I worked for several pizza chains in my early days and later became a busser and server at Violette Restaurant under Chef Guy Luck. My love for the restaurant business flourished when an opportunity to work for Buckhead Life Restaurant Group came through a friend at Violette and that’s when my career took off. I worked for BLRG as a server, assistant manager, beverage manager, AGM and eventually General Manager, all within a very short period of time. At BLRG I met my greatest mentor Mimi Cogan, my restaurateur inspiration Pano Karatassos, my business partner and best friend Chef Jamie Adams and the rarest and most precious jewel of all, Antoinette Moura, my wife.

I left BLRG for a year, to get my “Master’s Degree in Restaurant Business”, in pursuit of acquiring a franchise with IHOP. Please read that phrase again with a little sarcasm. While at IHOP-U I learned a ton- from properly cutting a tomato, saving pennies on the dollar, and how to responsibly and financially run a restaurant business. 20k later (and I am NOT bitter;)… scrambled eggs anyone?

The il Giallo “il Jah-lo” project started by Pano offering Chef Jamie and I an opportunity to buy Veni Vidi Vici, to which I had recently returned after finishing my “IHOP degree.” Chef Jamie and I pressed really hard to make the deal work but, I guess fortunately, we could not make it work. We signed the lease for il Giallo late 2014 and had that puppy going by
October 31st, 2015, now known of course as Gialloween. il Giallo has taught us tremendously and we are extremely grateful to you our neighbors and community for the wonderful support.

In 2019 our next baby was born. Every great neighborhood needs its own watering hole and we built one in Chamblee. Lagarde is a fun concept to describe; come as you are, neighborhood driven, affordable, irreverent, edgy, family friendly, fun (have I mentioned fun yet?), screams, sharing and above all, beautiful. All of the senses are touched, even the sixth one. Lagarde is also a very personal concept for me- the merging of two friends’ dreams. I have always dreamed of owning an American Restaurant that honors hard work, diversity and the land that adopted me as a son. To me Lagarde is the equivalent of someone crossing the finish line in first place, it goes beyond just a dream and it also represents my love for the country that provided me with great opportunity. The eagle in our logo represents the free spirited and the bold. The eagle rests on the A for America, which is surrounded by the fifty stars and lastly, GA in red, is for where we are in this vast land and where it all started. “Bon Temps” describes the good times to come. Jamie’s family is from New Orleans, a city that was love at first sight for me. N.O.- I am not biased, I just don’t believe in coincidence – Chef Jamie’s middle name is Lagarde from his grandmother-so we have LA and GA all in one word! It is amazing to see the restaurant packed with a great “everything goes” mentality and vibe! “Let the Good Times Roll” and I mean it! More watering holes coming soon, hint, hint.