Words of Wisdom: Mike Stiglitz and Two Stones Pub
When Mike Stiglitz was a tween, he was given a steak knife and a case of green peppers to julienne. The South Jersey resident was reluctantly working at his mother’s company, Tangerine Café & Caterers, in Philadelphia. “It took me five hours because I was dillydallying and not paying attention,” he recalls. “It was the worst thing I ever did in my life.”
Some might say it was a character-building moment, especially considering how things turned out. Stiglitz — “Stigz” to his friends — is the mastermind behind the Two Stones Pub brand, which started in Newark, Delaware, and now has six locations.
With his supporters, he also started 2SP Brewing Company, based in Aston, Pennsylvania, and 2SP Tap House in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. The newest addition is 2SPizza in the heart of downtown Newark, Delaware.
The concepts have craft beer in common; however, the award-winning restaurants are also known for food that goes beyond standard gastropub fare.
Stiglitz’s road to success is not without bumps. But over time, the chef and businessman created affirmations for himself. “Believe Nothing. Try Everything” is the slogan on the Two Stones website. And 2SP Brewing’s landing page asks: “Pretensions? Never. Passionate? Always.”
An early start
Stiglitz was born in Boston but grew up in Laurel Springs, New Jersey. Although his mother worked full time, she cooked for her family. “There was always something in the oven or stove,” he recalls.
On Sundays, his parents turned on “60 minutes.” To avoid watching Andy Rooney and crew, Stiglitz grabbed The Joy of Cooking and started making mushroom soup. As anyone who’s read the book can attest, some recipes are hardly joyful.
For example, the instructions told readers to peel mushroom caps for stock. “It was right around when I was 12 — the same age I was when they hellaciously made me clean that case of peppers,” he says. Suffice it to say, he never peeled mushrooms again. But the soup was delicious.
He learned about organic mushrooms and other produce, working at Zagara’s in Marlton, New Jersey, the upscale precursor to Whole Foods. However, his first restaurant job was at Katie O’Brien’s Restaurant & Pub in Haddonfield, New Jersey, where he was a barback and kitchen worker — “I did everything.” That included working at the Jersey Shore when the company opened a Cape May location.
Stiglitz’s parents didn’t want him to pursue a hospitality career. “There’s drug addiction, there’s alcoholism, there are heart attacks, stress and long hours,” they warned him. But after two years of studying English in college, he told his mother he was going to culinary school. His younger sister, however, went into health care. “She has stayed as far away from restaurants as possible,” he says.
For the love of beer
In 1997, Stiglitz entered the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He externed at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia when the veritable Jean-Marie Lacroix and Martin Hamann ruled the kitchen. “I probably learned more in those six months than I did five years elsewhere,” he says.
While working at Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in Wilmington, the young chef fell in love with craft beer, a romance that would influence his career. Credit fellow employee Ben Muse, a beer geek and former Dogfish Head employee, who was happy to introduce his colleague to artisan products.
“We hit it off, and he was very big brotherly to me even back then,” recalls Muse, now the operating partner for Two Stones Pub and 2SP Brewing Co. “Over the years, I’ve learned an incredible amount from him — and I continue to do so. Outside of being one of the smartest people I know — and I’m lucky enough to know some smart cookies — he’s still one of my closest friends.”
Stiglitz also met Doug Ruley, now vice president of culinary operations for SoDel Concepts. “Mike and I hit it off right away as young chefs,” Ruley recalls. “We shared the same drive and passion for the restaurant industry. We’ve been friends and colleagues for 20-plus years. I admire what he has built in such a short time.”
In 2007, Stiglitz, then-wife Denise and partners Doug and Lisa Frampton opened Pig + Fish on Rehoboth Avenue. What’s with the name? Customers could eat like a pig and drink like a fish. Muse joined the team, which also opened the beer-forward Pickled Pig on Route 1.
It didn’t take long for Stiglitz to feel the pressure of running a restaurant on Delaware’s Culinary Coast. The late Matt Haley, the founder of SoDel Concepts, offered sage advice when Stiglitz bemoaned Fins Fish House & Raw Bar’s larger crowds. Haley replied: “Stop worrying about the guy across the street and worry about what you’re doing.”
Haley would also tell him that every time you say yes to something, you are saying no to something else in your life. The words hit home as Stiglitz juggled his personal and professional life. He and Denise would divorce, and he sold his restaurant shares to his partners.
On his own
In 2011, Stiglitz and Muse were back in New Castle County, Delaware, touring the old Piece of Ireland in Chesmar Plaza in Newark. The tired strip mall was the unlikely home of the first Two Stones Pub, named for the belief that people required a good set of “stones” to enter the restaurant business.
The location was an affordable setting for a restaurant that would serve hard-to-find craft beers and feature a chef-driven menu — and there were 24 taps already in place.
Stiglitz was the opening chef; Muse was the general manager. On Muse’s two days off, Stiglitz filled in. “I was working seven days a week, but it didn’t bother me,” he says. “It was my baby.” Three months later, he was so burned out that friends told him to leave the kitchen.
Fortunately, Stiglitz brought Chris Meyer on board as a corporate chef. He’d met the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College graduate at Iron Hill. But Stiglitz hasn’t put away his Crocs for good. He fills in when needed. “I do miss it; I do love it,” he acknowledges. “But my bigger obligation right now is to keep the company going.”
In 2012, Two Stones opened in Wilmington. Locations followed in Hockessin and Jennsersville and Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The brand also has a Middletown location, and, most recently, it moved the Newark operations to new digs near Christiana.
Maintaining momentum means the launch of 2SP Brewing, 2SP Taphouse and the new 2SPizza. “Pizza and beer are awesome things,” says Stiglitz, who learned the value of takeout during the coronavirus pandemic. Even so, the Newark location has 150 seats inside and out.
The courage to say no
Over the years, Stiglitz never forgot Haley’s words. His son is 20, and Stiglitz recently remarried a mother of two. The family got a puppy, who wiggles with joy when dad comes home.
Today, Stiglitz is saying yes to family. To succeed, the majority partner has invested time in training his staff to take the reins, and he tells colleagues like Greg Vogeley of Drip Café in Newark and Hockessin to do the same. “He’s absolutely available to anyone who asks,” says Vogeley. “He’s a good mentor.”
Says Stiglitz: “It’s kind of like I got an opportunity to redo everything. It’s OK to change.
Two Stones Pub
Hockessin, Middletown, Newark and Wilmington, DE; Jennersville and Kennett Square, PA.
