After competing in "Hey, Can You Cook?! 4" in 2009, I headed home (with a bandage on my hand!) to a traumatic time for my family. My father, who had been battling leukemia, passed away. The next few months were spent reflecting on my life; my dad had been my partner in real estate developments, so I took some time to reassess my career and within months decided to pursue my dream of opening a restaurant.

That November, in the height of the recession, I opened Epulo Bistro in Edmonds, Washington along with my crazy business partner Tim Carr and some investors. Epulo is Latin for sumptuous food, banquet or feast - that described exactly what I wanted to create. For the past two years, I have been working hard at the restaurant while still finding time to do commercial real estate during the day. My oldest daughter graduated from Cornell, my second daughter went off to college, and I still have two girls at home! My wife, a teacher, keeps busy during the school year. Our lives have been both exhilarating and exhausting, in equal measure, but I love what I’m doing and am looking forward to competing in "Hey, Can You Cook?! All-Stars"!

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