Former UI Cook Returns to Iowa City to Open Acclaimed Restaurant

PHOTO: THALASSA RAASCH Sam Gelman, chef and owner of the Webster in Iowa City, was a UI cook at the Iowa Memorial Union before honing his cooking skills in New York.

One of the best restaurants in America, according to The New York Times and USA Today, is located on North Linn Street in Iowa City.

In 2021, chef Sam Gelman returned to his hometown to open the Webster with his wife, Riene. Gelman describes it as “a cosmopolitan restaurant with a Midwest heart,” serving contemporary American cuisine.

PHOTO COURTESY THE WEBSTER Guests at the Webster can reserve a seat at the Chef's Counter for a personalized, multicourse meal, featuring interaction with the chef.

Gelman left Iowa City soon after high school to attend the Culinary Institute of America in New York. But he first nurtured his passion for cooking at the former Givanni’s Italian restaurant on the ped mall and at the University of Iowa, where he prepared food for the former State Room in the Iowa Memorial Union.

After years refining his culinary and restaurateur skills on the East Coast with celebrity chef David Chang of the Momofuku Restaurant Group, Gelman decided to return to raise his son in the same community that shaped him—and bring something new to the Iowa City dining scene.

As a child, Gelman remembers ordering egg salad sandwiches and strawberry milkshakes with his father and grandfather at the Pearson Drug Store lunch counter on Iowa City’s Northside. The Webster now occupies the former Pearson site, and its name pays tribute to his grandfather.

PHOTO COURTESY THE WEBSTER

Offering an upscale dining experience, the Webster features a menu rooted in the seasons. Everything from Wisconsin trout to duck egg tagliatelle is prepared with a focus on quality ingredients that are locally sourced whenever possible. That might include incorporating asparagus, morel mushrooms, peas, and radishes in the spring; corn and tomatoes in the summer; and apples and Brussels sprouts in the fall. “If you don’t have something good to start with,” says Gelman of his ingredients, “then how are you going to put something good on the plate at the end of the day?”

Gelman’s approach has earned the Webster national acclaim. The New York Times included it as one of 50 establishments on its 2023 Restaurant List, and USA Today named it one of the 2024 Restaurants of the Year. In addition to running the Webster, Gelman helped longtime team member Edwin Lee open Paper Crane, a ramen shop and cocktail lounge, last fall in nearby Northside Brewery Square.

“It’s about the people and finding the right people to grow with us,” says Gelman of the restaurant business. “We’re always just pushing to be better in every way that we can.”

PHOTO: THALASSA RAASCH Located at the corner of Market and Linn streets in Iowa City, the Webster is one of a growing crop of Hawkeye-run food establishments that embrace Midwestern cuisine.