Cafe 66

It’s kind of crazy how these things happen. Close to twenty years ago, I was involved in a terrible car accident. I was actually getting ready to go to college, and wanted to become a lawyer. But, when that accident happened, everything got put on hold. My hand was messed up pretty good. I had to go to physical rehab for about a year and a half. Nine surgeries will do that to you. It was all rebuilding after that. I ended up completely switching gears, and applied for a job over on the beach side. I ended up getting it, and everything just started rolling. I think I’ve always really had a passion for food. I like good food, but I mostly like to see the smile on people’s faces when they’re eating the food that I made. I grew up in southwest New York. It’s meat and potatoes out there, and fried catfish. Whatever we would catch on the lake, or whatever had been floating around the barn. I’ve been in Vero since 1988. I moved out here during the summer when I was ten. I remember baking cookies or cooking things with my Mom. I always had a passion for cooking and those memories I believe helped me gravitate that way. I mean, even as a little kid, I’d mix crazy things up – like putting potato chips and pickles on my Sloppy Joes. People would ask me why, then they would try it, and they’d be like, ‘wow, that really is good, now I understand why’. I do say that it was by mistake that I fell into this profession. In high school, I was either going to be an architect or a contractor. I took all of the drafting classes, I took everything I needed to do to be able to push myself in college to be set for that. I was also considering the lawyer route. After the accident, I fell in love with cooking. As soon as I had seen the hustle and bustle in this industry, I was hooked. I feel like I’m really in my element when I’m on the line. It’s where I’m supposed to be. Cafe 66 was created in late October of 2016. At the time that I decided to work there as their chef, I was actually the banquet chef over at Captain Hiram’s Sandbar. I had been looking for a bit of a change, and really felt I could make a significant difference somewhere. So, I started working here in February of 2017. We ultimately made the decision to purchase the restaurant in February 2019 and ever since that moment, we’ve been pouring our heart and soul into it – and loving it, every step of the way.”