Press-Citizen 'Person to Watch' in 2024: The Webster's Sam Gelman
Editor's Note: This is the third profile in the Press-Citizen’s People to Watch for 2024. Find them all at press-citizen.com.
Many memories have been made on this corner.
A young boy, his father and his grandpa enter the Pearson’s Drug Store at Linn and Market streets.
It’s a weekday in the late 80s or early 90s, around noon. The boy rushes to the back of the store and his dad, Tom, and grandpa, Webster, trail close behind. It’s time for lunch, but his excitement is uncontained because of the drink offerings.
The small, unassuming drug store has held its place on this corner for at least a half-century by the time lunch rolls around on this day. The boy gets a soda — preferably, a Green River — or maybe a milkshake and the deli’s offerings — “a simple sandwich and soup from a can,” he recalls — and enjoys lunch with his family.
Three decades later, Sam Gelman returned to those same hallowed grounds with loads of experience under his belt and a dream to make the same space he once adored visiting into an iconic Iowa City restaurant.
His vision for The Webster, one of New York Times' 50 most exciting restaurants in the nation, is why he's one of the Iowa City Press-Citizen's people to watch for 2024.
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A unique spin on fine dining
The Webster name comes from Sam Gelman's grandfather, an acclaimed doctor who spent time working at nearby Mercy Iowa City and later in life, made oil paintings. One his creations works hangs on the north wall of the dining room.
The restaurant strives to find the middle ground, shying away from keenly fancy restaurants with a formal dress code and instead opting for a calmer atmosphere and music that helps spark conversation. It makes the environment feel alive.
"We want this to be a place that is welcoming to everyone," Sam's wife, Riene Gelman said, who co-owns the restaurant. "Whether it's college girls looking to treat themselves to a nice dinner or a group of friends that want to make Friday nights at the Webster a tradition."
Staff are sourced from the area, with many of the waiters and chefs already having years of prior experience in the food service industry.
More than two-and-a-half years since opening, the Gelmans have settled in Iowa City. This year, the Webster even garnered nationwide acclaim when they were featured by the New York Times as one of the top 50 restaurants in the U.S. in September.
But they both know well after working at great restaurants that are no longer around − success should not mean complacency.
“I talk to our guests and people are always like ‘Oh, you’re doing great, look at you, you’ve really made it, you’re crushing it,’” Riene Gelman said. “For now. We can’t rest on our laurels and once you start resting on your laurels, that’s when things fall apart.”
Love for cooking started in Iowa City and wound through the eastern seaboard
Sam Gelman was born and raised in Iowa City. He grew up — and now, again, lives — in the Manville Heights neighborhood.
In high school, he developed an interest in cooking and started to learn how to cook by watching “Great Chefs” on TV.
Gelman never found his place in high school and instead occupied his time outside of the classroom through independent studies courses, which included work for the University of Iowa’s Speech and Hearing lab.
He also was introduced to the food industry through work at local establishments, including the former downtown Italian restaurant Givanni’s.
A move to the Big Apple
Gelman's restaurant career is a testament to perservacne and a willingness to experiment. He's bounced all over, from the East Coast to Canada and back to Iowa.
Gelman decided to leave the comforts of Iowa City after high school and plant roots in a place far less familiar — New York City.
He needed a recommendation from a graduate to attend the Culinary Institute of America, which he got from the chef at Givanni’s. After earning his associate’s degree, Gelman helped open a restaurant in Westchester, New York, with some friends while preparing for two more years in school.
He eventually moved to Boston and worked at Clu, where he met his wife, Riene. He moved back to New York a few years later, and shortly after, she packed up and moved in with him.
In 2007, Sam Gelman joined the Momofuku group, where he worked for more than a decade. By 2012, Sam and Riene had moved to Toronto where Sam helped open a large restaurant downtown, an establishment that integrated five different concepts into one building.
Like the Momofuku group, the pair’s family was growing, too. In Toronto, Riene had their first child.
When the two moved back to New York, Sam Gelman traded his knife for a computer and a phone, making constant phone calls, taking meetings and filling out spreadsheets as the group’s restaurants grew.
“We were opening restaurants like crazy,” Sam Gelman said. “It was a different challenge. I was traveling a lot and I certainly missed the cooking and the food side of things and the hands-on aspect. It was a challenge. I certainly learned a lot from my time there.”
The Gelmans decided it was time to leave the city once their son was old enough to attend school.
“Always been a dream of mine to come back”
Sam and Riene had been scouting locations in Iowa City for a while.
Sam Gelman thought it would be fitting to return to the corner home to the Pearson’s, where he had made so many fond memories. He even had a connection with the developer, an Iowa City native.
Those nostalgic dreams hit a sudden snag when someone else filled the commercial space.
They looked elsewhere. Eventually, the couple lined up space on South Dubuque Street. They were ready to pull the trigger before a phone call forced a change of plans.
“But the developer called me one day,” Sam Gelman said. “I remember I was at a Staples in Manhattan, buying some sort of envelopes or paper for some crisis that needed to be dealt with, and he told me the space was available. I told him I was interested and we moved back.”
Interest didn’t immediately equal a deal; those fine details took a while to iron out. Sam Gelman admits they took a risk moving back to Iowa, especially with uncertainty over the location of what would become the Webster.
The deal was signed in late 2019, and when they gained control of the completed space in 2020, Sam and Riene began putting together their dream restaurant, with high ceilings and a wide-open kitchen.
“It’s good to know that your food isn’t coming from a mystery kitchen,” Sam Gelman said.
They've since transformed the building into a place where their creativity can shine, striving to establish a restaurant unlike any in Iowa City.
They opened for business in 2021.
The Gelmans provide comfort and a new space for the community to feel “normal” again, feeling blessed to have risen beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
“People were ready for something new and different and I think at that point, people were ready for really anything,” Riene said. “People were hugging me all the time at a time when we weren’t going to be shaking hands with people because they were so thankful that we were here.”
The Gelmans continue to operate with midwestern heart in a refined yet relaxed space.
The Webster is located at 202 N. Linn Street in Iowa City. They are open Tuesday through Thursday from 5:30 - 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5:30 - 10 p.m.
Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Sam Gelman returns to Iowa City to lead The Webster into the future
