The Team Behind Mistral

STEPHEN DISTLER

Owner – elements & Mistral

Born and raised in Long Island, Stephen Distler spent 25 years in the financial services industry before getting involved in the restaurant business.

A highly successful businessman with an impeccable eye for sound investments, Distler worked the majority of his career at Warburg Pincus, LLC, one of the world’s pre-eminent private equity investment firms, where he served as Managing Director and Treasurer.

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His success allowed for an early retirement at age 50 and provided him the time and resources to venture into the commercial development of Princeton real estate in the mid-2000s. After purchasing two substantial pieces of property, Distler utilized one to open the first community bank in Princeton since the 1980s – The Bank of Princeton. The other, an old auto repair garage, would become one of the finest dining locales in the area, elements.

Distler joined forces with highly acclaimed chef Scott Anderson (and much of the team from New Jersey’s Ryland Inn) to open elements. The idea was simple – provide Princeton with a new dining experience, one that blended Anderson’s masterful technique with the freshest, locally sourced ingredients and foods of the region to create “Interpretative American Cuisine” like none other.

In 2013, Distler and Anderson teamed up again to open Mistral. In Mistral, a restaurant featuring smaller plates and sharing options, Stephen and Scott provide guests the opportunity to create their own tasting menus based on their personal preferences and palates. In late-May, Mistral will expand its offering to include a full-service bar and cocktail program. Elements is in the process of developing its new home above Mistral at 66 Witherspoon Street, where it promises a heightened culinary experience for its guests. The grand reopening is expected for July 2015.

In addition to his Princeton restaurant collaborations, Stephen also serves on the Board of Directors of Apex Learning, Inc. and Teachers Support Network, Inc., two for-profit education companies, and was a nine-year member of the Board of Trustees of the University Medical Center at Princeton. Distler has served on the Board of Directors of The Bank of Princeton since 2007 and currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Bank.

SCOTT ANDERSON

Executive Chef and Co-Owner

A vanguard of modern global-American cuisine, chef and co-owner Scott Anderson places a superlative focus on fresh, local ingredients, utilizing modern techniques and elements of classic dishes in creating his trademark ‘interpretive-American’ fare found at elements and Mistral.

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Anderson’s inventive and progressive approach has earned him the attention and accolades from some of the industry’s most authoritative voices, among which includes the James Beard Foundation, which has named Anderson as a semi-finalist for Best Mid-Atlantic Chef in 2014 and 2013.

Anderson believes in the power of collective consciousness and that collaboration amongst fellow chefs and local purveyors allows for ideas to take root, flourish and move forward. This intrinsically American belief is practiced by Anderson and his team daily, working with local farms and butchers in farming, foraging, curing and fermenting ingredients to execute their vision of transforming classic dishes into something completely new.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Anderson spent part of his childhood in Japan; his exposure to foreign tastes and cultures piqued his interest in the culinary arts and greatly influenced his technique and the flavor profiles he develops.

Upon returning to New Jersey, the self-trained chef furthered his interest in culinary arts while working in the kitchens of some of the state’s most notable restaurants throughout high school and college. His talent, self-discipline and commitment to the craft recognized early in his professional career, Anderson earned a spot at acclaimed chef Craig Shelton’s Ryland Inn, where he quickly rose from line cook to chef de cuisine. Working alongside Shelton – well known for elevating New Jersey’s restaurant scene and appreciation of the interplay between wine and dining – Anderson developed his appreciation for progressive cooking techniques that draw out an ingredient’s purest flavors and for inventive plating that complemented the finished dishes components.

In 2008, along with business partner, Stephen Distler, Anderson opened elements, bringing to Princeton a new dining experience that seamlessly blended modernist technique and superlative ingredients in creating fresh and inviting flavors. Building on the culturally inspired, locally sourced cuisine of elements, in 2010, Anderson and Distler opened Mistral, which features smaller plates that empower guests to create their own tasting menus.

While working towards the reopening of elements at 66 Witherspoon Street in downtown Princeton and expanding Mistral’s offering to include a full-service bar, Anderson has enjoyed time traveling to restaurants across the nation, participating in guest chef dinners, observing the latest trends and techniques put to practice by his peers and honing his own skills.

Anderson’s fascination with the earth’s natural resources extends beyond the kitchens of elements and Mistral. An avid gardener and outdoorsman, he loves to fish and forage in the state parks for wild edibles such as ramps and morel mushrooms.

FIA BERISHA

Director of Operations – elements & Mistral

From as far back as she can recall, elements and Mistral general manager Fia Berisha knew that her calling would be to work within the restaurant industry. Berisha draws inspiration from both her childhood, from which she recalls memories of helping her mother prepare traditional Albanian dinners, and the lessons learned throughout her professional training.

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Upon graduation from NYC’s Culinary Center Art Institute, Berisha served as the general manager at Edison’s popular Italian eatery Loucas, from which she joined Princeton’s Main Street Bistro to oversee the construction and daily operations of the town’s first outdoor bar, the “Clock Tower.”

Berisha’s career then took her to New Brunswick’s Daryl Wine Bar & Restaurant, where under her management the upscale American eatery flourished, named among New Jersey Monthly’s ‘top 25 restaurants in New Jersey’ in 2012 and 2013. At Daryl, Berisha furthered her appreciation of the role service plays in the dining experience and developed her management style, centered on the philosophy that no sum is greater than its individual parts and a profound respect for the contribution every individual makes.

Berisha’s discerning taste for talent and pursuit of excellence have earned the restaurants at which she has served a leadership role at the attention and accolades of critics and media alike. Most recently, Berisha played an integral role in the opening and inaugural success of Jersey City’s Battello, transforming the waterfront eatery – named by NJ Monthly as one of the Top 20 Best New Restaurants in 2014 – into one of North Jersey’s most talked about fine dining establishments.

While touring San Francisco’s best eateries during fall 2014, Berisha had the opportunity to meet with Michelin-recognized chef Dominique Crenn. Inspired by Crenn’s own journey in establishing herself as a powerhouse within fine dining, Berisha was inspired her to push her career aspirations forward.

At elements and Mistral, Berisha fulfills her passion, working alongside Scott Anderson and team in pursuit of the deliverance to guests an unforgettable culinary experience that can be described no other way than exceptional.

STEPHEN DISTLER

SCOTT ANDERSON

FIA BERISHA

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