Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Parsons.
Jon, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I moved to Boston from Brooklyn in 2010 to help run the beverage program for a new restaurant called Sam’s which was being opened by my brother, Drew, and my sister-in-law, Esti, on Fan Pier in the Seaport. We had a fantastic 5 years there as we saw the Seaport develop around us. In 2015, we finally found a location for our next restaurant which would allow myself to join in as an owner. That same year, we closed Sam’s prematurely with the intention of reopening next door at 22 Liberty, but we were eventually priced out due to the insane contractor rates for a restaurant build out in the Seaport. So what was supposed to be a side project, which we named The Maiden (it’s a long and rather nerdy story) became our sole focus.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Oh god no! Opening was delayed by several months due to multiple factors. We had to race around the two days before opening getting certified checks out to vendors that were still owed money by the previous owner of our liquor license, with my sister having to go as far as drive out to Medford to deliver a check to Budweiser because they couldn’t be bothered to have a local rep pick it up. Our opening actually went very smoothly as we were extremely overstaffed with the anticipation of reopening Sam’s. When we found out that it wasn’t meant to be, we had to make heartfelt departures with several people who were now more family members than coworkers. Since then, we’ve had some ups and downs trying to find our place in the slowly changing landscape of South Boston, but along the way we’ve made plenty of new regulars and continue to reconnect with even more of our old ones.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
When we first opened, our little tag line was “Oysters and cheeses and meats . . . oh my!” as we wanted to focus on an extensive raw bar as well as charcuterie and cheese boards with just a few apps and entrees on the side. As we soon found out, this plan might have been a bit too adventurous for the hood so we dialed those aspects back a bit and put more focus on bar snacks and regular plated items. Even though we did expand that portion of the menu, we still maintain 5-8 different types of oysters sourced from throughout the northeast of North America as well as a carefully curated selection of charcuterie and cheeses.
I’m extremely proud of both the quality of the food our awesome kitchen creates from scratch as well as the genuine and knowledgeable service given by our servers in the front of the house. Beyond that, I’m really happy with how well our beverage program has been received being that we have a bit of an unorthodox wine list not to mention that we are slightly limited in that we have a beer/wine/cordials license, but are lucky enough to have the talent on staff to continually knockout awesome, seasonal cocktails.
As for what sets us apart from others, I’d say it’s just our general approach in that we take what we do very seriously but ourselves not so much. We’re happy to serve a classic house made pate de campagna next fish tacos or serve you a lovely bottle of wine from the Medoc in a juice glass from CB2. I feel more often than not our industry looks at itself as trying to change the world one meal at a time when in reality we should just be trying to have some fun exploring both the new and the old.
What were you like growing up?
I’ve always been a bit of an odd duck. My mom started letting me dictate my own haircuts around age 3 which lead to some wonderful disasters throughout my youth, but also helped instill a sense of independence and an interest for unorthodox or iconoclastic thought. As a teenager I found myself bouncing between a bunch of cliques and relieving my teenage against through civil disobedience. These two facets earned me an easy win for Student Council President as well as short-lived term before I was illegally impeached, but that’s a story too long for this quick interview.
Contact Info:
- Address: 28 West Broadway, Boston MA 02171
- Website: themaidenboston.com
- Phone: 6173157829
- Email: jon@themaidenboston.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themaidenboston/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themaidenboston/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/themaidenboston/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-maiden-boston
- Other: http://www.homestarrunner.com/
Image Credit:
Catherine Bergen
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