A CHEF’S DREAM COME TRUE

Can a restaurant be destiny? Can a chef and a location be meant for each other?

In the case of Chris Siversen and Maritime Parc, the answer is an emphatic “yes.”

Siversen discovered the home of this one-of-a-kind restaurant and private-event destination in fall 2009, after a long day on the job for a New York City-based restaurant and catering company. Stressed out and exhausted after a meeting in Livingston, New Jersey, rather than return to Manhattan, he took a detour into Liberty State Park. “I’d never been to the park,” Siversen recalls today. He found the setting transporting, the wide open spaces and generous views of the Hudson River melting his troubles away.

As he unwound, a sign advertising waterfront property for rent caught his eye, leading him to a mammoth octagonal building overlooking the Liberty Landing Marina, with an awe-inspiring view of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and lower Manhattan in the background. Venturing inside, Siversen discovered grand staircases, vaulted wood ceilings, and wraparound terraces boasting even greater vantage points from which to gaze out on the landmarks of the Hudson and New York City.

“I almost had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming,” he says. “How could it be that nobody had gobbled up this space?”

In Siversen’s imagination, the location—originally intended as an office complex—instantly morphed into a spectacular restaurant and special-event hall fashioned after the grand destinations of yesteryear. He envisioned a modern take on a coastal seafood restaurant, one that offered something for everybody—a restaurant and raw bar inside, a bar menu for casual outdoor dining, a private event space with customized menus for every occasion… even “vessel service” (“room service” for boats docked in the marina).

In less than a year, in partnership with Maritime Parc CEO Marc Haskell, Siversen turned his vision into a reality: Maritime Parc.