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