Halley Chambers

texts as of late

The truth about restaurants is they always come together at the 25th hour. You’re never going to make the deadline until you do. The other truth is that what they are, how they feel, how they are defined and then received is a moving target, and one that is the product of a bunch of opinionated people trying to reach a collective vision. When we concepted Cleo I had notions of one thing, @kipgleize had notions of another, as were wont to do. How were we going to bridge that gap? The answer was * rotisserie *, first, but then it was really @juliana_intesar - who took her life experience and cooking and extreme talent and delivered something out of this world. The answer was also @ivowashere who put Kip and I’s work ethic to shame in his tireless focus, attention, and leadership. And it was @gracerobinsonleo and @jessesamtaylor who designed the restaurant of our dreams, a proper adult space. It was @gabriella.pedro being whip smart and a font of endless talent. It was @bennybordeaux and @younggluck and @bonniehaul holding our other spots down. It was also @kastrob and Anthony and mostly Javier. These two midwestern girls, a generation (ahem) apart say damn, we can’t believe we made it to Manhattan. And what we really mean is damn, we can’t believe this team. It rained last night and now it’s all sun. Welcome to the world, @cleodowntown !!!!!!

One of the last things I did before I quit my last job was to successfully pitch opening a restaurant in the soon-to-be-redesigned New Museum. Nothing meant more to me at the time. I remember walking by shortly after I quit, stopping to stare up at it, and crying - because I was worried I’d made a grave mistake. Today, nearly four years later to the day, and a couple of weeks before Kip and I open our third restaurant, I walked by again. I stood and looked up at it, marveling at how beautiful the redesign is, feeling grace for what could’ve been, and grateful for what is. Not much more to say than that. What a life it is, to try!

Halley Chambers and Kip Green don’t come from traditional chef pedigrees—but that’s part of what makes their approach work. Halley started in investment banking before moving into hospitality; Kip began in culinary school, then shifted her focus to operations. The two met while working at Oberon Group—the team behind Rhodora and June—and went on to open Margot in Fort Greene in 2023. They later took over Montague Diner in Brooklyn Heights and are preparing to debut Cleo Downtown, a reimagined rotisserie in the West Village, next year. Neither identifies as a chef, but both have a clear point of view on food and how a restaurant should feel. They’re candid about the realities: it took nearly two years to get Margot exactly where they wanted it, and building three restaurants in three years requires as much discipline as taste. On the heels of a research trip through London and Paris, eating their way through historic rotisseries ahead of Cleo’s opening, they’re focused less on expansion for its own sake and more on doing each project well. Here, they talk about balancing friendship and business, refining a concept over time, and what they’ve learned from growing quickly—without rushing.

Been thinking about the pressure on women to make their own thing (babies, businesses, meaning, @cleodowntown ), forge their own path (marriage, motherhood, not, whatever), and look like they’ve not weathered *anything at all*. Been thinking about the musician @parispaloma . Been thinking that it’s a foreign concept to many men to have to work to stay “young presenting” - and by young we really mean relevant - and how much time we gyals spend on it (whether we’re attracted to men or not!). Not here with an answer, (see: my recent thirst traps / skin care routine) but it is fundamentally an (admittedly sometimes fun) absolute waste of time. I guess this is to say, as I get older I understand my mom’s vanity more, and also her unbridled anger at the sacrifice she felt it took to make her voice feel relevant. Also you think all these men are actually outraged about Jeffrey Epstein, lol. Also @me stop taking selfies start taking walkssss.

✌️you filthy fucking mammals

Spaghetti all’assassina ykwim

Paris maxxxxing. Not a chicken in sight.

Eating Chicken in London.

Going home is always good and hard now. I was supposed to take my mom’s clothes back to New York with me when she died. But secretly I like coming home to Chicago and finding traces of her in my closet. My childhood house has always been full of altars - wearing her clothes when I’m there I guess is mine.

OG girl carrying shit

self portrait(s)