About Me

I am originally from New York City but I have lived in 24 cities in 10 different states. I got my start in the restaurant business when I was 14 years old. I told them I was 16 and at the time nobody really checked that sort of thing. I started as a dishwasher and I’ve held pretty much every position in a bar and restaurant except chef. My first bartending experience was in 1978 when I worked at the St. Anthony Club on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. I was a waiter and the manager threw me a set of keys and told me I would be bartending for 30 Columbia alumni that night. He said “There’s a book behind the bar if you need recipes.”

This is my second time living in Portland. I’ve been back for 7 years with, Kat, my accomplice of 9 years who worked with me behind the bar at the Driftwood Room until she took over the management of Gracie’s Restaurant in the Hotel deLuxe. Both of us have been in the Food and Beverage industry most of our lives.

The photo on this link is Kat and I in Tequila, Mexico at Guillermo Sauza’s Day of the Dead party at Fortaleza Distillery.

Kat and I at Independence Pass, Colorado