I began cooking at the age of 12.  I always had a big interest in the goings on in the kitchen.  I attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NJ, and completed my AOS in Culinary Arts in 1981.  I returned to NJ in 1985 and took a job as sous chef and executive butcher at Caesar’s Atlantic City.  I purchased my own establishment in 1987 in Sea Isle City called The Barrier Island Inn until the mid 90’s.  At that time I took the position of food service supervisor for Avalon Elementary School.  I held the position for 25 years giving me the opportunity to be a chef in Avalon and Stone Harbor fine dining restaurants during the summer months.  I retired from the school in 2015 continuing to do private catering and cooking demonstration lectures at the Cape May County Library.  A visit to Natali Vineyards in January 2019 led to my employment as their Chef.  We began doing once a month Wine Pairing Dinners in February and they were so successful that by April we were up to twice a month.  Here, I was allowed to set my own menus and develop a personal culinary style using high quality ingredients with sophisticated and innovative combinations.  My only real rule is to throw all the rules away and cook with 100% of the passion I feel about food, which always comes through in my dishes.