I am a Boston native, but my wife of 39 years, Cynthia, and I left the area in 1975. I guess you could say my culinary career began in the military, though it was not my intent when I joined the Army. Instead, my goal was to learn a skill before enrolling in UMass Amherst to pursue a career in Forestry Management. However, I was bit by the "cooking bug," and found that I enjoyed the fast pace and ever-changing dynamics of the culinary world. This love for cooking grew even more after spending a year in Europe.

After leaving the military, I was formally trained at the Culinary Institute of America. In 1979, my wife and I moved to Palm Beach, Florida where I spent five years in the kitchens of the Sheraton PGA Vacation Resort and The Breakers Hotel. We then moved to Asheville, North Carolina in 1985 for an opportunity at The Grove Park Inn. In 1989, I took a position as Executive Chef with Westin Hotels at a city property in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1997, I felt the urge to venture out on my own, and so my wife and I opened a 60-seat bistro called "Peppercorns" in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. This was quite an adventure, allowing me to wear many hats as a chef and owner. I closed the restaurant in 2004, and after a brief hiatus and short stint at a country club, we moved back to North Carolina for an Executive Chef position at a resort called the Chetola Mountain Inn in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I am very happy and enthusiastic about my position here at the University of Massachusetts Club and the challenges it brings, as well as living back in the area I left about 40 years ago.

I love creating new dishes full of bold flavors and creative, elegant twists on classic, rustic cuisine. If you have any dietary needs, allergies, or simply personal preferences on your food choices, please let me or the service team know and I will create something just for you. Working with your needs and preferences is a specialty of ours, even if it's not on the menu.