1. What were your favorite foods growing up?
Peanut butter and seafood at Virginia Beach

2. When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
After high school while pursuing my desire to become an artist

3. Where and when did your career in food begin?
Croton Colonial Diner at age 12

4. If you didn't become a chef, what would you be?
Possibly an artist, a painter

5. Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
Culinary experiences with my father at Virginia Beach, John Halligan, David Burke

6. How would you describe your cuisine?
Eastern Mediterranean with a New York edge

7. What influences your cooking style and particularly the menu at your restaurant?
My trip to Istanbul, applying Mediterranean ingredients to seasons in New York

8. What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
The "pala" knife and the vita mixer

9. What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Love and passion

10. What are your favorite exotic spices?
Sumac, "Marash" chili pepper

11. How have your international experiences shaped your cooking?
Working in south of France in Cannes gave me a breadth of experience with Mediterranean seafood in particular

12. If I'm trying to watch my weight and I'm eating at your restaurant, what should I order to eat?
Roasted whipped eggplant, any other veggie appetizer or salad, grilled whole fish

13. What was the most challenging meal you had to make? Why?
Feeding the rescue workers following September 11th, it was an emotional challenge above anything else

14. What was your worst restaurant disaster?
A banquet for 800 people where the Filet Mignon were overcooked as a result of improperly searing

15. What is your beverage of choice?
Beer

16. What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
More cooking with liver and a re-focus on old world culinary staples

17. When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
Chinatown and other ethnic areas in the 5 boroughs

18. Which foreign country inspires your style most?
Currently Turkey and Greece

19. What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
At French Laundry in Yountville, CA

20. What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Keep it simple and source local ingredients or try growing your own

21. What do you eat when you are home?
Grill on my outdoor deck