I first moved to New York while interning from the Culinary Institute of America in 2005. It was an into the fire scenario after spending the previous year tucked in the Hudson valley’s CIA campus where I was over fed on braises and éclairs. All I knew is I wanted to cook and learn to cook more and better, but not exactly sure what.

Next thing I knew I had a 90 minute commute from Woodside, Queens to Tribeca to work in the black granite counter lined, rational oven studded kitchen crowned with a Molteni stove of Bouley Restaurant in TriBeCa. The longest 8 months of my life, with too much time spent traveling on the 7 train to my claustrophobic basement apartment in Queens.

After working my butt off and learning as much as I possibly could I decided that NYC was the place I was going to spend the next few chapters of my life. I was attracted to the combination of grind and ambition. The amount of history reflected in every street corner hypnotized me telling me that this is home.

I spent the next years cooking and playing in the fun and crazy restaurant culture that my coworkers and I created. I did not know exactly how I wanted my career in food to take shape until my Aunt Mussie passed away in 2008.

Mussie lived on 68th and 1st in a high-rise apartment building. Her house decorated with antique furniture, paintings and memorabilia of an older New York. I always knew about my family’s history in the Delicatessen industry of the LES, but never knew any details until I found my great-great grandfathers recipe books. They looked similar to the ass-sweat soaked leather bound journals that are jammed into the back pockets of chef pants across the city. Many of the recipes scribbled down in pencil in a non-legible Yiddish English combination, some of them dating back to 1898.

I learned my family owned and operated a Kosher Delicatessen on Essex st. for about 100 years. House curing salamis, hot dogs, pastramis, white fish, and sausages. After finding this information I started to take charcuterie seriously. I decided I was meant to butcher and cure meats, and take after the family business.

I spent the next few years researching my family’s history, researching charcuterie recipes and experimenting in my free time with emulsified sausages, smoke, and pink salts. Meanwhile the years passed by as I continued to find work in the kitchens of New York.

Currently I am on year 9 of my life in New York. A big piece of me stuck here. The food history of this city is an amazing combination of population density and immigration culture. I am amazed at how our food trends recycle themselves and change. Our cuisine grows exponentially

Now I try to make food that is approachable by everyone. Food that is nourishing and bright with color and taste. I involve crunch and soft, tart and salt, but just as important is the bodily sense of nutrition. Do I feel healthy eating this? Will I get the protein I need, the carbohydrates? Eat with your eyes, stomach and tongue all three must be taken into consideration. These are fundamentals of my cuisine.