Edward McFarland

When you meet Edward McFarland for the first time, you probably wouldn’t think that the soft-spoken unpretentious guy with heavily tattooed arms could be the creative mind behind one of Soho’s best seafood restaurants, Ed’s Lobster Bar.

A New York City native, Ed McFarland was born in June, 1973, to a family of food lovers.  A keen appreciation of great food was passed down to him from the Italian side of the family and Ed’s mother made every meal special by using a little bit of herbs and vegetables grown in her own garden and a lot of love. The lessons he learned in the family kitchen would be the building blocks for his future. These were the learning years and the perfect spring-board for a future chef.  Ed didn’t choose his career path, it had chosen him.

His passion for food and dreams of success led Ed McFarland to the esteemed French Culinary Institute, where he trained intensely to sharpen his culinary skills.  Graduating in 1995, Ed quickly realized that his education was just beginning.  Over the next few years, Ed continued to learn and hone his cooking skills under the tutelage of some of the best chefs in New York, including Sotha Kuhn at Le Cirque and Dave Pasternak at Terence Brennan’s Picholine. 

As Ed continued to practice and perfect his cooking techniques, he was drawn to the delicateness and simplicity of seafood and thus chose his culinary path. And as fate would have it, this preference led to an opportunity for him to work at a specialty seafood restaurant, Pearl Oyster Bar, a mainstay in the West Village.

For over six years, Ed McFarland worked as sous chef at Pearl Oyster Bar, preparing Pearl’s house recipes with his own personal touch. This was the perfect training ground for Ed and afforded him the opportunity to learn all he could of seafood and original New England style cuisine.

In 2007, Ed’s vision of owning a restaurant became a reality and in March the doors to Ed’s Lobster Bar opened on Lafayette Street in Soho.  The restaurant bearing his name is the culmination of years of study and apprenticeship.  Ed McFarland has created a truly unique spin on New England cuisine using garden fresh produce, the highest quality seafood and the same love and care that he learned from his mother’s kitchen.

Ed has been a regular on Toni On! New York, and has been featured on the Martha Stewart Show, Beat Bobby Flay, as well as Food Feuds on the Food Network.