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David Ansill To Expatriate To Jamaica, Smoke Lots Of Weed

Posted by Victor Fiorillo on January 4th, 2012

David Ansill has had quite the career in Philadelphia. He started out bartending for Stephen Starr at the Bank (remember the Bank?!). He’s worked at Serrano, Continental, Lucy’s Hat Shop, Judy’s and the South Street Copa. Then he developed a cult following at Pif in Queen Village, closed that to open the doomed Ansill on Bainbridge (where Judy’s once stood), and somehow landed at meat-market Ladder 15 on Sansom Street, where he works today. And now, he’s ready to bid us farewell and take up residency in Jamaica.

Last night, as he gulped down a couple tumblers of red wine, he told me that he has reached the end of his career in Philadelphia. “What else am I going to do here?” asked the 53-year old. “I like to smoke pot. Lots of pot. And I need to go somewhere that I can do that.”

Ansill says he took off for an impromptu trip to Jamaica after a falling out with Stephen Starr over a real estate deal about a year-and-a-half ago, using Starr’s nonrefundable deposit to fund the trip.

“I had to get out of town,” explains Ansill. While on the island, he smoked lots of marijuana, drank lots of Red Stripe, and, through a friend whose name is apparently “26,” met a Bombay-born Jamaican businesswoman named Toral Chudasama. She’d taken over her family’s Wild Parrot Catamaran company after her brother, who had been running the business, huffed an amyl nitrate and fell off a cliff. And when she met Ansill, she had recently debuted the Wild Parrot Guest Cottages on Negril’s white-sanded Seven Mile Beach. The hotel’s restaurant, Buddy’s Beach Bar & Cafe, is open for breakfast and lunch only.

“I asked her if she wanted to have the best seafood restaurant in Negril,” says Ansill. “And she looked at me and said, ‘What are you talking about? You can cook?’” And so he did cook, teaching the guys she had working there how to make crepes and incorporate local ingredients, like arugula from the nearby mountains, into their menu.

Chudasama was blown away and offered Ansill a job. “She’s paying me good money, in US Dollars, and I get to live in an apartment for free,” says Ansill of the deal. “And she already told the local police, ‘This guy, he likes to smoke ganja, but he’s okay.’” Ansill expects to serve whatever’s local. “If there are no fish on a certain day, then there’s no menu,” he promises.

The chef was in Jamaica ironing out the deal in December but had to get back to Philly quickly as his passport was set to expire in a matter of days. Now that he’s renewed it, he says he’s planning on packing his bags at the end of January: “I’m already booked to do a wedding there on Valentine’s Day.”


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    This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 at 11:33 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

    • tonyjlive

      I couldn’t be happier for the guy, and I don’t even know him. Respect

    • barryg

      Good move.

    • Dan

      Dude’s very werid. He would hang out at the end of the bar at Ladder 15 getting drunk on a yellowtail-ish wine and talk about how he is the greatest chef the city has ever seen. It was sad and depressing…

    • Matt T
    • Austin

      Happy for David.

      Now that was an entertaining post Foobooz. Keep that up for 2012!

    • Really

      Hey Dan-
      “Yellowtailish” really??? How do you know what the guy is drinking? And you know what I think is depressing? You coming online to write stupid comments like that. The dude is a rock star and you are socially awkward.

    • J

      Agreed. Love this post. So much. Sign me up!

      Pif and Ansil were fantastic. Dan, how would you feel letting your talents go to waste at a shithole like Ladder 15? I’d be drowning my sorrows in large quantities of wine as well.

    • Tex

      @ Jay: “Dan, how would you feel letting your talents go to waste at a shithole like Ladder 15?”

      Are you really askng us to sympathize with Ansill for “letting [his] talents go to waste,” as though it were just something that happened to him and over which he had no control? Maybe I’ll decide to go work at McDonalds for a while and then you could really sympathize with me.

    • Snake

      I don’t like Ladder 15 later in the evening, but his food was very good there judging from what I tried.

    • cc

      wish him all the best – at least, he’s got the balls to move to his “dream” island!!
      Good Luck David!

    • Sooz

      Best of luck to David from a fellow class of ’76 alum.

    • Drake

      Yeah, agreed: mad respect. Live that dream, dude.

    • Dan

      I know what he was drinking because we were sitting next to him at hh and he was taking the bottle of red bell sera off the bar and dousing his glass with it often while spinning unsolicited yarns to my wife and I. I know Ladder 15 has a great wine program ;) , so maybe he was just sipping some petrus while regaling my wife and I about how much of an a-hole Starr is and what a great chef he is. He listed the local celebs that used to go to piff, how he was the first to serve such and such, how the Queen Village Ass. hated him when he had Ansill and destroyed him. He loudly lamented how Ladder 15’s management forced him to remove the marrow bones from his signature burger and overall had him dumb down the menu because the popped collar set didn’t get it. Finally, when he stormed off ranting that no one would come to Ladder 15 if it weren’t for his Korean tacos, we received a free drink and a rolled-eye apology from what looked to be the manager. We were thoroughly entertained, but it was a little death of a salesmany.

    • Tiffany

      my friends and I eat at Ladder and love the place, (food is yum, great drinks) – but WOW that guy’s creepy – good riddance

    • Ruth

      He look homeless

    • baa305

      At Ansill he drank good wine…probably one of the reasons the place went under…he probably drinks whatever Ladder 15 mgmt will allow him to drink. His food is amazing but no one should ever give him access to a nice wine program…or decision making responsibilities at any business cause that is definitely not his forte. He’s definitely bitter and I understand some of that because Philly just didn’t understand his food…but that was also another thing he did to himself by promoting Ansill as an Offal restaurant…which it was to some extent but there was so much more to that menu! If he had the same place in NYC…he would be lauded like Gabriel Hamilton. I think Philly should be sad that he’s leaving but they won’t be…cause they will just go to the next Starr restaurant and think they are eating well.

    • barryg

      Baa, so to summarize: Despite David drinking away the profits and not knowing how to run a business or market, Ansill failed because Philadelphians didn’t understand his food. And there are no successful overpriced, experience-based restaurants in NYC. Got it.

      • Crista

        Barryg you are spot on. Idiots always place the blame on anyone but themselves, in this case Philadelphians are the anyone.

    • http://www.federaldonuts.com Felicia D’Ambrosio

      I’ll miss you, Chef.

    • Willie

      David Ansill, you are my hero. Good luck to you, chef!

      Seriously, what chef wouldn’t want to move to the Caribbean, smoke weed, drink wine, and make whatever food moved him that particular day??

    • Ashley Roachclip

      Can’t wait to come and visit! Shine on you crazy diamond, from a fellow class of 420 alum.

    • CEF

      David is the man. David was the man. He transformed Ladder’s food program, and drank the wine. While the outside world believed it was impossible that anyone who owned a Mad River could comprehend what good food was, they actively chased David to come in and take over the kitchen. Say what you will about the crowd, but that doesn’t change what they’re doing in the kitchen. The ownership knew exactly what they were getting in Chef Ansill.

      I worked closely with chef and management as a consultant, and there was always nothing but love, even behind the scenes when they were separate from each other. It was just time for David to move on, on his own accord, on his own terms. He’s been there a couple years, now, and back in Feb 2010 when it was announced, people gave it a month.

      I’m sad to see chef leave Philly, but I’ve got nothing but respect for both Ansill and Max.

    • http://twitter.com/kb0r kbor

      Hope he’s got a good connect over there cause most of the weed in Jamaica sucks!

    • martini

      David Ansill rocks! He is one of the best chefs anywhere! I live out of town. I was going to go back to Ladder 15 JUST FOR HIS Bone Marrow Burgers. Shame they are no longer on the menu. Good Luck, David in Jamaica.

    • Mario

      Victorio Fiorillo,
      Who’s that? An asshole…YES!

    • Pat

      He should really move to Uruguay.

    • Keith

      I was in Negril about 7 years ago and met three guys at a bar, one told me his name was “26″. Too damn funny. He asked me to buy him a drink. I told him no.

    • baa305

      Barryg:
      I’m not saying his restaurant would’ve lasted any longer in NYC because his business skills are lacking but at least he would’ve gotten credit for his food. Nobody even knew what Ansill or Pif was back in the day. And when Ansill was doing well in the Marketing and PR world (ie. Hitting the top 50 best restaurants in Philadelphia Magazine)…it was busy and thriving. When the economy tanked and business slowed, David got ride of the PR firm which was just a dumb move. As long as the money flowed, his drinking, smoking and taking cash from the till was “fine”. And who said anything about the lack of Starr-esque restos in NYC. There are plenty of those…and plenty of idiots to go to them. But they also have people that would seek out shad roe in NYC which people in Philly like to call “weird”. David absolutely deserve the blame for his own restaurants demise but his food does not.

    • Beth

      Why does anyone care what David Ansill is drinking??? He is a brilliant chef who deserves to be happy as much as anyone else- and if he wants to relocate to a tropical island to work for someone who’ll appreciate his talent- then so be it. My husband worked for David for quite some time & we got to know him well. I still long for the Ansill happy hour & the best beet soup on the planet. He’s a lovely man with a lovely wife & I wish them the best. As for weird….creative, sure. Talented, definitely- but weird- who the hell are you to pass judgement???

    • jcec

      A great reason to travel to Jamaica! I’ll follow Ansill’s brilliant food anywhere.

    • http://www.marriedupwithwine.com Mandy

      He will be missed! We had our wedding at Ladder 15 last October and our wedding menu is still talked about! He did a wonderful job and I’m sad that we won’t be able to experience his food at Ladder 15 on our anniversary anymore. Hope he’s happy in Jamaica & I hope Ladder finds another chef who turns out such a high quality menu.

    • Veganhata

      If he really wanted to smoke “…lots of pot” shouldn’t he have moved to Amsterdam?

    • Tom Hudson

      David,

      It was great to see you in Negril in December at Wild Parrot. I look forward to enjoying your cooking down there, as my house being built in Westmoreland is almost complete.

      I can’t wait to taste the goat cheese we discussed you want to make from all the goats in Jamaica.

      Cheers,

      Tom

    • gary

      Ansil, from another class of 76 member, enjoy your new chapter in Negril, sounds like a good option.

    • epices6

      Great story! Ansill is a very talented chef, I loved Pif (the place that, in my opinion, was perfect for David and his cooking) and liked the eponymous Ansill. Things did not work out in Philly as David imagined, things happen, it is a good idea to make a fresh start. Good luck David, you’ll be cooking up some fine dishes on the island. Relax with ganja (better than alcohol) and dream up a new Ansill Jamaican Cuisine. Bon Voyage!

      @ Dan: Jerk!

    • Tev

      Great move David! Philly doesn’t deserve you. See you soon. I’ll have the Skate and 2 reefers

    • Michele

      David, I wish you the best of luck. Sorry that you and Cathy are leaving Philadelphia. I have fond memories of sitting at the counter at Pif, talking to you and enjoying your wonderful scallops with anchovy butter. I loved Pif and everyone who worked there!

    • Quincy

      Really going to miss him here in Philly; but, looking forward to having great food in Negril. A real loss for Philadelphia; but, extremely happy for Chef…

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