Lesbian Chef Marcie Blaine Turney grew up in Ripon, Wisconsin. Her grandparents Blaine (better know as “Bud”) and Marilyn owned a restaurant in her hometown called The Spot. She grew up in the restaurant business sipping Shirley Temples at the bar.

Bud & Marilyn’s is an homage to the restaurant she grew up in. After more than 20 years in the business (yes, Marcie also owns a few other restaurants – Lolita, Barbuzzo, Little Nonna’s and Jamonera) she wanted to open a restaurant with a simple focus – great food + drink with genuine hospitality in the neighborhood she calls home. Her menu is American inspired and focuses on simple, well prepared comfort food.

Co-owner Valerie Safran, a former 8th grade Spanish teacher, also grew up in the Midwest and runs the front of house/financial operations for all of the pairs restaurants as well as their 3 boutiques (Open House, Verde and Grocery).

Chef Turney and Safran have been working since 2002 to help reinvent 13th Street. The pioneering duo’s eight restaurants and boutiques between Chestnut and Locust Streets have helped transform the once-desolate neighborhood into trendy Midtown Village. Safran is the buyer for all products carried in both boutiques and also serves as general manager for the restaurants. As a team, she and Chef Turney are hands-on entrepreneurs who take genuine ownership of every aspect of their businesses, from the look and feel of the spaces to the products and menus that they offer to the service standards of the staff.