Owner-operators Carla & Joe have been residents of Gladstone since 2021. From Chicago and West Orange respectively, the team has relished the opportunity to live closer to family and friends and is eager to provide the community with resources they themselves have often longed for in daily life.
Carla Siegel brings a rare blend of design expertise, culinary insight and a warm sense of hospitality to every project she undertakes. After graduating from Syracuse University with a degree in Communications Design, Carla moved to New York City, starting her career at Scholastic Inc. An itch to infuse her passion for the graphic arts with her love of food prompted her to enroll at the Institute of Culinary Education where she earned a Culinary Arts Diploma and completed an externship at Marcus Samuelsson’s famed restaurant, Aquavit.
Following her first experience in a professional kitchen, Carla would formally transition into the world of food and wine working at event venue called The Culinary Loft, where she planned cooking class dinner parties, managed cookbook photoshoots and hosted food-related press events. From there, Carla joined Chef Daniel Boulud’s restaurant management company, The Dinex Group, in a series of roles that would, over the course of nearly a decade, combine the event planning, graphic design and culinary skills she’d fostered. Prior to starting her own hospitality-focused design studio, Agentsie, in 2015, Carla served as the group’s Creative Director overseeing all branding and design applications for 18 restaurants across seven brands worldwide.
Today Carla lives in Gladstone, NJ with her husband Joe where she enjoys gardening, cooking and hosting neighbors and friends — always eager for an excuse to go food shopping!
Joe Colonna is an accomplished college instructor of writing with over a decade of experience working with undergraduate, adult and ESL students to develop English language skills, academic and creative writing abilities. Joe earned his undergraduate and Masters degrees from Columbia University, in New York City, where he lived until 2021.
Since moving to “the horse country,” Joe has come to appreciate the beauty and community in an area of New Jersey he had only heard about growing up near Newark, but never experienced until now. He currently teaches at NYU and Parsons - The New School, and enjoys reading, Zen meditation, and writing fiction of his own. He cherishes time spent with family in neighboring Chester and is enthusiastic about giving Gladstone the convenient grocer it deserves.