Our Team
Emily Weisberg - Founder
Emily grew up in a small town in Wisconsin where she started writing recipes and drinking coffee at the ripe old age of 7. She got her start working in restaurants when she was 14 and has hardly stopped since.
She learned Spanish, got interested in coffee growing in Latin America, went to college, shopped at the farmer's market a lot, ate at some amazing restaurants, lived and worked in Peru for a while, and eventually got married in Jerusalem, Israel where she and her husband, Alex, lived for three years.
They came back to the U.S. with a toddler and an even stronger desire to build a diverse community around food. Enter: Moss Café. Emily, Alex, and their three kids live in Riverdale and can probably be found at the café, up in the Catskills or taking care of their backyard farm.
Surge Salas - Partner + Director of Operations
Sagrario Salas is a native New Yorker and has been working her way around a kitchen since the age of 8, when she helped her mom create traditional Dominican dishes.
She discovered her passion for cooking at an early age and is self-taught. She has traveled to Italy, Nantucket, and all over New York to learn alongside masters of their craft. Her favorite dish is the Tofu Bahn Mi.
Itta Werdiger - Executive Chef
Chef Itta Werdiger has spent nearly two decades cooking professionally, building a career around feeding people, hospitality, and the kind of food she wants to eat and share.
Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Itta comes from a Chabad Chassidic family where you’ll find a rabbi, a cantor, an artist, a doctor, a scientist, and plenty of very good cooks — including her baker sister Maaryasha of Zelda Bakery, which recently won Best Croissant in Melbourne!
Since moving to New York, she has worked as a private chef and caterer, cooked for events and spiritual retreats, created and ran The Hester, a speakeasy supper club, and later opened and served as chef of the Brooklyn small-plates beer and wine bar Mason & Mug.
Itta’s work is driven by a passionate commitment to sustainable and ethical food culture, and a love of local farmers, purveyors, and really good ingredients. She believes that understanding where our food comes from helps us see the gifts around us, and that food can be a portal for gratitude, connection, and care. Itta loves food that feels of-the-moment — what is growing now, what tastes best now, and what local farmers are bringing in. Her cooking is rooted in seasonality, thoughtful sourcing, and a deep respect for the people and places behind the food. She believes the best cooking starts with paying attention, sourcing well, and not overcomplicating a really good ingredient.
Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Haaretz, The Forward, Tablet, and Crain’s New York Business, among others. She is married to Benzion Shamberg, and together they have a blended family of four girls and three boys.
Brian Engel - Head Chef
Brian was born and raised in Ohio and arrived in NYC in the early eighties to pursue his dream of cooking professionally. He worked for many years in restaurants, hotels, corporate foodservice and catering.
Then the wine bug bit him and Brian transitioned to retail wine sales, working in a couple of prominent upper Manhattan wine shops. But the kitchen kept calling his name. He’s excited, energized and challenged to return to his first love of food as part of the Moss Café team.
Alejandro Benarducci - Pastry Chef
Alex was born and raised by his Italian family in Uruguay. He left his family business to pursue his love of baking. He’s been at Moss for 8 years and has brought so much talent to the kitchen. In his spare time, he loves boating, fishing, and exploring great bakeries in the tri-state area with his wife and two sons.
