Team - Scala del Nonna

I started my cooking career at 13 years old with my father on weekends where he was working. He would let me prep food and wash dishes for a small allowance. By the time I was 17 I was a line cook at an upper scale Italian restaurant in NJ.

After working my way up to sous chef at one of the top restaurants in NJ called IL Tulipano, I began looking for my own restaurant in 1990 at 23 years old I opened IL Mondo Vecchio restaurant in Madison, NJ. We were very busy from the beginning and received awards from ZAGAT survey and New Jersey Monthly Magazine.

I then started getting the urge to cook more modern Italian food so I went to train for a month at a two star Michelin rated restaurant in Imola, Italy called San Domenico, which is near Bologna. The following year I spent 3 weeks at Guiltero Marchese restaurant in L'Alberata Hotel in Erbusco - a 3 star Michelin restaurant.