He was a chef at big, fancy restaurants. Now, he’s opened a corner grocery in Kensington.
At 41, chef Mark Gears is living his childhood dream with his own humble corner store, Smalls' Provisions.
Delaware County’s Mark Gears has serious chops as a chef, working for Starr Restaurants in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and at the District’s Momofuku outpost. Then like so many chefs, he left the grind of cooking for the 9-to-5 life of wholesale-food sales a decade ago.
At 41, Gears has made another pivot — opening Smalls’ Provisions, a compact corner grocery and takeout shop in Kensington, serving breakfast and lunch alongside essentials. Smalls’ — the pet name that Gears and his wife, Hannah, share — replaces an old-school corner deli at Memphis and Hagert Streets.
Smalls’ takes Gears back to his childhood. “I never thought a kid from Essington would end up owning his own sandwich shop.” he said. “I’m interested in wanting it to be a true neighborhood spot, an homage.”
This is quite the transformation for Gears, who whipped up steak frites and escargot during his days at Parc and Le Diplomate. As a short-order cook at Smalls’, he turns out breakfast sandwiches, cutlet sandwiches, patty melts, and hot dogs on a flat-top in a minuscule kitchen. He’s using Cacia’s rolls from South Philadelphia, coffee from Rival Bros., and baked goods from local bakers.
There’s no seating. Smalls’ shelves are stocked with basics — mayo, mustard, ketchup, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, pasta, salt, chips, paper towels — meant for quick errands to save his neighbors from driving to the IGA. There’s a little grab-and-go case, and copies of Lucky Peach and assorted cookbooks, just for show.
“Where I grew up, every corner had a cheesesteak or a pizza shop,” Gears said. “Owning my own sandwich shop was always one of my dreams.”
Early on, Gears worked for Georges Perrier and Chris Scarduzio at Table 31 before his Starr days and his year at the now-shuttered Momofuku. He joined Philadelphia-based Julius Silvert in Washington before transferring to Philadelphia. His last job was vice president of sales at Chef’s Warehouse.
In Washington, he met Hannah Kessler, who works in public health. “She was a D.C. girl who moved to Philly for school, and I was a Philly person who moved to D.C. for work,” he said. After moving to Medford during the pandemic, the Gearses decided that they missed city life. “We sold the four-bedroom house and moved back to a one-bedroom in Philly,” he said. They live six minutes from the store and are expecting their first child.
Working for large companies was fine, he said, but “I never gave myself a chance to work in something where I could breathe in and keep my arms around. This is a way to get everything back and be content and satisfied with something super humble and small like this.”
Smalls’ Provisions, 2441 Memphis St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19125. Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.