It’s no accident the fries are as good as they are at Ten Twenty Post… or that you can entertain your most important client over a refined meal there as easily as you can pop in for a great glass of Sancerre and the best oysters money can buy on a Saturday afternoon… or bring your kids in for a quick bite any time, or gather for anything from a simple night out with friends to an anniversary, a birthday, a date night or a Sunday brunch you’ll be hard pressed to pull the plug on.
Oh, and if you’re so inclined, you can rent the place out and claim it as your own—as people do…for all sorts of things including rehearsal dinners, Vegas-themed nights, company bashes and other private parties. It’s that good.
Owner David Nelson makes sure of it, using every bit of the knowledge amassed from the nearly 30 restaurants he worked at prior to opening Ten Twenty Post in October 2008, including Rowayton Seafood where he was the first manager and helped establish it as the place it is today.
When you start at 18 years old, talking yourself into a job with celebrity chef Urano Saragoni on Cape Cod in the middle of winter, before the summer crowds return, and come in as a dishwasher then work your way up to sous chef – in just months – you’re bound to learn a thing or two.
“He was the Kennedy’s personal chef. Then he opened his restaurant in Hyannis,” said David, describing the place where Joan Baez once sang for her supper and pictures of Urano in chef whites with celebrities such as Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Mohammed Ali, and more crowded the walls.
David, who went on to earn a degree in literature, thinking he would teach, before returning to restaurant work full time, learned that exacting quality – in everything – is non-negotiable. And the same artistry and precision that make him pre-eminent in fly tying among fly fishing enthusiasts worldwide, is evident throughout Ten Twenty Post.
It is in the systems that help his chefs keep the promise of every item on the menu, thanks to the groundwork laid by opening chef Roland Coulombe, a French Canadian from Maine who came to Ten Twenty Post by way of the Allan Stillman Restaurant Group (Smith & Wollensky, Cité) and the Hilton Group after opening restaurants in Vail and Boulder.
The prepping, the labeling, the recipes, the storage and standards have added up to a consistency of delivery that has made this spot a go-to for thousands in town, all started and solidified under Roland during the seven years he spent at Ten Twenty Post before his sad loss to a quick illness.
“Roland was an incredible person. That’s why his chef’s coat is still hanging in my bar,” explained David.
David’s commitment to exacting quality is in the extraordinary efforts the kitchen staff make to prepare everything from scratch, refined each year in an ongoing quest to improve. Those fries? Hand done, on site. Everything is. All fresh. Corners are for sitting, privately, not cutting at Ten Twenty Post.
Greatness takes time. There is patience in the urgency that fires this business which has doubled from robust to even more robust in the years it’s been open.
“I have 20 kitchen employees. On a given day I have anywhere from seven to 11 working,” said David who starts each day with a walk through his restaurant to make sure all is as it should be. “It takes a lot to keep it organized. We get deliveries here six days a week. We don’t keep too much food. We keep what we need to stay prepped for a day or two,” he added.
“And we don’t spare the expense on buying the best products,” he continued. “We recognize we’re not a Michelin starred restaurant but we use the same products for the most part…best quality meat, best quality fish. Nothing’s frozen. Everything’s from scratch—flatbread, sauces, Everything’s traditionally done.”
And that exacting quality is alive and thriving in the vibe of the place, the attitude.
“The energy is everything, that feel,” said David who insists on positivity and engagement from himself and every person to wield a tray, fill a glass, place a fork or sear a steak in his employ.
“We feel that the only acceptable attitude is a positive one,” he added, quoting his mission statement. It’s in the way the staff treat customers, and each other. “We believe in service. Our sense of urgency with regards to our work defines us,” continued David, relating more of his mission statement. Drop a napkin or ask to change tables and see what happens. Guaranteed, it will happen fast.
And exacting quality is in how David conducts himself. Just go there. Watch him. You’re as likely to see him bussing a table as seating a customer or rushing off to the kitchen to attend to an order. He leads by example, respecting his employees and every diner that walks through his door.
If restaurants make a community, it is the community that makes the restaurants, and David knows this too. It’s in his support of Darien’s nonprofits and his unconditional welcome to all. We are his town, Ten Twenty Post is our restaurant, and we are a better place for it.
