Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • March 9, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 21 and performed other support work. Even doing mostly grunt work, An- derson felt like the kitchen was where he wanted to be. The camaraderie of back-of-house denizens coupled with the high octane of a fast-moving dinner service were hard to match elsewhere. There were pretty waitresses, too. "I like the intensity of working in restaurants," Anderson said. "Some people love it, some people hate it. I'm one of the people who loves it." His father Gregory, an aerospace engineer, thought the University of Southern California's entrepreneur- ship program would be a perfect fit for Anderson. He had the grades, Anderson recalled. But, unsure of what he wanted to do for a career, and wary of racking up tuition bills on a degree he might not use, Anderson moved out of his parent's house at age 17, and continued work- ing at restaurants for two years. That's when he fell in love with cooking, and enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu culinary and hospitality school in Chicago. Anderson honed his craft working in kitchens, and heeding advice from mentors, including chefs at the top of the industry like Sarah Stegner, an award-winning cook who owns the Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook, Ill. As he moved into the management side of the business, he also entered the world of corporate cooking via hotel restaurant jobs. He was work- ing as a sous chef at a Marriott in Chicago when he met Aurrichio, his future business partner who then worked as a bartender there. The two got along at work, and used to hang out together after hours at a sketchy "Road House" type dive bar in Chicago's suburbs that was open late enough for restaurant workers to grab a drink after their shifts. That bar and those drinks cemented their friendship. "The owner was like, 'Hey guys, you're here every night, do you want to make some money while you're here? I'm looking for some bounc- ers,' " Aurrichio recalled in a recent interview. "That's where we really became friends, while working with each other at Marriott, and bounc- ing together after we were done." They also shared a passion for res- taurants, and frustration with working for a large corporation. The two would visit the best bars and restaurants in Chicago to see how they operated, but when they went back to the Marriott to share what they learned, the slow- moving nature of a large company made it impossible for them to enact timely changes, Aurrichio said. Anderson, though, leaned into the corporate chef world, traveling the country to work at various hotel restaurants. His first executive chef job was at The Equinox Resort in Manchester, Vt., where he oversaw more than 200 employees and a $12-million annual food-and-beverage operation with three restaurants, banquets and room service. Being in charge of so many people and so much money and perishable food, Anderson learned to stay on top of a restaurant's overall finances while still running the day-to-day affairs. The job also took him out of the kitchen more than he wanted. And the chance to run a restaurant as his own, rather Visit www.adl.org/fhfg20 to learn more. Questions: Contact Lisa Ratcliff at lratcliff@adl.org or 203.584.2512 Sponsor Recognition Deadline: Monday, March 9 ADL Greater Hartford Event FIGHTING HATE FOR GOOD ™ THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020 5:30 PM – Cocktail and Dinner Reception followed by program and dessert REGISTER OR BECOME A SPONSOR TODAY Honoree: Jeffrey A. Flaks President & CEO of Hartford HealthCare Speaker: Megan Phelps-Roper Author, Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church ADL_STD2020_Horiz_HalfPg-Ad.indd 1 1/17/20 1:37 PM Continued on next page >> EXECUTIVE PROFILE Jed Dubiel makes pasta in the kitchen of Terreno. HBJ PHOTO | SEAN TEEHAN

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