Okay, so I can cook.

Twenty years ago I finished college and went out to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. It went pretty well. I was one of those working actors you’d see in an airport or at the grocery store and say, “Hey, don’t you go to my church?” I did a couple of years as the skirt chasing Dr. McGuire on DOOGIE HOWSER, M.D., and half a dozen years as Claudia’s violin teacher, Ross, on the cult favorite PARTY OF FIVE. I played Richard Carpenter in THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY, got eaten by a shark in JAWS, THE REVENGE, and raped Reba McIntyre in IS THERE LIFE OUT THERE? I also starred in about ten other movies of the week you can catch now and then on Lifetime at 3am. Over the years I did the theatre I love so much all over the country – I even did a couple of long runs in New York City.

I loved my acting career and am proud of the work that I was able to do over twenty years in show business, but it was time for a change. The reality of constantly convincing the people on the other side of the table that “you are the one,” takes its toll. I was ready to find a new career. So very early one morning in 2003, at the suggestion of my partner Richie Arpino, I wound up in the kitchen of Souper Jenny with chef Jennifer Levison, looking for a new outlet for my artistic passion. “Souper Jenny”, the person and the café, is an Atlanta gem. Jennifer took me in as an apprentice and taught me what makes her food and her café so special. Then offered me a job. Apparently the fact that I showed up day after day for the first few months for free, and the fact that I somehow understood how she approached the food, made her comfortable enough to entrust me with the keys to the shop. It was good timing all around because she was about to adopt a child and she needed a co-chef.

So after two great years, learning, creating, and most of all laughing with my mentor and friend, it is time for me to leave the comfort of her kitchen and create my own. With the blessing and support Souper Jenny, MetroFresh was born.

Now MetroFresh employs a crazy group of performers, artists, students, and just plain fun people, all of whom are dedicated to make you feel at home in our kitchen. 

Heading up the kitchen is Western New York native Executive Chef Bryan Kraatz, who, when he is not creating amazingly innovative food in the kitchen at MetroFresh, is performing in a rock band - no kidding!  He earned his nickname "Rockstar" because he really is a rock star – in the kitchen and on stage.  His band DEAR ENEMY plays gigs all over the southeast, but the really cool thing is that he got his training as a chef at CIA (Culinary Institute of America.)  You have not lived until you have tried Rockstar's Cassoulet, a warming winter meal with chicken, sausage and white beans or his Crème Brule French Toast.   Rocstar is particularly brilliant at taking the everyday and making it MetroFresh magical.  And like me, Rockstar loves to incorporate flavors from all over the world from Southeast Asia to South America, from Northern Italy to Northwestern New York.