The Webster, built on local memories of a New York chef, opens in Iowa City's Market House

Before becoming a New York chef, before he'd even graduated from Iowa City West, Sam Gelman knew the spot as Pearson’s Drug Store.

"It was amazing," recalled the chef, sitting in the latest iteration of the northside space. "It was a drugstore up front and they had a small lunch counter in the back with an old-school soda fountain...

"My father worked (and continues to work) across the street and my grandfather worked at Mercy Hospital, so when I was a kid, I would come down and have lunch with either my grandfather, my father or both."

Gelman's grandfather was an orthopedic surgeon named Webster. So when Gelman and his wife Riene moved back to his hometown to open an upscale restaurant, naming it was the easiest part.

The Webster will make its debut Wednesday evening, nested at the base of the relatively new Iowa City Market House, 202 North Linn St.

The corner recently hosted a Central State Bank location (and prior to that a That's Rentertainment movie rental store) before the building was torn down in early 2018. Four stories of condominiums rise above the new restaurant.

More:New businesses in Iowa City include 'escape room' and two restaurants aiming for different clientele

Coming home to Iowa City 

The restaurant is the culmination of months of navigating delayed plans for the Gelmans.

The couple came to Iowa City in 2019 after years in and around New York City, building their respective repertoire in running restaurants. There is more than 30 years of experience between the two of them, rubbing elbows with the likes of Tom Colicchio, Ken Oringer and David Chang.

Riene, the location's general manager and co-owner, is originally from Arizona. She migrated to New York and found work at Eleven Madison Park and Craft. 

After graduating high school in 1999, Sam attended the Culinary Institute of America, earning degrees in Culinary Arts and Culinary Arts Management. He spent 12 years working with acclaimed East Coast restaurant group Momofuku before coming back to Iowa City and setting up shop at a location with great significance to him.

In returning to Iowa City to raise a family, Sam decided to embody in his menu the state's seasonal experience, allowing offerings to change throughout the year.

"That’s just sort of ingrained in me from growing up here," he explained. "We had sweet corn in the summers and pole beans when they were ready and peas in the spring.”

Sam touched base with local organizations like Friendly Farm, looking to add regional ingredients to his menu.

"In New York, lots of restaurants rely on the Greenmarket (for ingredients), which is a huge, huge farmers market," Riene said. "(For us) it’s kind of a normal part of dining."

For subscribers:A look inside Market House, downtown Iowa City's newest high-rise caught in COVID-19 limbo

The week before the restaurant's opening, Sam talked about getting local radish, rhubarb, asparagus and other produce into The Webster. The still-developing menu also uses butter from Wisconsin and beef from Nebraska.

“We’re certainly not trying to be just a (locally sourced) restaurant,"  Sam said. "But we are trying to source as much product from the Midwest as possible and trying to play within the boundaries of the seasonality of the Midwest.”

This is illustrated in the opening day menu, where a small plate of oysters can be ordered alongside roasted Iowa chicken with a side of snap peas. Entrees range from $16 for duck egg tagliatelle to $65 for a whole roasted Iowa chicken.

The drink selection, similarly, takes local flavor heavily into account while pulling from national and international offerings. As Riene explained, while most of the wines are sourced from places like Italy, Spain and France — the beer selection is regional.

“The area I’m most excited about are some Sicilian wines," Riene said. "They’re just light, easy to drink."

The restaurant sports a dinner menu for its opening, with brunch and lunch options forthcoming. The Webster also wants to appeal to takeout customers as the Gelmans fall into the rhythms of operation. Eventually, the 3,700-square-foot restaurant will operate seven days a week. It will introduce outdoor seating later this month. 

For now, hours are Tuesday-Thursday from 5:30-9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5:30-10.

The restaurant also has plans to unroll a chef's counter — consisting of four seats with a direct view into the kitchen — and a private dining space upstairs that can seat up to 32 guests, opening June 4.

For subscribers:In his art, Robert Moore reimagines the world as he dreamed of seeing it, growing up

'We want it to be upscale, but we don’t want it to be stuffy'

Back when the Gelmans knew they wanted to open a restaurant in Iowa City but hadn't nailed down a location, Sam had been looking farther away from downtown. 

Eventually, the corner of Linn and Market started to feel right.

“When this space became available and we saw it, I think we became excited right away," Sam said. "The potential for it in the Northside neighborhood is great."

As the venue garners customers, expands its menu and becomes rooted in the community, the Gelmans hope their patrons can form their own memories in the space where he used to eat soup and cold sandwiches with his family. 

Of course, The Webster's food and atmosphere look very different from what Pearson's served in bygone days.

“We want it to be upscale, but we don’t want it to be stuffy," Sam said. "We want you to feel at home and we want you to feel comfortable.

“I want the guests to be able to see the kitchen and I want it to feel like an extension of us and our home. … Hopefully, instead of walking up to a podium, it’s like walking into someone else’s home.”

Isaac Hamlet covers arts, entertainment and culture at the Press-Citizen. Reach him at ihamlet@press-citizen.com or (319)-688-4247, follow him on Twitter @IsaacHamlet.