Gregg Sessler shows how to make 'very hot' wood-fired oven pizza at Odd Fellows Tavern

Deb Cram, Portsmouth Herald
·7 min read

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — Gregg Sessler and his wife, Kristin, opened Odd Fellows Tavern in 2020 just before the coronavirus pandemic hit and came out stronger, producing wood-fired pizza the community has embraced.

Gregg Sessler, a chef and restaurateur, invited us into the Odd Fellows Tavern kitchen to show how he makes the Drobish supreme special pizza for our latest Taste of Local video on Seacoastonline.com and Fosters..com. This pizza is named after a friend and loyal customer, Sessler said. It features sauce and cheese, topped with pepperoni, spicy sausage, mushrooms, bell peppers, roasted fennel, olives, red onions and jalapenos.

Gregg Sessler loves working at the Odd Fellows Tavern in South Berwick, Maine, minutes from his home, he says, in the town he loves.
Gregg Sessler loves working at the Odd Fellows Tavern in South Berwick, Maine, minutes from his home, he says, in the town he loves.

The wood-fired oven ideal temperature for a pizza is about 600 degrees, he said, and it can get hotter.

Here's how Sessler responded to our Taste of Local interview questions:

Where are you from? Brentwood/Exeter, New Hampshire.

Do you have a family? I have an amazing family. I have the most wonderfully supportive and beautiful wife who is also my backbone, sense of reasoning and inspiration not to mention my business partner. I am also blessed with two amazing children Aiden (14), who works at Odd Fellows, plays baseball and guitar and my daughter Eloise (11), who sings, dances and is an incredibly talented artist.

Why did you want to become a chef? I have wanted to be a chef all my life. I have always been drawn to the kitchen, cooking and creating. In second grade I was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up ... I wrote, "chef." My mother still has the paper somewhere.  I love how food brings people together and sharing in those moments of celebration is really what continues to drive me in this business.

The Drobish supreme special pizza at Odd Fellows Tavern in South Berwick, Maine, is topped with pepperoni, spicy sausage, mushrooms, bell peppers, roasted fennel, olives, red onions and jalapenos.
The Drobish supreme special pizza at Odd Fellows Tavern in South Berwick, Maine, is topped with pepperoni, spicy sausage, mushrooms, bell peppers, roasted fennel, olives, red onions and jalapenos.

What made you want to work in a restaurant in South Berwick? Odd Fellows Tavern is located minutes down the street from my home in the community that I love. South Berwick, Maine is a special place and we love being a part of such a great community of friends and neighbors. We have tried to create a family- and community-friendly place.

Where did you train and for how long? I have trained all over starting in culinary school at Paul Smith's College, I graduated in the Class of '99. I have worked under and with many talented chefs, managers and restaurateurs investors and business professionals throughout the years, ultimately ending up in San Francisco training at a small French restaurant Marche aux Fleur. Looking back on that particular experience, I would say it was fundamentally the most important year and half of my training. It helped to define and develop many of the important disciplines I have taken with me and grown over the years. I guess ultimately though I feel like I train every day. I certainly don't know everything, so I constantly trying to improve my skills.  I'm never really satisfied with what I do. I feel like it can be done better, more efficiently, quicker, neater, more cost-effective and that there is something to learn from anyone and everyone you come into contact with.

Gregg Sessler works in the Odd Fellows Tavern kitchen with the popular wood-fired oven, which is used for pizzas, nachos, wings and more.
Gregg Sessler works in the Odd Fellows Tavern kitchen with the popular wood-fired oven, which is used for pizzas, nachos, wings and more.

What did you learn in your training? Some of the most important things I have learned through the years are how to deal with people and how to treat and motivate people around you. I think of all the things a chef has to do and the interaction with people is one of the toughest. weather it's trying to motivate a dishwasher or balance customer service with pride or how to manage the front of house back of house dynamic, the constant personalities from guest to employee is always a tightrope act.

Have you worked in any previous restaurants? If so, where? I began working at 16 at the Ocean Point Inn in East Boothbay, Maine, as a bellman, which helped me establish a customer service base. Next was The Beach House in Hampton, New Hampshire. This was my high school job, and I worked there through and after culinary school, eventually earning the role as sous chef at the young age of 21. After I moved on to try hotels and worked under my first chef from the Beach House and mentor chef Nick Calias. Hotels were not for me, I preferred the smaller mom-and-pop operations, so I left and went to the Cape Neddick Lobster Pound and worked under my other chef/ mentor Jim Theos as sous chef. I spent two seasons there and got a good schooling in high-volume from scratch cooking. It was probably the most intense hottest kitchen job I have ever had.

After that I traveled. I knew I needed experiences and wanted to gain perspective. I also felt that if I was to ever have my own restaurant one day I needed to understand all facets of the business so I moved and lived on Key West, Florida, for a year, taking some time out of the kitchen where I waited tables. Then to New Orleans for a year where again I waited more tables and did some light bartending. After that year I found myself in the Bay Area. San Francisco and Wine Country were calling me. It was time to cook again after a two year break and some fresh inspiration. I started at Marche aux Fluer and worked there under chef Dan Baker where I learned how to take care of and respect food. I learned all the farm to table excellence that California has to offer shopping at the Marin County Farmers market twice a week for provisions and traveling to wine country for regular wine tastings this was truly a pivotal point in my career and education.

From there I moved on and became the head chef at the Mountain Home Inn in Mill Valley, California. This was my first head chef position and I was responsible for everything. I look back now at some of my first menus I created and it is certainly a transformation but ultimately and important one in finding my creativity and style. After a little over a year I was offered the head chef position at  the Caprice Restaurant in Tiburon, California. This was really my first higher profile gig with a lot more pressure and recognition. After a good review from the San Francisco Chronicle, I began to really push the creative envelope working with there of the best chefs I have ever had the pleasure ... Profecto Rocher of Tarzan i Jane in Seattle, Ryan Wilson, currently at The Battery in San Francisco, California, and my amazing wife Kristin Sessler, currently of Odd Fellows Tavern here in South Berwick, Maine.

In 2008, a new opportunity opened up and the potential for ownership was in front of me. This was where I knew I wanted to be. in my own kitchen in my own restaurant. So in the mid-summer of 2008, Kristin and I headed back east where we opened Cava in Portsmouth with longtime friend and business partner John Akar. Cava received lots of great critical reviews and was an amazing opportunity to grow, experiment and learn for years.  In the late fall of 2019 another new opportunity came across my path this time much closer to home. The Odd Fellows Block building was up for lease and with it a turn key restaurant five minutes down the street from our home in South Berwick. So, my wife and I opened Odd Fellows Tavern together in March 2020, 10 days before the pandemic began.

Chef Gregg Sessler is seen in the Odd Fellows Tavern in South Berwick, Maine, which he and his wife, Kristin, opened at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Chef Gregg Sessler is seen in the Odd Fellows Tavern in South Berwick, Maine, which he and his wife, Kristin, opened at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Have you won any awards? If so, what award and how did you feeling winning it? 2010 Seacoast Spotlight Award for Best Chef and 2019 Seacoast Media Group's Best of the Seacoast Best Chef Award.

Are you involved with any community events? I served as the Marshwood Youth Baseball Concessions Chair on their Board of Directors 2014-present. I was the Marshwood Youth Baseballs President 2019-2022. I am or was an active member of the Powder House Family here in South Berwick. I am an active chef participant and supporter of the Pedro Martinez Foundation having participated in every Feast at Fenway and other various private dinners to support that foundation. I have been involved in numerous events that have happened over the years in Portsmouth through Cava: Hungry for Hope, Vintage and Vine, Passport, Taste of the Nation, etc.

Who inspires you? My wife inspires me to do my best and be my best everyday. She is my guiding light and serves as my support and strength. She keeps me focused and driven. She is the best chef I know, the most amazing partner and incredible mother out there, she really deserves the credit.

More Seacoast chefs featured in Taste of Local videos:

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Gregg Sessler's wood-fired oven pizza at Odd Fellows Tavern