Great Gadsby! Noted Chef Enters Columbia Restaurant Scene

Robert Gadsby smiled as the new logo on the front door of the former Greystone Grill was unveiled Friday in Columbia.

It read "Gadsbys Bar American" and officially announced Chef Gadsby's entrance into the local restaurant scene.

"It's an exciting moment for me," said Gadsby, a classically trained chef who has served as the executive chef at restaurants like Noe at the Omni in Los Angeles, as chef de cuisine at Robert Wiedmaier's Mussel Bar in Bethesda and competed against Mario Batali in Food Network's Iron Chef America.

Gadsby leased the former Greystone Grill space after evaluating its potential. He said although it's "off the beaten path" in a nondescript corporate park, the interior is set up nicely for his concept. It can seat up to 200 people in its main dining room, bar, private dining area and chef's table, said Gadsby.

"This is extremely hard to find unless you build it from the ground up," said Gadsby. "Whoever designed it knew what they were doing; they definitely have vision."

Gadsby's plan is to turn around the struggling former restaurant with a vision of his own—an all-American menu that focuses on food "that moves, excites and persuades the palette."

To do so he's creating a menu filled with famed American ingredients; Washington mussels, Wisconsin cheese, Maryland seafood, Pennsylvania mushrooms, Maine lobster, Oregon truffles, Virginia prosciutto and California wines. Gadsby described the concept as affordable, unique American comfort food.

"This will be a place people can call their own," said Gadsby. "Where you can bring friends from out of town, and say, 'You may have great food in New York, but we have a world-class chef here.'"

Gadsby, who is from Bedford, England, but now lives in North Laurel, credits the new concept to the way Americans have embraced him. 

"Americans have an 'all' sense when it comes to food," said Gadsby. "They are the most adventurous, and they have amazing products."

Currently the dinner menu at Gadsby's Bar American remains the same as Greystone's, as Gadsby plans to roll out the new menu the second week of December.

However, the new lunch menu hints at what Gadsby is working on with items like a Carolina pulled pork sandwich ($8), Nantucket Bay scallops with fingerling potato salad ($11); and a three-course lunch menu ($21) with choices like roasted beets, goat cheese pasta with sausage, and slow cooked lamb shank.

Gadsby has held over the staff from Greystone. He's working with them to determine their strengths.

"We see a lot of talent here, they just need great leadership. The previous owner was an absentee owner. He was a banker. But I'll be here in the kitchen. They expect to see my face here," said Gadsby.

For those lucky few, they'll be learning from a chef who has trained others that have ascended in the food world, such as Jeff Henderson who has a Food Network show and Jean Philippe-Gaston of Houston's Cove restaurant who was named the 2013 chef of the year by Eater Houston.

Gadsby said he didn't necessarily choose the place in Columbia, as much as it chose him. While working at Mussel Bar he saw how a restaurant in this region can be successful.

"When I saw the amount of business Mussel Bar was doing, I said wow, people were waiting two hours to get food, there was a line out the door," said Gadsby. "I thought, you know what, maybe this could be the place."

He also credited the encouragement of his friend Errol Lawrence, owner of Washington, D.C.'s famed Oya, with the idea to open a major restaurant in the area. 

Gadsby first tested the waters with RG's BBQ Cafe in Laurel. It opened quietly in the spring of 2013, but soon received notice from the Washingtonian, which gave the restaurant a stellar review.

"These dishes would have been at home at any downtown DC bistro with a penchant for comfort food. But my friend and I were feasting on foil-lined paper plates along a stretch in Laurel dotted with thrift stores, honkytonks, and motels," reported the magazine.

Gadsby has had problems in the past. He amicably left Wiedmaier's Mussel Bar about three months after the restaurant received a half star review by the Washington Post food critic. At Bedford in Houston, a restaurant named after his hometown, he left less than a year after it opened in 2009 when the recession hit, but said he still owns the building.

He said the rent from the building allowed him to have the financial position to open this new Columbia restaurant. For two years, he says, he has been plotting his new concept.

And now he's ready to settle down. 

"Today, food is the most important thing my life right now, that and my family," said Gadsby, who lives with his wife and said his daughter plans to help manage the restaurant. "All I'm looking for in my life is freedom, security and peace of mind."

Last week he celebrated his birthday and said the restaurant is his birthday gift. Now, he plans on ensuring the staff can execute his new menu, researching where to get the best food, and training the front of the house.

"The plan is to make this a huge success and if there's room for expansion, I plan to do other deals and other restaurants. No place will be the same," said Gadsby, who summed it up later, saying, "I'm a phoenix rising from the ashes."

Restaurant Information:

Gadsbys Bar American
8850 Columbia 100 Pkwy
Columbia, MD 21045
(410) 715-4739