It began in 1999…my journey in the hospitality world. After moving to Charleston, SC, I began working in restaurants and helped open High Cotton, at the time, the flagship LowCountry Steakhouse of the Maverick Southern Kitchens restaurant group. I was able to learn from some of the best and most influential members of the industry in Charleston, while Charleston was building up its reputation as being a premier culinary destination and home of some of the country’s best culinary talent.

After Charleston, Chicago came calling. As a private wine consultant and culinary director for a major retail chain, I was able to hone my skills on the retail side of the food and beverage business while residing in one of the greatest food cities in the world, but Virginia was calling.

I returned to my home state of Virginia in 2010, and have since been working diligently to make Virginia a leader in local and sustainable food systems. In 2015, I set out to build a true farm-to-table operation by starting a heritage breed hog farm and a deli and butcher shop. As those plans were coming to fruition, I also started a family. My daughter was born in January 2017, and I quickly realized that I needed to put family first rather than dreams of building this amazing farm-to-table experience. I put my plans and work on hold to be a father.

Fast forward five years, and I am now the owner of Commune with locations in Virginia Beach and Norfolk. We specialize in a true farm-to-table experience and work daily to help strengthen our local economy by sourcing hyper-locally and working to build community through something we all know and love….food. Real Food feeds us all, and food brings us together. With that as our guiding principle, we are committed to building strong communities and sustainable, local economies through our sourcing practices and our commitment to one another as human beings. REAL FOOD unites us all, and we are excited to share our vision and purpose with the Mighty Dream.