A NEWLY OPENED ASIAN FUSION CONCEPT IN NEW HOPE PAIRS LOCAL INGREDIENTS WITH INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS

BY ERIK SCHONING • PHOTOS BY ALEX BARRETO

Oftentimes, the best chefs have humble roots. Greg Giebler, executive chef at Landmark Hospitality’s newly launched Anzu Social in New Hope, PA, is no exception. Giebler’s vibrant Asian fusion menu is the result of his life’s journey in cooking, one that began on the Jersey Shore, when he was 16 years old.

“At the time, it was easy for kids to get jobs as line and prep cooks on the Shore during the summer,” Giebler said. “I would be shucking clams and oysters early in the morning before soccer practice.”

After graduating from the Academy of Culinary Arts, Giebler cut his teeth at fine dining spots on the Shore before moving to Tennessee’s capital, where he worked as a sous chef at the acclaimed Husk Nashville.

“Husk is where my love for regional and well-thought-out cooking was born,” Giebler said. “Immediately, I felt a connection to their philosophy of using local ingredients from the Nashville River Basin. I follow the same ethos in the area I am now along the Delaware River.”

After opening Heirloom at The St. Laurent, where Giebler refined his global approach to menu building, he came to Anzu Social. His goal as the opening chef is to showcase New Hope, using fresh produce from surrounding farms and foragers alongside sustainably caught fish and meat.

Anzu Social is an interesting and complex project, a blend of Giebler’s experiences and inspirations, a restaurant that is local in its ingredients but global in its preparations. The menu reflects this ambition, from the ramen carbonara to the cornmeal fried shrimp, served with a Thai coconut green curry. It is a measured approach to fusion, far from the illogical leaps that sometimes mar that style of cooking. Instead, Giebler looks for natural connections between what he sources and flavors that interest him. His scallop crudo is a perfect example of this dynamic in action.

“My favorite ingredients to work with are scallops, and I love to show off the quality that we’re able to source from the Jersey Shore,” Giebler said. “New Jersey scallops are some of the best in the country and hardly anyone knows it.”

Giebler likes to treat scallops delicately; for this dish, he lightly cures them in salt, sugar, and a kombu powder. He slices them thin and dresses them with fresh yuzu and an olive oil infused with benne seeds, the heirloom ancestor of sesame seeds. The dish is finished with more benne, black lava salt, and scallions.

As a tribute to his time in Tennessee, Giebler also has Nashville Hot Chicken Bao Buns on the menu. (“When I came back from Nashville, the first thing everyone would ask is if I could make them hot chicken,” noted the chef.) The version at Anzu Social features a spicy Szechuan chili oil and house-made steamed bao. This dish, too, is a prime representation of fusion at its finest: unexpectedly perfect pairings from across the world.

But Giebler has been in the industry long enough to know that a chef isn’t only defined by his menu. Opening a restaurant brings its own set of challenges, which he knows firsthand from his experience opening Heirloom at The St. Laurent. To be a top-notch executive chef, you have to also be a good leader.

“I like to tell myself I have a Jedi-like mindset,” Giebler said. “That means having a calm professional demeanor, where your staff can come to you with any problems. Leadership is equally as important as, say, proper technique and creativity in the restaurant setting. Yes, you want to be able to execute things properly, but you need to be able to convey your visions to your staff and your guests.”

Giebler is aiming high with Anzu Social: he wants the restaurant to be a focal point of dining not only in Bucks County but in the greater Philadelphia area. The chef, alongside Landmark, are still in the process of expanding the restaurant in conjunction with the Mansion Inn, the hotel with which it shares a space. Looking toward the new year, they’re confident that for New Hope residents and travelers alike, Anzu Social is the place to be.

Anzu Social

9 S Main Street, New Hope, PA

267.396.7700 / mansioninn.com/eat

@anzu.social