 |
Creators
of Hearth >Paul
click for Marco's page
click for Jordan's page
Born
in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, in 1965, Paul was immediately
thrust into the world of service and hospitality
at his family's landmark restaurant, La Scala.
Paul's grandfather and father opened La Scala,
a grand Italian Ristorante, in 1962. The restaurant
quickly became well known for its formal service,
classic Italian food, and regal setting in an
historic Toronto home.
Paul spent many of his early years
in the company of his family perfecting the details
of service. Among his first childhood memories
are hours of polishing silverware and dusting
lampshades. Years later when it came time to choose
a career path, the restaurant business naturally
beckoned but Paul did not succumb immediately.
The inherent stresses of the restaurant business
as well as the additional stresses of working
in a family business caused him to think twice
before jumping headlong into a career in restaurants
and hospitality. The decision was made after a
two-month trip to Italy where Paul studied wine
intensively - meeting with winemakers, touring
vineyards and wineries and generally sponging
up the culture of Italian wine and food. When
he returned from the trip he was a veritable Italian
wine expert. The flame of his passion for wine
had been ignited. He decided to join his father
and grandfather at La Scala where he worked for
six years overseeing the beverage program and
managing the front-of-the-house staff.
Always seeking new experiences
and further education, in February of 1991, Paul
traveled to New York City for a three-month sojourn
to discover the New York restaurant scene. What
he saw and experienced was so inspiring that he
is still here! His career in New York City began
at world-famous Remi Restaurant where he was a
dining room manager for two years. Moving on,
he spent short stints honing his service skills
at several of New Yorks most prestigious and well-known
restaurants, including Bouley, Gotham Bar and
Grill, Gabriel's and JUdson Grill - which he opened
with his friend and mentor Chris Cannon in February
of 1994.
In 1995, Paul went looking for
a new challenge. He accepted a job as a waiter
at the three-star Gramercy Tavern, where he hoped
to learn the aspects of "enlightened hospitality"
from its creators Danny Meyer and Tom Colicchio.
This education, Paul believed, would help prepare
him for a future in restaurant management. He
was right. After working as a captain for two
years, Paul was promoted to Assistant General
Manager, responsible for both the $3 million dollar-a-year
beverage program and the three-star service program.
During Paul's tenure, Gramercy Tavern won both
the James Beard Award for Outstanding Service
2001 and the James Beard Award for Outstanding
Wine Service 2002. In the fall of 2002, Gramercy
Tavern was named the most popular restaurant in
New York City by the Zagat Survey. Also in 2002,
Paul placed eighth in the American Sommelier Association's
competition to name the best sommelier in the
country.
|
|
