We’ve always liked he surprisingly homey feel of The Green Table, the mini-restaurant Mary Cleaver runs in the front room of her catering operation in Chelsea Market. And that’s why we think the name of her new Highline shop is especially clever. The 40-seat Porch opened this week on a little outpost on top of 15th Street with a few patio tables, fresh lemonade, locally sourced sandwiches and snacks, recyclable cups and plates, a draft beer and wine bar and a view of the Hudson River.
Cleaver, whom we profiled a few years ago, has always been a pioneer–she was one of the first businesses to score a space in now-booming Chelsea Market and was one of the very first caterers to embrace eco-friendly practices and the products of local farms. That we can now enjoy her handiwork on the Highline–a compostable cup full of local Sixpoint IPA and a cucumber and herb butter or raw milk Cheddar and rhubarb chutney sandwich in hand and the river breezes ruffling our hair–makes this summer already stellar. Better still, The Porch is open every day from 12 to 10 p.m. Now, if they could only score some rocking chairs.
