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Take an insider glimpse into New York City with the chefs of the blockbuster Pioneer Works Supper Club: tips on local spots, dining deep-dives, and all celebrations of city life.

 chefs and collaborators are asked what small businesses they frequent—in a celebration of city life, good food, and all things local. In the process, we learn more about their background, their worldview, and what day-to-day activities inform their creative, culinary practice.

Fredrik Berselius is the chef and owner of Aska in Williamsburg—currently the only restaurant in Brooklyn to hold the honor of two Michelin stars. Originally from Sweden, Berselius combines his Nordic roots and love for nature with an impeccable design sensibility and utmost care for each dish he creates. Not only are ingredients meticulously and seasonally sourced from local purveyors (sometimes foraged or even grown at the restaurant itself), Aska’s tableware was custom designed by Berselius with a ceramicist upstate.

“I was not planning to be a chef or be in the hospitality industry. I had studied design—graphic design, interior design—but ended up taking a kitchen job and surprised myself by falling in love with it, falling in love with the energy, of working with food and being part of creating an experience. At one point I decided to open my own restaurant, to make that the goal. Since I wanted to be in New York, I realized that cooking served as this medium for me to stay connected to where I was from and the restaurant itself an intersection of so many of my interests—from creating an atmosphere through the design and feel of the space, telling a story through each detail from the tableware to the lighting and how we interact with guests at the table. It’s so multidimensional.”

I spent the afternoon in Brooklyn with Fredrik, his wife Katrina, and their daughter Alida, getting an inside look into the tight knit Scandinavian and foodie communities in Williamsburg, while learning about forageable items growing in the sidewalk along the way.

"BonBon is a Swedish candy store close to Aska. They opened the original one on the Lower East Side, and they sell Swedish candy and other sorts of specialty foods and items. I try not to eat a ton of sugar, but it’s probably one of my vices to eat salty licorice. It is definitely something I always pick up, and I also like these little peanut butter crisps that remind me of my childhood, plus the salty creamy fish roe, Kalles Kaviar, that comes in tubes like toothpaste that you spread on your crisp bread, or sandwich, or on your boiled egg. They sell Swedish cheese that I normally come for as well, to go with my morning toast and jam. I think there are a good number of Swedish people living in Williamsburg, and it’s nice to have a place that sells these specialty items."

"Four Horsemen is a place we go whenever we have a free moment, not quite often enough. It’s a restaurant where you can pop in to just have a few bites, drink delicious natural wines from some of the most interesting producers, or you can stay for hours enjoying nearly everything on the menu and discover new wines from their extensive cellar. I’ve know the owners and the chef for many years now, and I am so happy they are in the neighborhood. Now it’s a Williamsburg staple."

"Marlow & Daughters is a butcher shop that sources some of the highest quality meats and vegetables from nearby farms. I often buy ground beef for making Swedish meatballs, or whole chickens—they have two types which are both wonderful—or their in-house cured ham, bacon, or dry-aged meat. Today I bought some chicken liver to make mousse for my daughter, who is starting to eat solid foods. Marlow is owned by Andrew Tarlow, who really established the farm-to-table movement in Brooklyn. Diner, his restaurant just down the street is another staple where I often go." ♦

Chefs in the City: Fredrik Berselius

NoHo restaurant Bessou focuses on Japanese home cooking, offering dishes that are based on food that owner Maiko Kyogoku grew up eating—her parents both moved to New York City from Japan and opened one of the first sushi restaurants on the Upper West Side. She and Bessou Chef Emily Yuen are also inspired by all the wonderful cuisines and cultures of New York, and utilize those influences and flavors for a modern update of classic home-style Japanese dishes.

Yuen and Kyogoku became friends in 2013 while working at Boulud Sud. Kyogoku is a native New Yorker with a background in art—she was Project Manager for artist Takashi Murakami before becoming Director of Private Dining for Daniel Boulud. Yuen, who comes from Canada, worked with Boulud in Singapore as Executive Sous Chef at DB Bistro before moving to New York City. Now, they are celebrating their fifth anniversary of Bessou. They not only survived the pandemic but thrived; they both became new moms and welcomed daughters less than a month apart.

“Bessou means holiday home or vacation home in Japanese. It also means home away from home,” Kyogoku told me. “And there are a lot of meanings behind that. I wanted to create a space where people could really feel like it was an extension of their home. I grew up in New York and I miss all of the wonderful restaurants that were around that used to make me feel that way. I feel like there are less and less of those types of places and that was one of my dreams, to have a restaurant that could be that kind of place for someone else.”

Maiko and I spent the day in Sunnyside, Queens where she lives with her partner Felix, his son, their dog, and six month old daughter, Remi.

“Turkiyem Market is at the end of my block. It has great Turkish and Mediterranean ingredients. I often find really nice olives or bread, and they have great dried fruits. I always get some dates on the vine that are really nice to have with cheese, or just to munch on as an after dinner snack or

 snack. I bought some za'atar today, and also labneh. I love all their imported selections that you can't find anywhere else.”

“Socrates Sculpture Park is in the middle of Queens, right next to a Costco. You wouldn't really think this little oasis of art installations would be there, but it's there and it's really nice. I go on my way to or back from shopping and running errands. It’s a great place to just kind of chill and relax for a little bit, to just meditate on the day or the week or what not. It’s so beautiful.”

“Sik Gaek is a really great Korean restaurant. We had the kimchi-jeon today, which is one of my favorites. It's actually a vegetarian pancake but it packs in so much flavor with their kimchi, it's delicious. They serve it with sesame oil and soy sauce on the side. We also got some kind of pork and squid stir fry. I feel like you really can't go wrong with any of the options there because there's just so much variety and they do such a good job. At night there's a karaoke vibe to the place. There’s lots of big screen TVs and people are singing, drinking, and it's a lot of fun.” ♦

Chefs in the City: Maiko Kyogoku

Emily and I spent the afternoon in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.


“I come to McGolrick Park if I need a walk and some inspiration. I don't go to the farmers market with anything in mind, I start by finding one ingredient that looks good or is in season and go from there. For fresh vegetables and fruits, I go to The Brooklyn Grange. My friend is the founder of it, and of course I love supporting my friends, and good products. I also really like to go to Mama Lam's. They make Malaysian curry paste, hot sauces—I cook whatever leftovers I have in the fridge with that curry paste.”

“Peter Pan is a really old school donut shop that's been around forever. My favorite donut is either the chocolate glaze or the original glazed cruller. I tried making a french cruller at home recently and it was much harder than I thought to get it right! I’m not a fan of heavy donuts—and at Peter Pans I feel like everything is light (even though it’s still definitely not healthy). If you have time and there’s room, it’s fun to sit at the bar. It's a really good place to people watch and hear the neighborhood gossip.”

“I go to Bao Burg whenever I am craving solid Asian food, and it was my go-to spot to order from during the pandemic. Their menu has Thai, Singaporean, Malaysian, Vietnamese dishes—a little bit of everything—and they do it all really well. Today I got a lava bao, which is also called an egg yolk bao because it's a steam bun filled with sweet and salted egg yolk cream custard. Also a Roti Canai with a coconut curry on the side, plus grandma's chicken over rice.” ♦

Chefs in the City: Emily Yuen

Woldy Reyes is a chef and founder of the boutique catering company 

which was originally based in Brooklyn and since the pandemic has expanded to the Hudson Valley, where he lives part-time. Woldy takes a farm to table approach that integrates bold, Filipino flavors.

“For me, when I try to achieve the major Filipino flavors of tart, salty, sour, and spicy, I use soy sauce or tamari, which brings in that saltiness or the umami-ness. Additionally, to bring the tartness and sour flavors, I use various types of vinegars like coconut vinegar or plain distilled vinegar. I love using citrus a lot; lemons and limes provide freshness and tartness. The sweet component comes from coconut milk and palm sugar. And then you have a bit of spice from chilies, like Thai chilies or jalapenos. When you mix it all together, you achieve an umami bomb of Filipino flavors.”

Woldy and I met up at the Brooklyn apartment that he shares with artists Daniel Robin Clurman and Peter Stanglmayr. We spent the afternoon visiting the places that make Brooklyn feel like home when he’s here and that inspire his creative, culinary practice.

“Daniel Robin Clurman’s studio is in Clinton Hill, in this apartment that he and Peter—who is a photographer—share, and where I stay when I’m in Brooklyn. I'm lucky to be housed by two creative people that are both sort of my chosen family. I'm always inspired by my heritage, but also the people that are closest to me. Daniel uses lots of bold color, so, that sort of informs me when I am plating a dish, that color and texture is also important, as well as flavor.  He’s a mixed medium artist, using primarily acrylic, spray paint, chalk, crayon, or pencil. Right now he's doing work with subjects from Instagram who  are primarily Black, people of color, queer, and trans, leaders in those communities. He captures their essence from their photographs. He did a portrait of me, very abstract, and it was called 

 because I have a disability. It’s hanging on the wall in front of my bed upstate.”

"Ursula is a New Mexican inspired cafe in Crown Heights that was opened by my close friend Eric See. Eric is both its chef and pastry chef. He makes these amazing breakfast burritos, something that he grew up eating, and now they have a cult following. There are lines around the blocks on weekends. Not only does he make breakfast burritos, but also sopaipillas, which are like a fried dough that's stuffed with either stewed chorizo or black beans, and then topped with fresh lettuce and tomato and a mound of cheddar cheese. He makes incredible pastry—conchas, rainbow cake, trans cake, and super inventive donuts. Ursula also carries vegan, gluten free pop tarts and cookies from our friend Lani Halliday’s Brutus Bakeshop."

"Everything Eric does has a thought behind it. He closed another business in the pandemic and then a couple months later decided to open his own place. He really wanted this space to be about community, especially queer community, so he employed a rainbow of colorful LGBTQIA people. He wanted to utilize this place as a space for other queer chefs who either may have lost their job or are kind of, like, figuring out what other pivots that they could make. I was able to do a pop up there, among many other queer chefs, so we can continue to do the food that we enjoy making.”

“I discovered Maya Congee Cafe when I started living in Bed Stuy and my queer chef friend had a place next door. They make this amazing congee, which is like a Chinese rice porridge. We have something very similar in Filipino culture called Arroz Caldo or aroskaldo; it’s usually served with crispy garlic and a bit of citrus. It’s basically rice that's cooked down with broth, and you can put a million different toppings on it. And what Maya does is they have more elevated versions of it. They add crispy broccoli and a soft boiled egg or duck egg. Their toppings vary from vegan kimchi to smoked fish and soft cheese. Warm rice porridge has been really comforting to me since I was a kid, especially on a rainy, cold day. That bowl of congee is just like a big, warm hug. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's one of those things that, really, if you're sick, will make you feel better."

"They also carry Asian pantry items, which I'm really excited about. There's fish sauce and there's chili oil and there's the noodles that my mom used to have in our pantry. I'm happy that there's a place like Maya that feels like home in Brooklyn.”

Chefs in the City: Woldy Reyes 

Loren Abramovich and Daniel Soskolne make up the chef duo LEV, which means “heart” in Hebrew. Native Israelis, Daniel grew up in Jerusalem and Loren in Yodfat, a small village in Galilee. They followed parallel culinary paths, with both studying in Italy; Loren worked in Turin at a local trattoria, while Daniel apprenticed in a restaurant on the island of Ischia. They finally crossed paths in the kitchen of renowned Israeli chef Eyal Shani at HaSalon restaurant in Tel Aviv. Under Shani’s tutelage, they explored local produce by foraging wild herbs and plants, and extensively scouring the markets of Jerusalem and Galilee together.

Separately, they made their way to New York and formed LEV in 2014 to share their site-specific and spontaneous way of cooking. With LEV, Loren and Daniel have combined their roots, values, and life’s work. Their cooking is the alchemy of intention, curiosity, and pure ingredients.

With life, like work, they are synchronized in the most natural and beautiful of ways. Family men, both welcomed their second children into the world last year. Loren’s wife Alicia Mersy, a new media artist and filmmaker, was a Pioneer Works tech resident in 2019, the same year Mor Mendel, Daniel’s wife, choreographed and performed Tamar Ettun’s 

 at the space. In a series of coincidences, the performance happened to premiere the same week LEV cooked in the garden for Summer Solstice.

I met up with Daniel at his garden apartment in Clinton Hill, exploring his favorite neighborhood staples while discussing the concept of “site specific cooking” and what it means for LEV.

“It is a lot about improvisation and adapting to the space. It’s more about the presentation but also the food, too, sometimes. We come in and envision something that is actually really appropriate to the space and how we fit inside that space.”

“Impasto is more like a Roman style pizza. What they do here that's amazing is that they basically double bake the dough. So they make the dough, they bake it almost all the way, and then they do the topping and re-bake it. And it creates this really glassy crust that you break into. They use good ingredients and they're pretty straight forward. Everything is good.

I come here one or twice a week. My son loves it. Sometimes I don't walk here with him because otherwise he just goes in. All they do here are slices, so we mix and match in that way. Everybody has one...or a few...and they cut it in half. It’s sweet.“

“Loren and I went on a trip to Home Depot for LEV, and suddenly we realized, 'Fuck, this is heaven for us.' We like tying things, using tiles to serve on, and improvising and not just being confined to that plates-in-a-restaurant mindset. Plus, these hardware stores are places that I just enjoy going into. It's fun. It's like a toy store, you know?

There’s the famous apparatus we use over the fire. We had this idea of building it out of the metal pipes that you use for plumbing. And basically you can just put it over a fire, over a grill, over anything. And then you can dismantle it, put it in a car, and drive away.”

“So Romans is a really beautiful neighborhood restaurant owned by the same people as Diner and Marlow [and Sons] and Achilles [Heel]. So they have really, really, really good ingredients. They work with farms, they have their own meat, and they have a butcher shop, so they get all the whole animals they need, butcher them, and distribute them between restaurants. The quality of the ingredients is amazing.

They do a more classic kind of Italian format. So there's an antipasti, there's the premi, which is the pastas, and then there's the secondi, which is like the main courses. It’s always very simple stuff. You'll find, like, pasta fagioli or pastas with chickpeas, or pastas, you know, that are not as traditional.”

Daniel Soskolne 

Chefs in the City: Daniel Soskolne

Loren Abramovitch and Daniel Soskolne make up the chef duo LEV, which means “heart” in Hebrew. Native Israelis, Loren grew up in Yodfat, a small village in Galilee, while Daniel grew up in Jerusalem. They followed parallel culinary paths, with both studying in Italy; Loren worked in Turin at a local trattoria, while Daniel apprenticed in a restaurant on the island of Ischia. They finally crossed paths in the kitchen of renowned Israeli chef Eyal Shani at HaSalon restaurant in Tel Aviv. Under Shani’s tutelage, they explored local produce by foraging wild herbs and plants, and extensively scouring the markets of Jerusalem and Galilee together.

Loren and I spent the day going around Brooklyn to his favorite businesses, where he sources ingredients for both his home and LEV.

“I'm looking for shops that sell things similar to the customs of where I come from, whether that’s where I get my vegetables or meat or bread. I grew up in a village with only a small supermarket. Every Friday when we would need to make a big meal for Shabbat, I would go to the Arab villages and cities, gathering all the ingredients. These trips and my relationships with the farmers, fishermen, and butchers influence my cooking to this day. I would always ask them for advice: what do you do with this cut of lamb? What’s your technique to grill fish? We made each other taste what we cooked. I still carry a part of these people in me and in my cooking. I am abroad and people assume that just because I am Israeli I only cook Israeli food. In fact, my food is a combination of Italian, Turkish, French, Palestinian, and Israeli cuisines. As an Israeli cook in New York, I understand how important it is to especially say thank you to Palestinian culture and cuisine.”

“I go to Halal Nouri Meat Market before I have a big event where I need a whole lamb. I come here because it reminds me of “abu- Halil,” the butcher I grew up with in Sakhnin. They sell only lamb; it’s a one stop shop for it! It’s Halal, which is like Kosher for Muslims. When you butcher animals there are many ways to cut it. 

I like Halal butchers because they make the same cut I’m used to, from back home. American butchers cut differently. When I came to New York I  realized lamb shoulder here is not the same as what I am used to. Even if I go to the best butcher place in Brooklyn or a fancy place like Eataly, they have very good beef but I don't like their lamb. Americans slaughter lamb when the animal is older, at about fifty pounds and not forty. It's not a lamb anymore then, you know? It’s something else.

“Oriental Pastry is owned by a Syrian guy who makes a lot of stuff. First of all, pastry. The one that he’s most proud of is like a phyllo dough with cheese curd inside. And he has just an amazing shop. It has everything: pantry staples like spices and coffee; I buy preserved grape leaves from him. It’s things you can’t get anywhere else. These guys are nice. I like the vibe. And I love his olives. I love his pickles. So I go out of my way for that and for him; I like our conversations."

“Runner and Stone is a great bakery in Gowanus. It's not pretentious and it’s super real. It’s small, good, and very direct. In Paris they have bread all over. I eat a lot of bread, like, three times a day. I love bread.”

“LEV bread is a crazy combination of focaccia, laffa, and a bagel. So, I feel it has so much and it's exactly our identity. And bread is so symbolic and specific to me and Daniel.”