I grew up on a dirt road in rural Virginia, in a town with no streetlights. My first restaurant job was washing dishes.

A week after high school I moved to New York, underdressed and looking for work, and got hired running food in Bayside, Queens.

The turn came by accident. One afternoon I wandered into the lobby of the NoMad Hotel and stopped. People were sitting quietly with drinks in a library nook, and I followed the sound of the bar. The bartenders were working with dozens of house-made tinctures and bitters, things I hadn’t known were possible. It was the first time I understood bartending could be art.

More than a decade behind the bar followed. Nobu Fifty Seven. Sushi Kashiba in Seattle. BondST at Hudson Yards. Certifications in wine, spirits and sake along the way, and consulting work in between.

Today I’m Bar Manager at Forbici Modern Italian in Hyde Park. I chose Tampa after watching it come into its own, carefully and deliberately.

I live here with my dog, Nori.