Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Were you always interested in culinary arts?

I was born in Morocco, came to New York via Paris. I first studied photography and filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts, however my life completely changed when I first met Olivier Coquelin, a legend in the nightclub business who asked me, since I used to spend my life in his club, The Hippopotamus, that was in the early '70s, if I wanted to be his doorman/bouncer. I was so stunned that I could only say, yes, the only English word I knew. What a trip, how do you accommodate in the same room, a pimp, David Bowie and a mafioso? God only knows...
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