Born and raised in St. Louis, MO, I came to New Orleans in ‘84 for Tulane University where I studied Poly Sci and Theater. Having enjoyed working in local restaurants part time throughout high school, I chose Tulane in part becauseof NOLA’s culinary reputation, Throughout my undergraduate years and beyond I found myself working in stalwart NOLA institutions such as The Upperline, Bayona and Gautreau’s, forever sealing my fate as a lifelong hospitalitarian.

Shortly after my time at Tulane, I tested my entrepreneurial spirit with the opening of the now infamous Snake and Jake’s Xmas Club Lounge on Oak St. in the uptown area of New Orleans. The Circle Bar on St. Charles Avenue at Lee Circle quickly followed. In 2008 I met Rachael Jaffe here in New Orleans and recognized in her a shared devotion to excellence in hospitality and a passion for New Orleans. Soon after that, hoping to impress Rachael, I purchased a then struggling Cafe Atchafalaya and proposed a lifelong commitment to managing this restaurant and a family as well. 2018 saw the birth to our first busboy—Luca Tocco.