At 31 years old, Jason Brown turned his teenage dream of owning his own restaurant into a reality.
“One Ten” opened Monday at 110 N. Buffalo St. in Warsaw after years of brainstorming.
Brown grew up in Kosciusko County and worked in the food industry as a teenager. After attending school and working for five years in the sales industry, he decided that money wasn’t the end-all and decided if he was going to be broke and struggling, he was going to be doing something he loved. He discovered his passion wasn’t solely food, but the interaction between food and people.
After years of researching, going to dinner and looking at trends, patterns and markets, construction for One Ten started in October 2013.
“We need food, shelter and water,” Brown said. “I don’t know anything about building homes, I’m not a rain man, but food was the one thing – I’m a hopeless romantic and food allows me to execute that.”
One thing that Brown wanted to portray in One Ten was the idea of sustainability. He and his team tore down a 100-year-old barn in Oswego and recycled the wood to use it throughout the restaurant.
“Not everything has to be new, or what we are accustomed to in everyday life,” Brown said.
Warsaw was the primary choice for the location of One Ten. Brown grew up here and his family and extended family live nearby.
He said downtown Warsaw has made solid strides over the years and he wanted to contribute and give more options. He said competition is not a goal.
“Our goal is to partner with every restaurant in town,” Brown said. “The world is too hard to do it by yourself.”
Brown said they also own the neighboring building that is readily available and he hopes to use it for catering or a wine bar, and he hopes to use it sooner than later.
Brown noted that One Ten is a “meat-centric program,” which is why they are a craft meatery. Some of the sandwiches roast for 14 hours.
“Craft to me means that what you do for a living and you have a passion for it,” Brown said.
All of the meat and protein is local and comes from vendors in Kentucky, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. Brown said they tried to uphold this same idea with their wine selections and wants to provide as many options to reach as many different pallets possible.
Along with their in-house dining, One Ten also offers a meat market to purchase their food or chef boxes. Purchasing a chef box allows the customer to order right from the menu and the chefs will prep everything for the customer while providing a recipe card and ingredient list for the customer to finish the meal at home. He said the chef boxes have been popular for the holidays.
“We don’t always expect you to eat with us,” Brown said. “But we expect you to eat something you enjoy.”
Brown said opening day Monday was a huge success.
“I still feel unbelievable. You hope and pray that in life you find something that’s worth your time, and to be 31 and doing this, I couldn’t ask for anything better at all,” Brown said. “I’m surrounded by excellent people.”
One Ten has a very controlled dinner and sandwich menu, but the feature menu allows the chefs more creative freedom. Brown said because they partner with local farmers, scaling can be an issue.
“Life is so rigid, and this gives us freedom to say, ‘go make something,’” Brown said.
One Ten has partnered with various local businesses. They are working with Grace College and their Empty Bowl project, and with Three Crowns Coffee, who supplies their French press coffee.
One Ten is open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and for dinner Thursday through Saturday from 5 to 9:30 p.m. The meat market is open daily Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Their menu has a variety, but Brown said if he were ordering, he would choose the Schnitzel, a breaded pork loin sandwich with red onion and dill cream from the lunch menu and the grass-fed filet from the dinner menu.
One Ten is open for those 21 years and older but anyone younger than 21 is allowed inside when purchasing from the meat market. One Ten continues its opening week today.
Brown said he hopes to be a part of Warsaw for a long time.
“I think the important part is you take away what you need to learn from it and get better tomorrow,” Brown said. “As long as everyday you’re progressively growing, you’ll be all right.”
(Story By The Times Union)
