Today we’d like to introduce you to Gina Chersevani.
Hi Gina , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
As a native New Yorker, I was born attuned to food! My father was a Northern Italian chef who was in the restaurant business for fifty years, and whose legacy of recipes I treasure. Growing up, my diet was dominated by my family’s Italian heritage, and heavily influenced by the ubiquitous neighborhood delicatessens. Thanks to my early training, I’ve been able to make ravioli like a pro for as long as I can remember — as well as mozzarella, meatballs, sausage, and a mean marinara sauce. At the University of Maryland, I majored in psychology and fine arts, two fields that would lend themselves naturally to my bartending sideline. I also spent many hours in the chemistry lab; taught art theory; and embarked on a voracious reading habit.
After graduating, I landed a martini-making gig in the District. After learning the ropes and earning my chops, Jamie Leeds asked for me to design her beverage program at 15 Ria. And later, the imaginative cocktail menu that I developed for Poste Moderne Brasserie at the Hotel Monaco helped further establish my reputation. As the mixologist for Rasika, the acclaimed modern Indian restaurant, I was introduced to exotic ingredients like saffron, cloves, and lotus. I also served as bar chef for the gastropub EatBar, and the fine dining restaurant Tallula; I teamed up with chef Peter Smith at PS7’s; I worked as a beverage consultant for numerous local restaurants, and as a brand ambassador for distilleries. Along the way, I was recognized with a Rising Star Award from StarChefs, and the first-ever RAMW “RAMMY” for best Beverage/Mixology program.
Channeling my mother’s childhood memories of “Norma’s,” a classic pharmacy-soda shop at the intersection of Buffalo Avenue and Bergen Street in the Weeksville neighborhood of Brooklyn, I set about creating my own version of an authentic soda shop: Buffalo & Bergen opened in 2012, in 330 square feet at the heart of the popular Union Market. We have since opened locations in Capitol Hill and Cleveland Park with a fourth location coming soon to Arlington, Virginia.
I sourced a reconditioned 1939 Sebastian Fountain from a vintage Woolworth’s counter – “My Cadillac!” – a gleaming two-ton apparatus that we keep filled with an array of artisanal syrups, from Bourbon Vanilla Bean to Spiced Chocolate to Pineapple-Cardamom. Along with classic egg creams, floats, and sodas, just like the soda shop of my mother’s memories, we concoct fanciful soda-fountain cocktails and Buffalo & Bergen also serves delectable housemade knishes; for New York-New Jersey diehards, the “Turnpike” side sauce option offers a generous dousing of garlic-parsley butter. And, yes, the shop serves bagels; but not just any bagels: Buffalo & Bergen imports its sought-after stock made with the quintessential ingredient, New York water, baking them fresh and ready for a slathering of cream cheese, house-cured gravlax, or to become the foundation of a hearty sandwich; in the case of the Lox’d & Loaded, our award-winning Bloody Mary is actually garnished with an everything bagel topped with lox, cream cheese, capers, and red onion! At Buffalo & Bergen in Cleveland Park we also honor my Italian heritage with the “Carb Bar” sharing seasonal pizzas and our artisanal spin on “Hot Pockets.
At home on our farm in Frederick, Maryland we have cultivated a vibrant array of vegetables, fruit, a fragrant herb garden, and a lively flock of approximately 60 heritage chickens – including Araucanas and Rhode Island Reds. In fact, about 60% of Buffalo & Bergen’s food supply is sourced from farms within a 50-mile radius, including my own!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
At Buffalo & Bergen, we use a vintage 1930s Bastian-Blessing soda fountain to mix boozy takes on soda counter classics and to create new, inventive drinks using techniques only possible with this special equipment. Perfecting the “Jerking” method on the soda fountain, allows us to control the pressure and stream of carbonation, opening up endless possibilities of varying texture, mouthfeel, and taste in soda-based cocktails. Our menu of old-fashioned favorites is reborn with custom hand-crafted syrups featuring flavors from Pineapple-Cardamom to Bourbon Vanilla Bean, and Blueberry Verbena, transforming traditional sodas anew.
Any big plans?
We are looking forward to opening our fourth location of Buffalo & Bergen in Arlington, Virginia later this year!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.buffalobergendc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buffalobergendc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloBergenDC/
