the pool and hope that it's deep enough, you know? And if it isn't, he'll make it work anyway. He'll will it to work. Will wills things to happen.” William is quick to return the praise: “There's a check and balance,” he says. “I will sometimes start just going off on tangents like, ‘We could do this,’ or ‘We could do that,’ or ‘What's next?’ And Dmitry will kind of ground it out a little bit … He's like, ‘Whoa, sure, but let's make sure this is running first.’” What unites Dmitry and William is their roll-up-your-sleeves-andget-the-job-done drive instilled by early years in relentlessly fast-paced East Coast kitchens. William established himself at Blue Water Grill and Ocean Grill, prominent seafood restaurants in Manhattan, then at Michelinstarred Saul in Brooklyn, while Dmitry cut his teeth at Washingcasual bar where diners could dig into corn fritters and short ribs while Led Zeppelin and Blondie songs blared on the jukebox. After three-plus decades, they were ready to pass on the legacy. “When I saw it, I fell in love with it,” William says of his first visit. The Olsons served game on the menu and William was eager to embrace that approach with wild boar, bison, elk and venison. He recounts many fond memories of hunting and fishing with his father growing up—catching his first fish and learning to clean it, eating his first deer liver after a hunt. He envisioned mounting his and his father’s deer heads on the walls to show appreciation for the source—a forest-to-fork sensibility. “When Will saw this place, everything clicked,” Dmitry chimes in. He admits it took him longer to warm up to the idea: “I'm a little more cautious. Will has more of a free-spirit energy. Like, he'll dive into {food coloring} ton D.C.’s Red Sage. “You're not accepted until you prove yourself. There's no handholding,” Dmitry recalls of the high-pressure grind. After an impressive roster of subsequent restaurant experiences, the two crossed paths at Bacchus Management Group, where Dmitry led The Village Pub as executive chef—maintaining its Michelin star for eight years—while William took on a range of roles at both The Village Pub and Mayfield Bakery & Café. After Dmitry switched to private chef gigs, the two remained in touch, hiking, sharing meals and daydreaming of a restaurant they could run together one day. That dream is now a reality. Back in the present, Dmitry sets expectations high with sturdy hunks of rustic bread. “It takes its time fermenting slowly in a cold walk-in,” he says of the process. “It develops more flavor and more complexity.” Without a bread oven, he bakes 20 loaves a day in large cast-iron pots. “I'm still making bread, like Sisyphus,” Dmitry Above: William Roberts (left) and Dmitry Elperin (right) enjoy a quiet moment before the dinnertime rush.
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