1 - How did you get started?
I was tired of accounting. About five years after getting out of college a friend of mine, Brad Wasser, suggested that I try bartending. So he got me a job at Café Du Port, which later became Ecco Café. I moved around to several bars and settled in at Portner’s Restaurant for about twenty years. When it closed I came to Vermilion and I’ve been here for a year and half. I only meant to be in the business for a year, but here I am!

2 - Who has been your favorite patron?
A buddy of mine brought in Lt. Gen. Tom Stafford, an astronaut in the late sixties on the Apollo mission. The crowd went silent and began acting like a bunch of kids at a press conference drilling him with questions. He happily answered them all, bought several people drinks and was a generous tipper and an elegant fellow.

3 - What drink do you most hate to make?
Virgin Mojito – What a waste of Muddling!

4 - What is the worst line you’ve ever heard?
“Give me another drink and I’ll leave quietly.”

5 - What was the best line you’ve ever heard?
“Come on over here and let me teach you something about playing the guitar!” Gary Hessler. (see below for details)

6 - Can you tell me an interesting story?
It was a slow Sunday night at Portner’s, and in walks Tom Hulfish with the San Francisco band Journey. I saw this as an opportunity to get them to play their music, so I called around trying to find guitars from other bars. At the other end of the bar was Gary Hessler, who I introduced to the lead guitarist of Journey, Neal Schon. Gary said he never heard of Journey, but would be happy to teach this fellow how to play the guitar! So, I kept an eye on the situation, but soon they all disappeared!
I went out front hoping I wouldn’t have to stop a fight only to find all of them in Gary’s small smoke filled car listening to blues music happily! They all soon left together in a taxi to their private yacht in Georgetown, just as I found two guitars.

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