Photography by Donovan Roberts Witmer
Daniel LeBoon has passion for what he does. And his zest for the finer things in life include designer jeans, jewelry and hand-blow artistic glass. “I’m into fashion and that translates into food,” says LeBoon. “We’re fine dining redefined,” he adds, stressing that though they’re upscale cuisine, they’re casual, too. “[If] you’ll be more comfortable eating in jeans,” he says, “then come in jeans.”
He’s also undoubtedly the sultan of salts. The latest addition to his kitchen collection, an Australian pink salt, joins his other favorite flavors of smoked salt, grey salt and Black Pyrenees volcanic salt. Look for LeBoon to be hand-grating salts tableside at this historic 1792 log home turned restaurant.
While most guests order either his famous “crab cloud” or braised short ribs in a syrah, pomegranate and grapefruit reduction that fall apart when
touched with a fork, LeBoon says, “I have so many regulars, I have to keep it fresh [with nightly specials].” And yes, he makes every single dish himself, made to order. He even once created a sirachi curry risotto for an Indian woman who called ahead and asked him to make her something special.
Josephine’s features a chef’s table, which is solid marble surrounded by hand-stitched leather chairs. There, nine courses are expertly paired with wines selected by chef LeBoon, who is also a sommelier. “I take them to a whole other level,” he proclaims.
LeBoon employs the finest ingredients he can get. These include whole diver scallops that arrive in the shell, which he serves as part of a seafood mélange with Prince Edward Island mussels and “Green Zebra” and “Orange Ugly” heirloom tomatoes, finished with a flowering maple in a tomato and chive broth. Two of his signature appetizers include panko-coated and fried oysters topped with a Locateli and Parmigiano aioli and rare white anchovies as well as a tuna tartare served with a dollop of
kimchee puree and mai poi (an Asian chile sauce). Also look for new produce from Millersville’s Promised Land Farms to appear on the menu, such as red and green baby Brussels sprouts as well as banana fingerling potatoes.
Josephine’s Restaurant: 324 W. Market St., Marietta. 717-426-2003, www.josephinesrestaurant.net
