Ed Szymanski
Dame and Lord’s | New York
February 2023
While attending the London School of Economics and beginning a career in finance, Ed Szymanski would blow off steam eating around the city. Feeling unfulfilled with his career path, he found a job at Tom Adams’ English barbecue restaurant, Pitt Cue. Szymanski didn’t even know how to hold a knife, but became obsessed with life in the kitchen. He staged around some of London’s finest establishments while finishing his degree, and in 2014, reached out to April Bloomfield in New York City. He hopped across the pond, and joined the line at The Spotted Pig.
In 2016, Szymanski took a sous chef position at Cherry Point in Greenpoint. After a year, he felt he needed to expand his culinary horizons, staging at Mexico City’s fine dining destination, Quintonil, and briefly back in London to stage at Lyle’s before returning to New York City and joining The Beatrice Inn. Feeling more confident in his skills and vision, Szymanski returned to Cherry Point, this time as executive chef. He reworked the menu to focus more on his English heritage—an idea that would stick with him.
Szymanski left Cherry Point in 2019 and began dreaming up his own concept. While figuring out how to pivot his career plans during the COVID-19 pandemic, Szymanski and his partner, Patricia Howard, kept busy by feeding protestors during the Black Lives Matter protests. What started as a fish and chips pop-up to support the local community soon evolved into their first brick-and-mortar, Dame. In 2022, Szymanski and Howard opened their second concept, Lord’s: an approachable, English pub-inspired restaurant that brings the ethos and diversity of English cooking to the West Village. Dishes like his deviled crab on toast, served with an ‘nduja ragu and lobster bisque, are examples of Szymanski’s commitment to nose-to-tail cooking combined with his British upbringing and global travels.
