The Life and Times of Me
Since graduation I attended Cooking school in Brooklyn and graduated with honors in 1979.
I became chef of a small catering company in Manhattan, cooked for celebrities and went back to school for marketing and economics until discovering Europe in 1984. When I returned in late 1984 I went to Washington DC to help cook Ronald Regan’s inaugural luncheon and then stayed in DC to open and partner with 4 separate restaurants. In 1992 I returned back to NY and began catering again to Wall Street banks and celebrities.
On June 28, 2002 I was blessed with the birth of my daughter Emma Lauren, who is now a graduate student at NYU. She will always be my greatest achievement.
In an effort to spend more time with my daughter and escape from the grueling business of being a chef, in 2002 I opened the Grape D’Vine across the street from the old 76 House in Tappan. We moved the shop to Sparkill in 2013 after renovating 2 buildings. Then in 2014, I opened Dvine Bar right next door in the old Galucci’s building, my childhood candy store. In 2018 I opened Dvine Pie (an avant garde pizza place) in Piermont then sold it in 2021. I sold Dvine Bar post Covid to my chef in 2022.
I still currently own and run the wine store in Sparkill (check out the website for laughs, thegrapedvine.com) as I await my next challenge and opportunity. Retirement is on the horizon but not quite yet.