I caught my first fish in the Lake in Westlake Village, where I grew up. It seems amazing to me now that you could catch and eat the fish from there, back then. I wouldn’t dare fish there now. The first restaurant that I remember was a Chinese restaurant that we always went to. It’s hard to get that dark red interior out of my head! My favorite seafood is… I am a shellfish guy, crab, then lobster. I wish it was easier to get to the crab.

The best restaurant experience I can remember was a five-course dinner with friends at a family owned restaurant, The Halliwert. The dinner was served at an old twenty foot table. We ended the meal with samplings of Austrian schnapps all around, it went on for hours, and was an eventful evening. My most shocking restaurant experience was when I inquired about the catfish at a restaurant, and the waitress told me “I hear it’s alright, but I don’t eat bottom feeders.

One of the most unique experiences that I have had while dining was being served a five-course meal in the People’s Palace in China. And sampling sea-mouse soup.

I love trying new things and will try almost anything once. I firmly believe in enjoying life with a great sense of humor.

When I caught my first fish, I was five miles from the lake and twelve miles from the ocean. I was 8 years of age and running around the neighborhood with some other kids. My disclaimer for the following story is: I was a kid. We had a truth or dare situation at hand, and it was my turn, I picked dare. My “dare” was to pedal up to my neighbor’s house, walk up to her pond, lay belly down and fish one out with my hand, which I did successfully. That was the first fish I caught, but unfortunately, not the end of the “dare.” I proceeded to walk down the street and stand in front of the other two kids, hold the fish by the tail, and drоp it into my mouth and swallow it alive and whole. This was not just a pond…it was a goldfish pond. I can still remember the taste.

My first memories of a restaurant were obviously my fondest. My father, mother, two sisters and I would religiously eat in town every Wednesday at a local diner. I remember all of us sitting at the counter (bar) and I would order the same thing every time; grilled cheese, french fries and a salad, loaded with croutons and a lot of salt and pepper. Those memories are still very visual and meaningful. Family time is hard to come by these days, so every time I have a salad, you can bet on me requesting croutons, the salt shaker and an upgrade to the pepper mill. Those were my first and most memorable memories, and one of the reasons why I am still in the business today; I love the bar.

I cannot really say I have a favorite seafood dish. I love everything that comes out of the ocean. I have a craving for seafood all of the time and it never goes away. I’m half Asian.

My first real interaction with Scott was when we were employed at Santa Monica Seafood. He was standing next to me as I “attempted” to fill a clam chowder cup with a ladle. The soup ran down the side of the cup and as I finished, we made eye contact. That’s when I knew we would get along. His eyes were wide open and steam coming out of his ears. My impression of Scott? He is a true chef, I respect that, but for the record it was a 5 oz. bowl and a 10 oz. ladle.

My first impression of Jaime was as a very kind person and a blast to work with. I had the pleasant opportunity to work along side her at a local restaurant here in Santa Barbara. Whether business was busy or slow, Jaime was always moving and kept all her employees busy. She wasn’t just moving, she was moving with grace. You knew as a customer and employee, you were in good hands for the evening.

I met Cobi back in the late 90’s. He would frequent the restaurant where I was employed. After that I would bump into him every now and then around L.A. One time in particular, I was sitting in a wine bar, Bottlerock, in Culver City and he walked in. I had asked him what he was up to. He replied, “I’m just walking around checkin out all of the restaurants”. I knew at that point he really was intrigued and interested in restaurants.

My best restaurant experience is when I was managing the night shift at a restaurant and it was a packed house. Managing thirty servers and overseeing a 20,000 sq. ft. restaurant is not an easy task. A lot of compliments and zero complaints. What a great restaurant experience!

One of the strangest things I have experienced is once I waited on the same lady for three days in a row. She spoke to me in different accents every day. I was really confused and it showed. On her last day she confessed. She revealed she was the owner of a talent agency in Los Angeles, and asked me if I had ever had any interest in acting.

What people should know about me I am a reserved guy, so please don’t take it otherwise. I enjoy mixing cocktails and it excites me even more if you like them. My satisfaction is when you are happy and content.

I was 4 or 6 when I caught my first fish, my dad and grandfather would take me fishing in the Long Island sound and Shinnacock Cannel religiously.

One of my first restaurant memories were as a kid. My family always went out to eat for special occasions. On one of theses occasions my shoes were very uncomfortable so I took them off my feet and put them on my plate.

My favorite seafood is shellfish! Growing up on Long Island it was clams. Raw, cooked, casino, or steamed. We always had Fluke and Flounder. Scallops, Soft Shell Clams, and Alaskan King Crab.

I first met Mike Anderson at Santa Monica Seafood. Immediately I knew he was a classic bartender with a bar managers attitude. Not an easy persona for a young guy: he knows the business. Mike introduced me to “Italian style.” I no longer have to suffer through drinks in a martini glass.

When I first met Jaime we connected immediately as professionals and I knew she was different. Different in the way that she had the confidence, presence and knowledge to be very successful even though she likes grilled romaine. I am lucky to work with her.

I met Jeremiah when we relaunched a project together and realized we needed to work together in the near future. We share a passion to succeed in the food business, and in a short year of hard work, have got to where we are now. I hold the highest respect for him as a partner, friend and professional. He still will not allow me to call him Jerry! And I wont!

Jeremiah and I were working together on a separate project when Jennifer and I were introduced. After 5 minutes I knew that she knew the difference between service and standards opposed to serving a guest. Her accomplishments will leave a mark in our industry.

When I first met Cobi, (of course) I knew that he was an athlete and a recognizable figure when we meet. I quickly found out that we had a lot in common and he was just a guy that wanted to do great things in life and succeed. We share a lot of interest in wine and fun but most of all I like to lead my brigade as a team, he has helped me redefine that roll and made me stronger. He is the voice of reason when Jeremiah and I are fired up.

My best restaurant experience was the day I launched a project with Jeremiah, Mike Butler and Mike Anderson under the same roof, Santa Monica Seafood. We were prepared and the owners were impressed. It was also my worst restaurant experience. After the first mock run, we moved all of the equipment in the kitchen to create a better flow. It was the most stressful half hour in my career, but we were determined to make it work, and we did. Separately, kitchen fires are not fun!

The strangest thing that I experience are restaurant owners that will sacrifice quality and standards to save money.

What people should know about me is that casual dinning is what I get excited for. I want my guests to enjoy their dinning experience without the fear of getting the check.

It is hard for me to remember my first catch… as a child I would go fishing with my Dad and Brother and Uncles, but I think that they were probably the ones catching the fish while I was goofing off and playing with the worms! We would also go visit my grandmother in Florida where crabs would crawl into the garage or front porch, and my Mom and Grandma would be chasing them off with brooms while I was standing on the coffee table screaming!

One fond memory I do have is of one of our family visits to my Great Aunt Maggie’s cabin in Gulf Shores, Alabama. This particular summer the sea life was abundant, and I had my first experience ‘crabbing’. We had frequented the cabin as a family vacation spot, but I was finally old enough to take part in the adventures and what the gulf had to offer. I remember setting the crab traps and tying them to the dock, my Dad telling me we had to be patient. The next day, I woke up eager to check the traps to see if it really worked! We heaved the traps up and to all of our surprise, we had TONS of crabs! We then proceeded to have a crab fest that evening that went down in the books as one of the freshest, most delicious meals I have ever had, with grilled corn, steamed crabs, potatoes, and who couldn’t forget Georgia Peach Pie! Gotta love my Southern roots!

I was a VERY picky child. I’m sure my first restaurant experiences entailed my parents taking me somewhere nice and me refusing to eat unless there was macaroni and cheese on the menu. It is amazing how the taste-buds grow!

Asking me what my favorite seafood is is like asking an Italian what their favorite pasta is! I am a true California Girl and I LOVE seafood. Halibut is one of my favorites, I still love crab. King, Dungeness, Spider, you name it!, Hawaiian Ono is phenomenal. I recently went to Belize and had some of the best fish in the world! Hog Snapper right off the boat, fresh Conch ceviche, Grouper cakes…..

I first met Mike at Enterprise Fish Co. and was always baffled at how he came up with his cocktail recipes and how well every ingredient works together. I truly believe his Arch Rock cocktail menu is the most amazing, intricate yet simple sampling yet! I still don’t know how he comes up with this stuff but it is exceptional!

I first met Scott as a patron while I was working at a previous restaurant. I immediately knew we would get along when he was excited that we were offering Sea Smoke Pinot Noir at a exceptional price and he proceeded to order a bottle. My next encounter was a little more nerve racking as I was presenting myself to manage HIS new restaurant, but I think we immediately got along. We will be great friends as long as he doesn’t hold my grilled romaine preference against me!

Jennifer and I actually met way back in the day through the Santa Barbara hospitality industry. Our personalities always clicked and work was always fun. Her artistic side brings a lot to everything she does. She also has to be one of the most likable people in SB! Everywhere we go she knows someone and people just flock to her!

I blame Jeremiah for the direction my life has taken…….in a good way…..I graduated USCB in 2002, working for Jeremiah as a waitress and bookkeeper at Enterprise Fish Co. After graduation, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Jeremiah saw something in me and took me under his wing, offering me a management position, and teaching me EVERYTHING I did and didn’t want to know about the restaurant industry. His faith in me is responsible for my decision to make restaurant management a career. Now, I’m not sure he ALWAYS had faith in me….I mean there were plenty of times where the music wasn’t at the right level or I got caught not doing my perimeter check, but he always made it a lesson as opposed to a reprimand. While at times he ’scared the blank out of me’ as well, he was always a true friend and leader. And I have never questioned my career path….it’s like he new what I was meant to do.

I first met Cobi and his beautiful wife the night HJL was offered Arch Rock Fish. Jeremiah called me, as a friend, to share in this exciting news. I remember arriving and the friendship, ideas and concept were already flying around the table. The next time I saw Cobi, he and his wife came to SB to see the restaurant space and take care of some business. I knew the Jones’ were meant to cross my path when they brought their new English Bulldog puppy Zizzou, as I have an English Bulldog myself (only bulldog owners understand this bond!).

Butler: “Very fun and focused at the same time. A rare gem in the restaurant business.” One in the same are we?

There are too many “best restaurant experiences to count. When the restaurant is running like a well-oiled machine….I love the end of a good day when sales are up, the staff is pumped, and EVERY customer leaves more than happy!

My worst restaurant experience: A Flue fire on Valentines day…the City of SB shut us down….it get’s better, the next day I had a guy calling me, livid that I (personally of course) ruined his proposal….maybe an omen buddy?

What should people know about me: I am a very colorful person. I love music, tattoos and vintage cars. While I have a great business sense, I try to retain my personality. I am the only person in my family born in California. I am a crazy work-a-holic and plan weddings for fun! I have an English Bulldog named Betty. While my palette has broadened, I still love macaroni and cheese.

I caught my first fish when I was about five. My family and I would camp at Lake Cachuma, in the Santa Ynez and San Rafael Mountains outside Santa Barbara. But my most memorable times in my life were fishing everyday after school in a borrowed boat from an elderly neighbor, Francis, when we lived in Washington State. I would trade Francis yard work for the use of her rowboat. I could barely wait for the schoolbus doors to open, to get to the lake. I would fish my limit almost everyday.

My earliest memories of restaurants were of the tipping process. My parents would leave a cash tip on the table, and I would wonder why? For a long time I would pick up the cash and return it to them, once in the car.

I apologize now to all of those servers for my actions.

I’ll be honest, I never wanted to be in the restaurant business. As Jaime said, this business chooses you, I think. I found that I enjoy creating a scene, an atmosphere, and I enjoy serving people a meal. I believe that this is an honor. As restaurateurs, we have an opportunity to make an impression on a person’s day. I take this responsibility very serious. I love the behind-the-scenes business, and I love it when the curtains go up, and I love the high at the end of the day when it all went as planned.

I have had the pleasure of working with some of the best people in the business over that last twenty years. Fortunately, most of them are still around, in fact, most of them are my business partners. I feel honored to work with this team to bring you our first labor of love, Arch Rock Fish.

I met Mike Anderson in the 90’s; we have worked together ever since. In my opinion, he is the best bar guy in the business. I’m lucky to also call him a friend. Jaime was a hostess for me in early 2000, and she made me quickly realize that she was going places. She blazed her way to the top, and she was my first choice, years later, when I thought of a General Manager for Arch Rock Fish. Mike Butler was a General Manager for me in 2005 and quickly replaced my sales records with his own. He, Scott and I put together our biggest project to date, Santa Monica Seafood’s Flagship store on Wilshire, which included seafood cooking salts, rubs, and products from far away seaside ports around the world, a cafe, a deli, and fish market. Mike is a natural, good natured business man, and has a real passion for unique beers and the Ducks.
Jennifer and I share the last name, and the same passion for the restaurant business, of entertaining and providing an experience. I couldn’t think of anyone better to assist us in designing our events.

Funny enough, I watched Scott on Hell’s Kitchen, like most of us, before I met him. I was introduced to him a SMSF, but couldn’t place him, although I knew that his voice sounded familiar. Scott was hired to open the Cafe, and I was immediately impressed by his cooking skills, but not impressed with the liberties that he took with my name. (He called me Jerry, and kept doing it after I had corrected him.) We became quick friends, and we are the true definition of good business partners: we always have opposite views, but we share the same thread of the common goal and the passion at the heart of the disagreement.

And Cobi? What version would you like? I met Cobi through a friend, on a trip to Vegas. Cobi and his team were celebrating an MLS Cup win, and Cobi graciously invited me along the entire weekend. Our friendship and common passion for the restaurant and bar business led us to owning a restaurant consulting company, and Arch Rock Fish.

Where/When did you catch your first fish? My parents started my brothers and I fishing at a young age, yet I cannot say that I’ve been a successful fisherwomen. I’m pretty sure that the first fish and the last fish I caught got thrown back. A lifetime of disappointment, but I’m still waiting for the big one! That one is going to make up for all those puny ones… just you wait.

What are your first memories of a restaurant? The Old Yellow House in Summerland- I remember it seemed so far away and to go there was a great adventure. We were told it was haunted so that added to the thrill. My brothers and i would run around and try to scare each other. I found out later that it is often described as the most haunted places in California, and there are at least two ghosts that live there. Hector lives in the basement and library, and a 19th century lady lives in the women’s restroom. There were machines in the entry way that told your fortune and how likely you were to have romance in your life. The tables were set with delicious corn bread and honey butter, and the stories from the staff say that the big mixing vats they used to make the butter would spin around the room on their own. What a great place for family dinners!

What is your favorite seafood? I love scallops and used to gorge myself on them until I had a severe allergic reaction. I stay away from shellfish now, but love fresh fish, ahi tuna in particular.

What was your first impression (or a cute story) of:

Mike Anderson: Mike and I have worked together for years, and I learned much from his methodical and detail oriented management style. We used to spend hours doing inventory together starting at the crack of dawn in Los Angeles. It is from Mike that I started piecing together the front of the house personality to the business side of profit and loss analysis. He is an endless source of comedy and business. The comedy parts are too many to tell… but ask him about the SYR steps.

Scott Leibfried: I first met Scott when Jeremiah took me along with my parents to the set of Hell’s Kitchen for my birthday. Jeremiah has always had great things to say about Scott and it was great to see the partnership evolve to what it is today. We had the opportunity to work together at Blush Restaurant and Lounge the following year, and I had the privilege to see first hand the hard work and organization it takes to run a kitchen. I am grateful for the experience.

Jaime K: Jaime means business, and laughs all the while. I met her without having any idea how talented she really is and I’m sure I will be further impressed as time goes on. She speaks the language of the industry perfectly. Jaime and I share a passion for wine, cheese and developing original ideas- not a bad combo.

Jeremiah H: Jeremiah has been a leader his whole life, and systematically sees not what is in front of him, but what it, he, or she can be. Potential in everything, and a hard work ethic to make it happen. Underlying the business side is a person who brings together people who have similar values and passion. Nice work brother.

Cobi Jones: This man has a heart of gold. Like Jeremiah, I met Cobi in Vegas. He didn’t care for me swimming up behind him and knocking him off the float, getting his dreads wet while he was trying to sign autographs. I think this is really the only time I’ve seen Cobi livid with anger… thankfully, the heart of gold got in the way and he forgave me. He is a tremendous addition to the team, incorporating his value system and principles together with a fantastic wine list.

Mike Butler: Mike and I also worked together in Los Angeles. He used to dog sit my ten week old puppy for me, and always was a reliable friend and boss. I found out later that he also played frogger with my puppy on Washington Boulevard. This story may not have ended so well, but as it goes, we still remain great friends. He is a knowlegeable person on everything that matters and everything that doesn’t.