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| Kristin pulls espresso shots as Marshall looks on. |
| Café Estelle |
Ask Marshall Green how he feels about being the public face of the restaurant he owns with his fiancé/partner Kristin Mulvenna, and the self-effacing chef, 27, virtually cringes. "I am not comfortable with the 'chef as celebrity' idea," he says, looking very serious. "I think it's ridiculous. I try to be as humble as I can be. I don't like the spotlight, and that's why I cook. I wish Kristin got more publicity — I seem to overshadow her. She is so important to the existence of this place. It literally would not exist without her."
Ask Mulvenna the same question, and the response is, shall we say, more vehement. "It really pisses me off," says the curly-haired, energetic 28-year-old, with real force. "I put in just as many, if not more, hours. Though Marshall is so talented, if I didn't do all the things I do, it wouldn't work at all. The thing that bothers me the most is that no one thinks I'm an owner — just Marshall's little wife!" She mimes a person putting an arm around her; in a mocking voice: "Oh, you're Mrs. Marshall! We loooooove his food!" She softens a little. "I understand why people are interested in him — the chef draws people to the restaurant. But we do it all together."
Café Estelle has only been open 15 months, but in that time, it's earned rave reviews — from CP's Trey Popp to a two-bell rating from the Inquirer's Craig LaBan — and hordes of devoted diners. The out-of-the way location at 444 N. Fourth Street (between Spring Garden and Callowhill) was an initial challenge — little pedestrian traffic meant the café had to work harder to gain notice. But Green's philosophy of making everything in-house — bread, pastry, jam, bacon, mozzarella, brisket and root beer, among others — helped differentiate Estelle from other local bruncheries. Sourcing fair-trade, locally roasted coffee, recycled and biodegradable takeout packaging, and paying staff a fair and livable wage are all Kristin's department (she will list the rest for you if you ask). Both owners are a constant presence in the restaurant; Marshall behind the line or kneading dough in the bakery, Kristin always on the floor, smiling and serving right alongside her staff.
Green spent time in the kitchen of Django under original owners Bryan Sikora and Aimee Olexy, the husband-and-wife team who now run the acclaimed Talula's Table. Like Sikora and Olexy, Green and Mulvenna have had to learn to balance home life with work life. "We spend 24 hours a day together," says Kristin. "It's hard to figure out where business stops and life begins. If I'm pissed at him at work, it carries over. Marshall is better at separating the two. He grew up in a family business, [so] it's second nature." She pauses, and breaks into one of her signature mischievous grins. "He does go out back and throw things, though. There's broken dishes by the dumpster occasionally."
Both owners give credit to their team, emphasizing that great restaurants are always the product of a dynamic relationship between the front and back of the house. "I wouldn't do this if I wasn't on the line, cooking," Marshall says. "I'm not the type to step back, even though I have a very capable staff. I need to be involved every step of the way." Kristin is well-aware of the friction between kitchen and servers that can doom a restaurant, even one where the food is excellent. "The front of house is the face of your food," she says. "And you will fall to pieces without your dishwasher."
Credit where credit is due belongs to both of these ambitious young restaurateurs, who wrote the menu and built their own place, together.
Café Estelle, 444 N. Fourth St., 215-925-5080, cafeestelle.com
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