Chris Humphrey has paid his dues in local kitchens. So when he and restaurateur Stefan Friedman officially open their new seafood spot Bonny & Read, he’ll have earned the right to call the shots.
Humphrey has experience writing menus going back at least a decade to his time as executive chef at Rapture. But there have always been restrictions to his reign. Even when he bought Fellini’s and installed himself as executive chef in 2017, he “had to do Italian.”
Other career stops have been at Maya, Bizou, Metropolitan, Brasserie Saison, and The Whiskey Jar. That last, a soft landing space offered by friend and restaurateur Wilson Richey after Humphrey’s Brasserie travails, ended up being a shorter stay than he’d expected. Just months after going to work at the Jar, Humphrey began talking to Friedman about a concept the chef had been thinking about for 20 years: casual, modern Mid-Atlantic seafood. And just weeks after they started talking, Humphrey had a new job.
According to Humphrey, one reason the timeline was short was the need to jump on the Downtown Mall space Friedman found for the restaurant—namely, the one vacated by Brasserie Saison. Friedman, who bought Ace Biscuit & Barbecue earlier this year, saw in the old Brasserie dining room an opportunity to expand his own growing restaurant group, which he’s branded A Moveable Feast.
Bonny & Read held a soft opening for friends and family in mid-November, but Humphrey and Friedman aren’t ready to announce a formal opening date. According to Humphrey, when they do open, patrons can expect something other than “your classic seafood place,” with a local beef program running alongside features like flounder and crab.
“It’s not a raw bar,” Humphrey says. “A lot of seafood places don’t have many non-seafood options. Being on the Downtown Mall, we want to offer that.” Humphrey points to Public Fish & Oyster to help position Bonny & Read. “They do what they do really well,” he says. “There’s no need for us to replicate that.”
Humphrey, who’s been known over the years for creative southern dishes like Rapture’s Hillbilly Egg Rolls and Fellini’s Pimento Cheese Ravioli, said he’ll be true to his roots at Bonny & Read. Going down-coast to the Mid-Atlantic means he can capitalize on ingredients from below the Mason-Dixon and serve dishes like butter bean hummus, she-crab soup, and whole roasted fish.
“Really what we are trying to do is modern-feeling but recognizable food in a casual setting,” Humphrey says.
Humphrey promises the libations at Bonny & Read will be wine-driven but also feature craft cocktails. He and the Moveable Feast team have made some changes to the Brasserie Saison space, but “it was set up for success.”
In addition to the lack of creative restrictions, Humphrey hopes his latest career move comes with some much needed stability. During his three years at Brasserie, he engaged in a public exchange over lack of payment by ownership; that, followed by the quick in and out at The Whiskey Jar, have been difficult.
One upshot is Humphrey and Friedman are content to take it slow with Bonny & Read. Humphrey says Moveable Feast has a few other projects in the works (that he’s not free to divulge), and as Friedman works on those, he’s hoping to set a hard opening date and be cooking at least four days a week by early next year. Humphrey’s in the process of hiring a front-of-house manager, sous chef, line cooks, and bar manager—all the while working on the part of restaurants he loves: menu writing.
“I’ve got this dessert I’ve been playing around with that I’ve never had the right audience for,” Humphrey says. “It’s an old forgotten dessert I discovered 10 or 11 years ago—think key lime pie but made with lemon, and instead of graham cracker, it has a slightly-sweet saltine cracker crust.”
Humphrey’s seen a lot in his decades as a Charlottesville chef, and he says he’s hopeful for the future—and not just his own. He sees the restaurant industry continuing to improve and other kitchens around town bustling.
“You know, the last couple of months, I haven’t done a lot of cooking,” he says. “I’m sort of out of the loop, but all my friends keep telling me how tired they are ‘cause they’re so busy. I think Bonny & Read can fill a spot that needs to be filled downtown. There are a lot of great restaurants and variety, but I think we’ll be unique.”