What were your favorite foods growing up?
Pasta, steak, fried chicken, Mom's casserole and cheesecake, and Dad's secret marinade (salad dressing), pierogies.

When did you decide you wanted to be a restaurateur?
From the moment family and friends told me the food industry is too much work and risk with no real future. Then the west coast started to explode with innovative ideas with food everyone was familiar with.

Where and when did your career in food begin?
Prematurely at home. My mother would cook, can and grow fruits and vegetables. The interest to learn to cook was always around me. My first job was a salad jockey at Danfords Inn, Port Jefferson Long Island. I had bandages on every finger.

If you didn't become a restaurateur, what would you be?
Rock star, stuntman, offshore fisherman or farmer

Who or what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
Albert Lattanzi — he believed if you need bread crumbs you need to bake bread, lemon juice comes from a lemon. Also: Wolfgang Puck, Daniel Boulud, Connie Anderson, Gordon Ramsey. Have fun with the craft but stay true to a high standard no matter the style of food.

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
My palate, vita prep, pasta machine

What influences your cooking style?
Traveling abroad as well in the states. The discovery of new ingredients is motivating and inspiring

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Meyer lemons in season, olive oil in the place of butter for finishing and mounting sauces and soups

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
Never serve something you wouldn't want to receive. Honesty.

If I'm trying to watch my weight and I'm eating at your restaurant, what should I order to eat?
I try to eat healthy and generally prepare fish, salads and vegetables dishes.

What was the most challenging meal you had to make? Why?
Hosting a dinner for the travel advisory from Curacao. They requested the native dishes be prepared for a sit down dinner of 80 people. We never tasted the original dishes and went completely free style. They were thrilled. I still have the bottle of blue liquor they gave me as a "thank you".

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
A smoldering fire between the walls that erupted during a Saturday dinner service. Trust me when the ansel system goes off it looks like a blizzard

What is your least favorite food?
Sea cucumber; I imagine that is what it is like to pick your nose and eat it.

What is your beverage of choice?
Arnold Palmer. My staples are red wine, vodka soda with lemon, big scotch fan also. I drink just about anything. I just don't like designer hippie beer.

What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
Molecular is neat but not my style. I am always looking for something different. I recently went to a Lebanese celebration. The food was incredible, music not so good.

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
Street venders, ethnic neighborhoods, BLT steak (I have the hots for the maitre'd) pizza cotta in Brentwood, pinches tacos.

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
Italy and Spain

What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
Meal, not too sure. Dish, an interpretation of succulent pig in Denia, Spain. Sous Vide baby pig leg that was as crispy as a chip and tender as a braise.

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Blanch fresh vegetables; it takes little time and the result is worth it. Use salt and pepper!

What do you eat when you are home?
Grilled meats and fish, vegetables, cheese, ice cream seasonal fruit and the occasional chocolate cake from the Palm.