Chris Geideman’s resumé includes nearly every restaurant-industry job imaginable—cook, bartender, general manager, wine sales, bar manager, sous chef—and it’s a career that very easily could never have happened. He got into the industry accidentally, after agreeing to cover for a friend at his dishwashing post one night. A quarter-century later, Chris is the executive chef and owner of Crew, a comfort-food bistro with dishes that can be prepared as small plates or full entrees.

The dining room is simply adorned with white linens draped over tables and a mustard-colored booth that runs continuously around the room. But guests shouldn’t let that deceive them—as the New York Times noted, “the low-key atmosphere doesn’t telegraph how creative the menu is.” It’s fitting that a man with such flexible talents has created a menu that covers a lot of culinary ground. One dish might carry an international elegance—roast-chicken paillard with tomato-caper confit—and the next may have an American ease, such as the skillet burger with homemade kettle chips.