Meet the Owners
Frewsburg native Bruce Stanton has spent well over a quarter-century in the hospitality and restaurant business, spending 12 years at the Grist Mill restaurant, where he first developed his culinary and management skills, and another 25 at Chautauqua Institution, first as executive chef/director of food and beverage and then as general manager of the Athenaeum Hotel, where he entertained guests from all over the world. Most recently, Bruce served as general manager of Moonbrook Country Club in Jamestown.
Born and raised in Jamestown, Laurie Stanton was born into the restaurant and hospitality industry. After spending a brief time living in southwest Florida, Laurie returned home in 1992 as a sales associate for her family’s business, Mistretta’s Jamestown Distributing Company, before spending 20 years at Chautauqua Institution as the manager of group sales and senior programming. Prior to opening Stella, she served as the National Comedy Center’s director of group sales.
Why ‘Stella?’
The Stantons love to travel. While visiting two of their favorite food cities, New Orleans, Louisiana and Charleston, South Carolina, a trend began to emerge.
“My wife and I seem to gravitate towards restaurants that have girls’ names,” Bruce told The Post-Journal in March.
When thinking back on names that they might want to use for their new venture, the couple remembered the time they spent at the Pontchartrain Hotel in New Orleans, where playwright Tennessee Williams penned A Streetcar Named Desire which features the character Stella Kowalski.
“Why not ‘Stella?’” they thought.
Guests can expect a menu filled with a combination of New American cuisine curated from dishes Bruce and Laurie have experienced during their travels across the country in a renovated restaurant space right in the heart of a rejuvenated Village of Lakewood and steps away from the shores of Chautauqua Lake.
Join us! Call (716) 526-1124 for reservations.
Stella: A Kitchen and Bar 