Barbuto Alum Strolls Into LIC With New Restaurant Bellwether

A chef who’s spent time in some of the most popular sceney restaurants around town — like Barbuto and Freemans — now has his own restaurant in Long Island City.

Chef Preston Madson, who cooked for nearly seven years at Freemans and was most recently at chef Jonathan Waxman’s Jams, partnered up with Matthew McCormick for a 60-seat restaurant called Bellwether at 47-25 Vernon Blvd., at 47th Road, opening today in a stark-white space with a moss wall.

Like the past restaurants Madson has worked at, Madson is leaning into the malleable genre of “new American,” with steak, parker house rolls, and little gem lettuce on the menu. Options include braised lamb neck for two with a butter bean hummus, curried carrot soup with fried garlic, and a patty melt with charred red onion. See the full menu below.

Molly Tavoletti via Bellwether

Madson spent a big chunk of time at hip LES stalwart Freemans, a restaurant that opened in 2004 and was once a trendsetter in new American fare. He left in 2015, and he, along with his wife and fellow chef Ginger Pierce, opened Waxman’s Midtown restaurant Jams. (Pierce remains there.) Jams was a critical flop, but looks like with Bellwether, Madson’s ready to jump back into the fray of ambitious, seasonal American food.