Underkingdom,
master of all I survey.  But I’d really just settle for 2 days off.

The Local Store
Address:  East 49th Street, btwn First & Second Aves.
Phone: (212)935-4266