Mashama Bailey - Black, White, and the Grey: The Story of an Unexpected Friendship and a Beloved Restaurant

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There have been so many people who have encouraged us in the building and running of The Grey and telling this storytoo many to count, frankly. This is a short list of the people who have impacted us during the lifelong journeys that landed us here, together, at this moment in time and in this place. We thank you.

Larry Aber

Jim and Terry Alberts

Catherine and David Bailey

Danielle Bailey

Dawud Bailey

Margaret Bailey

Zuwena Bailey

Barnacle

Dianne Bernhard

David Black

David Bloomquist

Danny Bradley

Betsy Cain

Gretchen Callejas

John Caracappa

Brian Chan

Andrew Cohen

Dorothy Colling

Maxime Connor

Richard Coomer

Kaleb Craft

Daisy

Doug Dalmedo

Daniel Dameron

Brione Daniels

B.J. Dennis

Christian Depken

Nicole Elliott

Trevor Elliott

John T. Edge

Lolis Eric Elie

Osayi Endolyn

Amy Factor

Brian Felder

Colleen Ferris

Brian Fiasconaro

Flounder

Natasha Gaskill

David Gelb

Allison Glock

Jeff Gordinier

Gabrielle Hamilton

Jerry Harris

Cynthia and Terry Hayes

Cody Henson

Dee Herb

Eleanora and Nicola Infantino

Tart Johnson

Casey Kahn

Howie Kahn

Brian Kelly

Marcus Kenney

Julia Kois

Adam Kuehl

Andrew Thomas Lee

Jeremy Levitt

Edna Lewis

T.C. Lumbar

Jacqui Mason

Brian McGinn

Ernest McIntosh

Doug McManamy

Helen Medvedovsky

Kenny Menken

Paola Mesadieu

Danny Meyer

Wilson Moran

Allison Morisano

Anthony Morisano Jr.

Frank Morisano

Glen Morisano

Glenda and Anthony Morisano

Maria Morisano

Audrey Morris

Tim Morris

Leigh Nelson

David Paddison

Becca Parrish

Chris Poe and David Zyla

Anne Quatrano

Joe Randall

Chris Rowe

Ed Sabounghi

Steven Satterfield

Carol Sawdye

Theo Smith

Cathy and Philip Solomons

Kelly Spivey

Libbie Summers

Arnold and Lorlee Tenenbaum

Scott Waldrup

Terry Waldrup

Tim Waters

Mattie Mae West-Lodge

Geneva West

Walter Sonny Winfree

And in the category of there are just too many people who have added to our everything over the years, we would also like to say hey to the following folks:

The 8-Ball Crew

Those rock-solid Staten Islanders and the Farrell boys

The Manhattanites

The Savannahians who have been with us from the get-goyall know who you are.

Our families, friends, and nemeses, who have supported and challenged us to do better along the way. (Pro-tip: Never underestimate the value of a good nemesis.)

The farmers, purveyors, and distributors who grow and bring all the wonderful things that allow this place to do what it does each day.

A special thanks to the people who have breathed life into The Greyour guests. Finally, most importantly, a gigantic HEY to all of the people who have been a part of our team and The Grey family over these years. You have truly worked your asses off for this place, this idea, and have our eternal thanks and gratitude.

MASHAMA AND JOHNO

EPILOGUE

BY JOHN O. MORISANO

Paris, COVID-19, and Bolognese

Each morning, in a two-bedroom flat in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, after we made a couple of espressos, I would begin reading aloud to Mashama all that we had written to date. We would write more, make changes, add and delete paragraphs, reread, rewrite, eat, argue, drink, hug, laugh, and cry, all in the furtherance of telling our story.

Monday through Friday were reserved exclusively for writing. Saturdays, we took the day off and walked the city, went to flea and food markets, got tattoos commemorating this and that, had lunch someplace on the outskirts of town or sat in a caf alternating espressos with glasses of wine. On Sundays, we worked half a day, slept a little, did laundry, and always ate Asian or Indian food in the evening.

This took place during the first six weeks of 2020.

Somewhere in the middle of the third week, it started to feel, finally, like the book, this book, was morphing from two disparate voices into one. At least to us, it did. It was exiting the realm of forced presentation and the words and points of view began to comingle and contrast, accurately reflecting the dialogue that Mashama and I have been having since we met.

Several months prior to our time in Paris, we had sent a draft of the book out for something publishers refer to as audience reads. We imposed upon about a dozen friends, family, other writers, and subject matter experts to read our book. Most of those readers were complimentarythey said they liked it, that it was good. But there were several who did not find the book, well, to be frank, very good at all. A couple were offended by layers of its content, inaccuracies in some of the fine details, different recollections of events, the conflicting points of view, and things, said and unsaid, by and between Mashama and me. We understood that the book required more context, explanation, self-exploration, debate, and/or resolution.

We were rattled by this feedback. Some of it felt harshan obvious cost of business that comes with writing a book. We knew that writing on topics about which we were not subject matter experts, and taking them on purely from our own points of view, would prompt reactions from people. Our goal, though, was to paint a picture of who we aretwo middle-aged business partners in a relationship with each otherand what our business does, and how we personally confront the issues of gender, race, class, and culture that swirl around us. We did not espouse to know all of the questions that should be asked or have the right answers, whatever that means, but were interested in sharing our perspectives as a means of putting our internal dialogue, which has benefited us greatly, out there for people to access.

We didnt pick to do this in Paris because its sexyalthough it is. We picked that city because to do what we do for a living, we need to eat food. A lot of it. It benefits our product immeasurably to see what is going on in the worlds great cities, kitchens, and culinary scenes and helps afford us the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing conversation around food. We actively seek to be challenged and inspired by other chefs, restaurateurs, service models, wine lists, techniques, and settings. While I am by no means claiming Paris was a hardship, Mashama and I decided to allocate just about all of our annual travel and food budget to rent that flat in Paris so that when we werent writing, we were eatingeffectively killing two birds with one big, expensive rock. So, for the month of January and part of February, we occupied the sparse sitting area of that Left Bank flat on the rue de Lille, a few blocks from the river. I sat at a simple wood table most days, in a spindly steel-tube chair, staring too often at the disparate artworks and photographs hanging on the plaster walls, as Mashama constantly adjusted her laptop and position on an overstuffed, off-white chaise lounge just a few feet away.

We ran the Nespresso maker ragged.

I have always felt more at home in Paris than almost anywhere else in the world since I lived there in my twenties. I am drawn to everything about it. The beauty, the language, and the lifestyle suit who I most want to be rather than who I am on a daily basis. Mashama, who often poked fun at me for what she must have viewed as my clichd love for a city that millions upon millions of people hold dear, had, I think, during our time there, come to see why my affection for Paris is not at all clichd, but, maybe, justified.