The Founders
Fia Berisha
Co-Founder, Restauranteur & Designer
Fia Berisha brings over 20 years of dynamic experience in the hospitality industry, working both front and back of house at award-winning east coast hot spots including Daryl Wine Bar & Restaurant, Battello, Elements, Aether and Mistral. Her discerning taste for talent and pursuit of excellence have earned the restaurants at which she has served a leadership role at the attention and accolades of critics and media alike.
Fia has honed an eagle-eye for quality of service, food and atmosphere, noting how small but integral details like lighting and music, in tandem with excellent food and service, can create unparalleled dining experiences and memories that last a lifetime. Recently Berishashe has utilized this eye harnessed this talent forto design restaurant and event spaces and curate an esteemed beverage programs in the historic Ironworks buildings, formerly a steel and iron factory, thoughtfully preserving the old while simultaneously giving the spaces a striking and timeless feel.
Nicholas Elmi
Co-Founder, Restauranteur & Designer
Nicholas Elmi has a long history in the restaurant business. He launched his career as the chef at the renowned Le Bec-Fin in Philadelphia where he was honored to spend _ years. In 2013 Elmi decided to strike out on his own opening his first restaurant Laurel after winning season 11 of Bravo’s Top Chef. Laurel was nominated by the James Beard Foundation as one of the ‘Best New Restaurants’ in America that year and named one of GQ’s ten best restaurants in the country. Since, Laurel has been awarded four bells by award-winning critic Craig Laban of the Inquirer and named the “Best Restaurant in Philadelphia” by Philadelphia Magazine [what year?].
Chef Elmi created the contemporary cocktail bar right next door to Laurel and named it In TheValley, a name that reflects the translation of the Native American Lenape word ‘passyunk,’ one of Food and Wine’s “Best Food Streets” in America [confused here – what is the best food street in America? Passyunk?] where both Laurel and In the Valley reside.
In the fall of 2019, Elmi published his first cookbook Laurel: Modern American Flavors in Philadelphia co-written by Adam Erace. He currently serves as the Chef Chair for Philadelphia’s Taste of the Nation, an annual event benefitting No Kid Hungry, an organization Elmi and his team are longtime supporters of. Elmi currently resides in Collingswood, New Jersey with his wife and two children
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