The Musket Room, one of New York City’s most famous downtown restaurants, has held a Michelin star for 12 years. It received its first Michelin star in 2014, a few months after opening in 2013.
However, this fine-dining restaurant has undergone significant changes over the years. Founded by sisters Jennifer and Nicole Vitagliano, The Musket Room originally focused on New Zealand-inspired cuisine but has since evolved into a more culturally diverse dining experience under the leadership of Executive Chef Mary Attea and Executive Pastry Chef Onika Brown.
Executive Chef Mary Attea
Attea joined the team in February 2020. Only a month later, the COVID-19 pandemic caused nationwide lockdowns, creating uncertainty in the restaurant industry’s future.
“There was no roadmap for that,” Attea said. “It forced us to rethink how we operate, communicate and how we were going to define ‘success’ in a very volatile time.”
During these difficult times, Attea believes the team found a “resilience and a willingness to adapt,” allowing The Musket Room to thrive even once lockdowns ended.
Originally from Buffalo, Attea moved to New York to earn her Master’s Degree in forensic psychology at John Jay College. During that time, she worked bussing tables at restaurants, and she ultimately fell in love with the business.
“I didn’t grow up thinking I would be a chef, and I didn’t take a traditional route into the kitchen,” Attea said. “I started out bussing tables and slowly worked my way in, learning by watching, asking questions and eventually going to culinary school.”
Attea graduated from The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), working at the critically acclaimed restaurant Annisa and High Street on Hudson before moving to The Musket Room. She has garnered three stars from The New York Times and become a finalist for Eater’s Young Guns list of up-and-coming chefs.
Executive Chef Mary Attea
Since joining The Musket Room, Attea shifted the restaurant’s focus on New Zealand-inspired cuisine to a more globally-inspired menu. Many of her flavors are prompted by her Lebanese father.
“There was always hummus, baba ghanoush, grape leaves and pita [on the table],” Attea said. “Meals together were something we really celebrated. It wasn’t necessarily formal, but there was always this feeling that food mattered, sitting around the table mattered, and that definitely shaped me.”
With Attea running the show, The Musket Room has been named one of The New York Times’ best restaurants in America and earned a flattering review from New York Times reporter Pete Wells.
Outside of The Musket Room, Attea has become a 3-time James Beard Award semi-finalist for Best Chef: New York State, reaching the finals in 2023. She has also helped open the downtown Italian and French bakery Raf’s as a Partner and Executive Chef in 2023, which has earned a 2-star New York Times Review.
“With Raf’s, it was exciting…building something new from the ground up, but still with that same shared philosophy around hospitality, commitment to quality, and creating places people genuinely want to return to,” Attea said.
However, outside of all the accolades, Attea believes that cooking has been her way of caring for others without having to use any words at all.
“It’s how I show love and connect, it’s how I make someone feel something without having to say anything at all,” Attea said. “It can be creative and challenging, but it’s really about generosity and creating something that brings people together.”
Executive Pastry Chef Onika Brown
Brown, a new addition to The Musket Room’s team, joined once the prior Executive Pastry Chef Camari Mick left in September 2025.
Unlike Attea, Brown had always dreamed of becoming a chef, much like her grandmother, who owned a restaurant in Florida. Brown, who was born in New York but raised in Cape Coral, Florida, spent her days cooking alongside her grandmother.
“I’ve always loved food from where I’m from,” Brown said. “My grandmother, who grew up in a little village in Jamaica, always used to cook outside in the backyard.”
Heavily inspired by her grandmother, Brown attended ICE, but originally with a concentration in savory cooking. It wasn’t until she learned about the art of pastry-making at ICE that she decided to pursue it full-time, ultimately graduating with a dual certificate for savory and pastry.
Before joining The Musket Room team, Brown worked at Bouchon Bakery, Metropolis and the three-Michelin-starred Per Se as a Pastry Chef. Much of Brown’s work has been influenced by her cultural heritage, with a Trinidadian mother and a Jamaican father. Brown often grew up eating Caribbean and West Indian flavors.
Executive Pastry Chef Onika Brown
“Even when I’m making something as simple as ice cream, I’m always thinking about how I can add more flavor and spice [into] it,” Brown said. “That comes down to my West Indian side, where they honestly spice everything.”
Since joining The Musket Room, Brown has brought a clean and refined structure to the menu, such as influencing the restaurant’s Sweet Potato Gratin to have an equal balance of sweet and savory flavor profiles.
Brown has also joined Attea at Raf’s as a Pastry Chef, where she’s proud to have structured a program where everyone in the kitchen feels supported.
I take really big pride in making sure that everyone feels like they’re contributing to the menu, and they feel like they’re part of a team,” Brown said. “That’s really hard for a high-volume kitchen, where everyone’s just…pushing out so many things.”
Beyond her own work, Brown aspires to become a mentor to the next generation of chefs, stepping into the role that her grandmother was for her.
“I hope to be a vessel and to inspire younger people,” Brown said. “I want to transition into someone who people feel like they can use to help them.”
New spring menu
The Musket Room recently launched a new spring menu inspired by Chef de Cuisine Noah Ponjuan’s Louisiana upbringing.
The meal begins with a variety of “snacks” that have been brought together to encourage a family-style experience, such as an Oyster Trio, a round of Celery, Camembert and Dates and some Collard Greens and Caviar before being served Raf’s Sourdough Boule.
The main course includes a Congee with crab butter and sunchoke, some Duck, Dumplings and Dandelion, a plate of Honeypatch Squash with fried pepitas and country ham and a Grilled Tilefish in ham hock consommé with tender peas and collards.
The Musket RoomPhoto courtesy of The Musket Room
Extra dishes are also available for order, including Cornbread with black truffle and soured honey, a Satsuma-cured Snapper with jasmine-lemongrass nước chấm and a Maitake with Grits and Comté.
The experience finishes with Brown’s carefully designed desserts, such as the classic Sweet Potato Gratin with preserved oranges, toasted ice cream and Baerii caviar, a Chocolate Cloud with orange cream torte and an Ice Cream Tasting experience that’s inspired by the restaurant’s bread service.
Reservations can be made at musketroom.com.