Chad grew up in the restaurant business, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where his father owned a couple of small restaurants. Getting a taste of fine dining at Restaurant Columbia, once one of Maryland’s best restaurants, during high school, when he moved to New York City to study English Literature at St. John’s University (and later, City College), he continued serving to pay his bills.
It was at Charlie Palmer’s Aureole, in its original location, that he had tasted a wine, Raveneau’s Montee de Tonnerre Chablis from 1996, that a “switch was flipped,” and he found in wine something that combined his love of narrative with his love of restaurants.
He eventually became a sommelier for the opening of Aureole’s new location, on Bryant Park, only leaving to open Andrew Carmellini’s The Dutch in 2011 as its Beverage Manager. The restaurant was named Restaurant of the Year by both the New York Times and Eater, and Chad has been nominated to both Zagat’s 30 Under 30, Wine Enthusiast’s 40 Under 40 lists of people to watch in food and wine, and one of Food+Wine Magazine’s Sommeliers of the Year in 2017.
(Don’t tell anyone, but in his spare time, he enjoys drinking beer).