April Bloomfield on The John Dory 1.0, The John Dory 2.0, and The Spotted Pig Farm

Fair-skinned and soft spoken, April Bloomfield sits in a back booth at The Breslin at the Ace Hotel and speaks with a gentle Midlands drawl. Since arriving in New York to open The Spotted Pig in 2003, Bloomfield has shepherded in the era of the gastropub. She, as much as Fergus Henderson, is to thank (or blame) for the snout-to-tail cooking craze. On the eve of the opening of The John Dory Oyster Bar and shortly before dinner service, we spoke over a plate of crunchy kale and anchovy dressing.

When you first arrived in New York, most of the interviews told the same story: A Brummie girl is brought to the city by a couple of heavy hitters and she's thrown into the center of a star-studded culinary world. That was 2003. Seven years after, do you feel like an outsider?
When I first arrived, it was hard. Nobody could understand a word I said. I'd have to repeat myself three or four times. Now I don't have to do that. But I feel like New York was very welcoming to me being British. People I'd meet in general would fall in love with a British accent.

On competition for produce, the cookbook, and John Dory Oyster Bar. >>>