Biography

I’m an Italian-American chef born into a culinary family in Detroit. I learned to cook at an early age rolling out dough with my mother and grinding out sausage with my father. After high school I intended to go to a local college with an excellent culinary arts and hospitality program but was enticed away by the lure of Rock n Roll and pursued music instead, which I still enjoy, recording, playing & performing with a variety of musicians.

After years of toiling around in various careers that offered little satisfaction other than a means by which to survive, I finally enrolled, attended and received classical culinary training at The Institute of Culinary Education (formerly Peter Gump’s cooking school) in New York City.   Trained in classic French technique and with an internship in the charcuterie/ butcher department at New York City’s Premier Italian Restaurant, Del Posto, I gained tremendous knowledge and experienced a culinary epiphany and have carried that with me in all positions I have held in the food industry since. The details matter: quality of ingredients and the care with which they are handled, presented and served are what matter, not the ego of the chef.

Moving from New York to Southern California I began to develop my own style by working side by side with some wonderful chefs and mentors and decided to bring this style and experience to the personal and private chef arenas in San Diego and Los Angeles.  I’ve worked for restaurants, movie studios and celebrities as both a private chef and as a caterer, specializing in intimate events with an emphasis on quality and elegance.  I am an entertainer at heart so the intimacy of small events brings out the ham in me, oftentimes telling stories while preparing items in front of guests. 

With all that glitz and glamour, I am still just the little kid cranking the meat grinder or pasta machine with my parents. When I am asked what my favorite dish is to cook my answer surprises the inquisitor- very seriously the question in met with a question: What is your favorite dish to eat?  It’s not about me. For instance, this biography, I found very difficult to compose, as so much of what I do is for the enjoyment of others, which intern brings me joy and fulfillment.