“We’re a new New York City restaurant—instead of New American—we’re new New York City,” says chef/owner Homer Murray of 21 Greenpoint in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood.
Murray originally went to art school and received a bachelor’s degree in photography. Throughout, he had a side job flipping eggs and got hooked.
“It was a drug I couldn’t kick,” states Murray. “When I wasn’t taking photos I was reading cookbooks and cooking at home. I just sort of had to cast myself free and I brought myself here.”
21 Greenpoint opened on September 21, 2016. There, Murray’s menu includes light salads, pizzas from his wood-fired oven (that happens to be named after his ex-girlfriend), and mains like seared ricotta gnocchi with smoked mushroom ragout and chicken schnitzel with pickled vegetables. “I want the diner to taste the food and to see that this is thoughtful, whether it’s the sourcing of ingredients, whether if it’s the way it’s produced, whether it’s the way it’s cooked,” he says. “As long as every little bit has been thought of, then you don’t have to think too much.”
Ingredients sourced at the restaurant come from within a 100-mile radius or less, something Murray literally feeds off of.
“It’s part of what makes it fun, but it’s also part of what makes you a chef,” he adds. “You have to keep it as close to NYC as possible. It means a lot to me—I’m from NYC, I was born and raised here and I’m never going to leave here, so I want to use everything I can to keep this place as special as it is, and those farmers are a big part of that.”
During opening weekend, chef/restaurateur and friend Peter Kelly had the “bright idea” to have Homer’s celebrity father, Bill Murray, sling drinks behind the bar. Not surprising, the Murrays generated a ton of buzz making opening night a huge success.
“To be supported by my dad as thoroughly as I am is incredibly rewarding and incredibly empowering,” Homer says.
But the restaurant is actually for his mom: “The idea that I could open a place and do a good job and get a pat on the head from my mom once in awhile feels good.”
21 Greenpoint received a Bib Gourmand designation in the 2018 MICHELIN Guide New York City; Murray found out when his friend and neighboring restaurant owner Paulie Gee posted it on his Instagram.
“That award specifically is the one that I always thought was the most pertinent to what we were trying to achieve here—even more than a Michelin star,” he adds. “I screamed and I yelled, I called my mom, I called my general manager, and I called my dad. I said, ‘I did this thing,’ and he said, ‘I’m really proud of you.’ It was everything—that was the culmination of all of these years. It was all of that work.”
“It’s not about climbing a ladder, and it’s not about maintaining,” he says. “It’s about keeping it even. It’s about making things better. It’s about growing up as a man and as a restaurant. This was a neighborhood that didn’t need more restaurants, but I wanted to give another one. I wanted to do right by my neighborhood. And I think I did.”
Video and photos shot by Kathryn M. Sheldon, an award-winning producer, photographer and editor with a background in still photography and television production. Having produced food and beverage content for seven years at NBC, she is currently producing video content for the MICHELIN Guide.
