1. Who was your biggest influence?
I’d have to say my biggest influence was Daniel Orr, the executive chef at Le Grenouille. Now off doing other things in New York City and the Virgin Islands – one of the best chefs in the country, in my opinion.

2. From a cooking standpoint…do you feel that Trattoria Monaco, being labeled as Italian, adds a certain degree of difficulty to the progressive aspect of what you are doing?
No, I think it’s a good challenge for myself as well as my chef de cuisine. When Don approached me about doing this restaurant, he specifically said to me, “We want to offer something new to the Alpharetta area.”

We could easily open that restaurant that’s doing the linguine with clam sauce and the marinara and the fettucine. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I love that kind of food and I think that most people probably do.

But what we’re trying to do here is take Italian based products like papardelle Bolognese and blend them with a progressive twist. And it’s really turning out to be a nice challenge.

Where it gets kinda sticky is when some of my younger cooks wanna throw something like a soy sauce on the plate, it’s basically out of greenness.

We are one hundred percent Italian but we put a progressive spin on it…a more metropolitan spin. But we are not trying to be too edgy because we understand that we are in a suburban area and trying to approach that with open arms and not a whole lot of pretentiousness. As you can see we have no table clothes and a little flat screen television at the bar. We are trying to give a nice casual feel to the Alpharetta area with super food.

3. Trattoria Monaco is now roughly five weeks old. What has been the biggest challenge for you thus far?
The biggest challenge for us so far has been space…we’re a small little restaurant and trying to find space to put anything is tough.

I guess…trying to do the type food we want to do in the Alpharetta area where people really want things fast. It’s gotta happen right now. So, um…timing has been a bit of a challenge for us. But we’re working on that.

4. How difficult has it been trying to break the red sauce NY Italian perception that people carry with them and EXPECT when eating at an Italian restaurant?
Well, it’s kind of at the front door. They walk in the front door and they see the nice wood on the exterior, they see the host stand his stainless steel and solid wood. So they know immediately this isn’t going to be a red sauce only Italian restaurant. No red chili flake shakers on the table.

So it’s being solved at the door and it’s pretty much been a good thing.

But the one think I think is great about our menu is that fact that you can get Bolognese or spaghettini with meatballs or risotto, then that’s fine – you can. And for those who want something a little different, we have something for them as well. And that’s really the great thing about our menu.

Well, your menu isn’t going to scare anybody away.
No, our menu isn’t going to scare anybody away. In fact, it’s been very positive for us so far.

5. The desserts here at Trattoria Monaco are pleasantly innovative, prepared with passion and careful attention to flavor. Where did you pick up this apparent passion for pastry?
That’s a really a great question I’d like to answer. My pastry influence is Eric Bedoucha; he was the pastry chef a Le Grenuille. He was actually named pastry chef of the year by Chocolatier magazine in 1996, I believe. He’s also listed as one of the Top 25 pastry chefs in America.

When I went to work for him I knew absolutely nothing about pastry. Um, I was thrown to wolves. He ripped me up for six months. There were many nights I went home crying…literally, crying.

At the end of my stage with this guy we had a great relationship because I had learned a lot and he taught me a lot. He was the first chef that really taught me how to listen in a kitchen…and understand how to think and understand how to think a process through.

Our pastries aren’t super intricate but they’re good flavors and textures.

6. It seems you have found a talented young sous chef in Jordan Lloyd, who has worked under you before. How important is it to have a sous chef that is like-minded, somebody who sees and understands your vision?
It’s super, super important. Um, that was the key to my success up in Maryland. Up there my chef de cuisine and I grew up together we played football together we went to CIA together – the whole nine yards. When we were together on the line we didn’t even really have to talk – no questions – it was just a real nice dance that we were doing.

That’s why I hired Jordan as my chef de cuisine. I’d worked with him before; I knew his style so I knew that he was all about the product and the guest and the craft of what we do. And he’s on the same page as I am.

So, here again we have an executive chef and his chef de cuisine working together who don’t really even have to communicate except for just…by a look or a feel. Um, we’re definitely still going through our start-up growing pains but we’re also doing a nice little dance on the line and during the course of the day for prep. And I think it really shows through in the food.


Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to meet with me, chef.
Thank you, Tom.