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Turtle + the Wolf is the restaurant I’ve thought about opening for some time now. Growing up in Montclair left an indelible mark on me and created a longing to one day return to this community to raise my family. After graduating college, I left Montclair to find a life in restaurants and discovered my comfort was in their kitchens. With blind fortune, I ended up as a cook at Craft in Manhattan. For the last thirteen years, I have worked my way from a line cook to the culinary director for Tom Colicchio’s restaurants.

While at Craft, I was afforded direct accessibility to the Union Square Farmer’s Market. Here my eyes were opened to the local food movement. As a Chef, I bought into the philosophy that the source of the ingredient was more important than what it would become. I have also been fortunate to come to know the hardworking people growing and raising the ingredients I love to cook with. My mission at Turtle + the Wolf is simple: to cook seasonal food with ingredients sourced as locally as possible, whenever possible, while continuing to support these awesome producers.

Turtle + the Wolf is the fruit of countless conversations (and maybe a disagreement or two) with one of my longtime friends and fellow Montclair native, Matt Trevenen. We have talked of opening a restaurant in our hometown since before we were out of high school. Back then, we envisioned a warm, inviting setting with great food and reassuring hospitality. Today we realize this dream with Turtle + the Wolf.