MarketStreet Lynnfield Announces the Opening of La Gallina

MarketStreet Lynnfield announces the highly anticipated opening of La Gallina, an exciting new coastal Mediterranean restaurant debuting this September 22, 2022. Featuring fresh takes on classics from Spain to Greece and beyond, La Gallina’s menu invites guests to tour the Mediterranean coast; no passport required. The vibrant new restaurant showcases an open kitchen overlooking a beautiful and spacious dining room, wraparound bar and indoor and outdoor patios. The restaurant’s owners are locally-based restaurateurs and global hospitality industry veterans, Matthias Kiehm and James Wierzelewski, who have nearly 60 years of combined experience opening and overseeing some of the world’s most celebrated properties and food & beverage venues. La Gallina is poised to be a celebrated addition to the North Shore’s diverse dining scene. The approachable and expansive Mediterranean menu is overseen by Chef Daniel Xavier, who was most recently Sous Chef at the award-winning Boston Seaport based restaurant, Chickadee. Randy Hill is General Manager, previously the area manager of Wagamama USA for the greater Boston area. The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner with weekend brunch beginning later in the year; private dining is also available. For La Gallina’s opening day on September 22, the restaurant will be open for dinner only. www.lagallina-lynnfield.com; www.marketstreetlynnfield.com.

This standout hospitality duo chose MarketStreet based on Kiehm’s strong roots in the town, going back decades. Lynnfield is where his wife Felicia’s family has lived since 1974 and where the couple bought their first house in 1999. After their two children were born, they moved to Chicago for a job opportunity with Four Seasons Hotels. La Gallina’s commitment to Lynnfield and the North Shore community is strengthened by their shared history. There’s no better place in the world to open their first restaurant.

“The Mediterranean region has always meant a lot to my family,” says Matthias Kiehm, co-owner of La Gallina. “My wife's family is from Sparta and the island of Lesvos in Greece. My son spoke his first words in Sardinia. I consider the island of Mallorca my second home. I have dear friends who live in Italy on top of a hillside. James and I lived and worked in the region for many years and fell in love with the people, their culture, their history–and of course–their food. I wanted to bring a little magic of the Mediterranean to the Greater Boston area with La Gallina. Our Mediterranean farmhouse-style restaurant is a family retreat from daily life that's cozy, relaxed, and comforting.”

“We're so excited to welcome La Gallina to MarketStreet Lynnfield. The thoughtfulness and care that the La Gallina team have put into this restaurant is truly inspiring and we cannot wait to share it with the community,” adds Charlotte Woods, General Manager of MarketStreet Lynnfield.

The menu features everything from creative Charcuterie & Cheese boards and delicious Hummus Dips & Spreads, to succulent Grilled Skewered Meats. Guests will be delighted to find several different inventive Tapas on the menu like Spanish Croquetas with serrano ham and manchego cheese and Pan-Seared Grecian Meatballs with kefalotyri cheese, tzatziki, mint, and pita chips. There’s also a variety of airy, crispy oven-baked pizzas to choose from, all lovingly “hen-crafted” with a sourdough starter that’s over 125 years old. As a result, La Gallina’s pizzas have a completely different flavor profile and consistency than any other pizzeria on the North Shore. Mains include a collection of soul-warming dishes like Pan-Roasted Chicken with pan drippings, rosemary, and grapes and the Spanish Fideuà, a Valencia Seafood Dish. There is an abundance of vegetable-centric dishes throughout the menu too, including Roasted Cauliflower + Whipped Feta with carrot-raisin quinoa salad and pumpkin seed dressing, Moroccan Tomato Soup with roasted onion and touch of yogurt, and Grilled Romesco + Asparagus. The restaurant’s playful Mediterranean approach carries through to La Gallina’s beverage list which offers several hand-crafted cocktails (and zero% cocktails), sangrias and spritzes, regional brews and ciders, and a thoughtfully sourced list of affordable wines from around the Mediterranean and beyond, all available by the glass and bottle.

From the moment guests step through La Gallina’s red framed doors, flanked by beautiful oversized potted plants, they’ll be transported to a cozy Mediterranean farmhouse. The restaurant’s design, led by Robin Gannon Interiors, in collaboration with construction manager CM&B, is warm, rustic and inviting.  Grey-wooden flooring, exposed brick, blue tufted leather banquettes and wood tables with Oxblood red barn house chairs make up La Gallina’s soft, colorful and approachable Mediterranean interior décor. Suspended vintage windows hang between booths, adding to both the restaurant’s intimate atmosphere and guest’s privacy. A large antique mirror hangs above the large wraparound bar which is accented by ornate tile flooring and a white Carrara marble bar top. 

La Gallina was conceived and created by both Matthias Kiehm and James Wierzelewski, who drew a tremendous amount of inspiration for La Gallina from their lengthy careers spent in several different major cities around the U.S. and globe.  Over his 30-year career in the hospitality industry, Kiehm, who oversees much of the business, operational and design aspects of La Gallina, spent the majority of his years in the industry in directorial and managerial roles worldwide with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts in Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and Sharm El Sheikh. Among some of his most significant positions, Matthias served as the Business Director of Food at the prestigious Department Store, Harrods, in London. In a span of three and a half years, he successfully developed and opened 12 restaurants at Harrods Food Hall and negotiated various new and highly-successful concession partners for the brand. Matthias was simultaneously responsible for administering all catering operations for the English Premiere League’s Fulham Football Club, and was the Vice President of the Ritz Hotel in Paris. In recent years, Kiehm’s Boston-based hospitality consultancy built Time Out Market in Fenway and private social club The ’Quin House.

Wierzelewski leads all culinary and beverage elements for La Gallina. With more than three decades of experience in the food and beverage industry, he has worked with some of the industry’s elite hospitality management companies; heading F&B operations for world-class brands and properties such as Four Seasons, Shangri La, Hyatt, Fairmont, and Rotana amongst others as well as launching and directing numerous iconic culinary establishments across North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia. In addition, James has led F&B programs for some of the most reputable retail and entertainment institutions in the world including Norwegian Cruise Lines, Disney Corporation, and Harrods in London, where he met and worked with Kiehm as the brand’s Director of Culinary. Within just this last decade, Wierzelewski was instrumental in successfully opening 34 new hotels, for which he drove Food and Beverage operations from conception to operation.

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