O
NE SPRING morning, while shopping for bur-
rata and dried shrimp in Manhattan’s Little
Italy and Chinatown neighborhoods, chefs
Jeremiah Stone and Fabián von Hauske
Valtierra pause to talk about what they’ve learned
about each other’s taste buds. “You love bitter, raw
flavors,” von Hauske Valtierra, 29, tells Stone. “And
you like more complexity,” Stone, 34, responds. Since
meeting in 2008 at New York City’s French Culinary
Institute (now the International Culinary Center), the
two chefs have developed one of the closest partner-
ships in food. Beginning in 2013, they opened three
acclaimed Lower East Side restaurants: the Michelin-
starred Contra; its more casual offshoot, Wildair;
and Una Pizza Napoletana, where revered pizzaiolo
Anthony Mangieri runs the kitchen. Stone and von
Hauske Valtierra followed up this string of hits with A
Very Serious Cookbook, which was released last year,
and the El Fab & Jerry Show, a culinary and culture
podcast they launched in April. This summer Stone
and von Hauske Valtierra will debut Peoples, a wine
shop and a 25-seat wine bar focused on natural pro-
ducers and tapas-inspired plates, which will be located
inside the Market Line, a cavernous new bazaar just a
few blocks from their restaurants.
Though the friends, by their own account, are now
nearly inseparable, Stone originally believed he and
von Hauske Valtierra would be only acquaintances. “I
didn’t imagine we’d be this compatible,” Stone says.
Von Hauske Valtierra grew up in Mexico City and
aspired to work in fine dining. By age 19, he was mak-
ing pastries at Manhattan’s Jean-Georges; he went
on to create desserts at Copenhagen’s Noma for a few
months. Stone grew up in Gaithersburg, Maryland,
the son of Chinese immigrants, and, after FCI, moved
to Paris to work at a neo-bistro called Rino. While
both chefs lived in Europe, working long hours in
their respective kitchens, they ended their days con-
necting with each other online, via Gchat, to discuss
what they one day dreamed of doing. Both wanted to
part with convention by mixing fine technique and
refined ingredients in a more casual setting, all the
while drawing ideas from myriad cuisines and cook-
ing styles. “We’re just as inspired by Chez Panisse
as Noma,” Stone says, “just as inspired by Japan and
China as Italy and France.”
Wine has also played a pivotal role at the three
restaurants, which have become well-known for their
compelling lists. Guests constantly ask where the bot-
tles can be purchased. Peoples is the answer. “This is
the culmination of our interest in wine,” Stone says.
Von Hauske Valtierra continues with characteristic
cheek: “Peoples is for the people.”BY HOWIE KAHN PHOTOGRAPHY BY COLLIN HUGHESThe chefs behind three of New York’s most beloved restaurants
prepare to expand their empire—with a wine shop and a bar.JEREMIAH STONE & FABIÁN
VON HAUSKE VALTIERRA
TRACKEDTWO OF A KIND
Chefs Jeremiah Stone
(left) and Fabián
von Hauske Valtierra
at their restaurant
Wildair on New York’s
Lower East Side.44
THE EXCHANGE
For personal,