AQUAGRILL BIOGRAPHY
Chef Jeremy Marshall
Aquagrill, a fine dining seafood restaurant and oyster bar located in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, is owned and operated by husband and wife team Jeremy and Jennifer Marshall. The Marshalls are dedicated to providing fine dining and first class service in an enjoyable, relaxed atmosphere. The key to their success is that they are hands-on operators, with Mr. Marshall running the kitchen and Mrs. Marshall overseeing the dining room.
Chef Jeremy Marshall, a born-and-bred Manhattanite, began his culinary career as an apprentice to Chef Allain Sailhac at Le Cirque at the age of 17. After an exciting year of learning and working in one of the country's best kitchens, he was eager to pursue this profession and enrolled in The Culinary Institute of America. He returned to Le Cirque for his externship and then continued working and learning in other top Manhattan kitchens under the tutelage and discipline of Pierre Baran of Le Cygne and Jean Claude Nedelec of Glorious Food Caterers. Mr. Marshall's desire to broaden his repertoire led him to Italian cooking master Guiliano Bugiali, where he assisted and began teaching basic techniques of pasta making, and later to Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses of Tavern on the Green, where he developed a passion for pastry arts during his term as Pastry Sous Chef.
After honing his skills during stints at various New York City restaurants, Chef Marshall was rewarded his first Executive Chef position at the age of 23, following Chef Terrance Brennen's departure at Anabelle's. From there he led the kitchens of La Petite Ferme, Richard Picasso's Café, private dining club Le Club and Two Eleven. He gained the most recognition and developed a loyal following during his term at Café where his food was likened to "an earthy Le Cirque." In 1991, Chef Marshall started as a chef consultant for Midtown's Coming and Going which led to his involvement in starting up numerous other operations including Medici 56, Tammany Hall, and ń Tapas Bar in NYC and Pelican Hotel in South Beach.
Chef Marshall's ambition was to open a restaurant of his own to showcase his talents, and Aquagrill is the realization of this dream. Together, the Marshalls are dedicated to providing a very special experience for diners at Aquagrill by serving some of New York's most creative fish and seafood selections, offering one of the world's most extensive oyster bar selections, providing interesting selections of well-valued high quality wines and creating a warm and welcoming ambiance.
Jennifer Marshall
While Jennifer Marshall was at Columbia University she met Jeremy and developed an interest in the restaurant industry. She committed two years to the study of wines at The New York Wine Center and Windows On The World, and restaurant management at The New School and New York University. Jennifer is one of the country's few female Sommeliers (Wine Steward), with an outstanding management ability that earned her a position as Assistant Cellarmaster managing Windows On The World's 700,000 bottle cellar. Her efforts at Aquagrill have been highly recognized in wine publications, and have been awarded the 1999 Restaurant Hospitality Award for Best Short Wine List in America. Aquagrill's wine list has also maintained the prestigious Award of Excellence by the Wine Spectator since 1999. In addition to her wine background Mrs. Marshall managed several Manhattan restaurants, where she supervised service, trained staff and developed public relations and promotional campaigns.
Aquagrill has received praise from The New York Times, Gourmet Magazine, New York Magazine, The New York Observer, Travel and Leisure, VOGUE, Food & Wine, The Wine Spectator and over sixty other publications. Since 1999 Aquagrill earned membership into the highest listings in the NYC ZAGAT Survey by being ranked in the top 50 Most Popular restaurants in NYC and the top 50 Best Food restaurants in NYC, as well as the best brunch restaurant, top seafood, top raw bar, top "in" place and many other listings. The restaurant has also been featured on television shows CNN Headline News, CNN Financial News, TV Food Network's Dining Around and In Food Today as well as radio shows The Joan Hamburg Show WWOR, The Arthur Schwarz Restaurant Review WWOR, J. Walman's Restaurant Review WEVD 1050 and The New York Times Restaurant Review WQXR. In addition, Aquagrill is well reviewed at many Internet restaurant sites including MSN Sidewalk, America Online, Dinenet and Metrobeat. As further testimony to its success, Aquagrill is the proud recipient of U.S. Small Business Administration's 1997 Entrepreneurial Success Reward.
