A HISTORY AS STORIED
AS ITS BOROUGH

Since 1879, Gage & Tollner’s story has spanned generations, families, cultures and cuisines. Each page of that tale has told a dramatically different story, from over a century of fame until the landmark fell vacant in 2016.

Then came Ben Schneider, Chef Sohui Kim and St. John Frizell. When the self-described “unlikely restaurateurs” stepped inside 372 Fulton Street in 2017, the gilded-age Victorian design immediately gave way to dust-coated daydreams. “We all sort of looked at each other, our mouths a little agape, and we said: ‘Oh, wow, I guess we need to do this,’” Sohui reminisces. As with any legacy business, it is easy to be dwarfed by the past. But against industry odds, the visionary trio found the delicate balance between restoring and reinventing their historic establishment. They imagined a welcoming space in which to sit and celebrate, not stand on ceremony. This year, West Elm joined Sohui and her family to raise a toast to the holiday season—and to Gage & Tollner’s next chapter.