What’s something people might be surprised to find out about you?
Ben Cohen from Ben & Jerry’s was my male role model for a good portion of my youth. Ben and my mother dated for years starting from the time he scooped ice cream in the gas station through the time he and Jerry built their first factory. I believe my name is still on the factory wall for being one of the first people to eat a “Vermonster.”
Cocktail, wine, or beer?
Call me old school but a simple gin and tonic is the way to go. For wine, it’s anything Italian. We’ve been drinking some nice Nebbiolo lately, but my favorite bottle was a 1997 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino.
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Farmers Fishers Bakers
We hear you love to cook. Does that translate into your restaurant designs?
There is a huge similarity between designing and cooking. Both endeavors involve a careful selection of ingredients that are both fresh and balanced. They need to be combined and crafted in a way that is innovative, refreshing, and properly seasoned. I work with salt, pepper, and olive oil during the evening after working with glass, concrete, and wood during the day.
Your best dish?
Fish tacos
Urbana at DC’s Hotel Palomar
Secrets to working with chefs?
Always describe your concepts in terms of food. Don’t say the dining room will be a mix of yellow, green, and red. Say it will be a refreshing mix of citrus combining lemons, limes, and blood oranges into a visual feast. Brown equals coffee, red equals tomato, green equals basil.
What’s coming up next for GrizForm?
We have a Founding Farmers in Tysons Corner, Virginia currently under construction with the same team as Farmers Fishers Bakers in Washington, DC, and we have picked up where the other project left off. We are also working on a new distillery-pub concept where the spirits are made on site; a Korean fried chicken and beer joint in DC; a seafood concept in St. Petersburg, Florida; a Latin steakhouse in DC; and few restaurant concepts for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.
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