Occupation: I am the owner of Mocha Coffee House on Glen Road, as of June 15. Most recently before that, I worked for Dan Holmes of Holmes Fine Gardens. I'm also a freelance graphic artist and I'm on the newly established Cultural Arts Commission
Occupation: I am the owner of Mocha Coffee House on Glen Road, as of June 15. Most recently before that, I worked for Dan Holmes of Holmes Fine Gardens. Iâm also a freelance graphic artist and Iâm on the newly established Cultural Arts Commission.
Family: My wife is Natalie. We have two daughters. Isabella is 7 and Julia is 3 years old.
Pets: I have a little beagle named Ruby. She is about 18 months old.
How long have you lived in Newtown? We have lived in Sandy Hook for 13 years, right here on Glen Road. I could almost canoe to work.
What do you like to do in your free time? I love to garden. We have a thriving vegetable garden right now. My wife and I both love to cook, so we grow a lot of herbs. We prettied up the garden this year by adding flowers to the vegetable garden. I also do wood sculpting and I make unusual large foam heads. People may have seen them at Halloween or in the Labor Day Parade.
Do you have a favorite artist? Iâm a huge Andrew Wyeth fan. If I could paint like anyone, it would be him. I love the subjective nature of art. Weâll be having a changing art show every month with local artists at Mocha.
Do you have a favorite travel destination? Our family and a number of other Newtown families have rented a beach house on the Outer Banks for years. Itâs beautiful. We also like to go up to our friendsâ place in Wilmington, Vt., whenever we can.
What is the best thing about Newtown? I would say the people. I have a high opinion of people from Newtown. Just speaking to people who come into Mocha I realize what creative people we have in town. People have told me that in other places they have lived, people are cold and very much in a rush. Newtown is a nice antidote to that.
If you could spend a day with anyone, who would it be? I would be very interested to learn more about the ancient world, so probably an ancient philosopher like Pliny the Elder.
Do you have a personal philosophy? Enjoy the little pleasures in life. I take great satisfaction in the simple things. I enjoy puttering in the garden and cooking my own food. I think that in our current culture we have lost the connection with our food.
What is the most important lesson you have learned? That would be patience, the most important lesson that I am still learning. I learned it from my youngest daughter when I was a stay at home dad. She took me a long way.