About us
When I decided to become a lawyer, it never occurred to me that I was also on a path to becoming "bi-professional." Having had culinary talents from an early age, it just never was something that I thought of doing on a professional level. After three years in the Marine Corps (that included a tour of duty in Vietnam) followed by four years of college and then another three in law school, it was hard to imagine me doing anything else but practicing law. While my legal talents became more pronounced, so did my culinary talents. However, somewhere along the way, I began to waiver in my desires to practice law and began moving on a parallel course between law and the culinary arts.
As time moved forward, the clashes became hard to understand. Why one and not the other? So, I decided to spend time behind a stove in a restaurant along with time in the courtroom. Those who know me can tell you that I march to my own drummer and occasionally can wander off the reservation. For a while, I left the reservation and became solely involved with food enterprises. When I did finally come back to the law, it was with a different perspective, but still, the love of the culinary arts lingered; the allure of food, similar to and erotic as another pervasive need was prominent in my everyday life.
Then one day an epiphany occurred; I finally came to realize that I had to accept the fact that I was indeed "bi”. Bi-professional, that is. Therefore, there was no need to hide it anymore, I finally came out of the pantry and declared it to the world. It wasn't easy to accept the fact that I am multi-talented (something most could not be) and proficient in both. So why not do both? It was a balancing act but nonetheless, it is what I yearn for…challenges! After all, I am a marine and ever since that day of stepping off the bus at Parris Island, South Carolina, I have never been afraid of a challenge and never let one discourage or defeat me. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, "the credit belongs to the doer of deeds," regardless if he fails because he was bold enough to step into the arena.
So here I am in my law office writing this description of myself while I peer out into the other room and look at all the items that you are looking at on this website. Our sauce company, Anna's Simply Gourmet, is named in honor of the professional chef who taught me what I needed to know about the art of Italian cooking, my mother! We have an array of fine imported and domestic products just waiting for you to purchase and enjoy!
While I am proud of all my accomplishments, the one that I am the proudest of is earning the title of United States Marine, where you learn that failure is neither an option nor a word used in the vocabulary of the Corps. You learn from mistakes, get back up when down, and overcome the challenges or obstacles put in front of you. Therefore, I must include in this bio, my thoughts, and prayers to those who never had the chance to succeed or fail; they did their duty to an ungrateful government, died not for it, but for their buddies, and shall never be forgotten! Semper Fi!
The Few-The Proud-The Marines!