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Posted by NotRichard at 4:17 PM

NotRichard: The son of regionally known Everglades artist Connie Hillyer, who "came to Florida for the family, and stayed for the clouds," I grew up in Homestead, spending weekends in the Keys and summers in Michigan at a lighthouse, and Helen, Georgia in the mountains above Atlanta for art shows. We had close to fifty different fruits and edibles in our yard, or in our neighborhood, giving me a broad sense memory of tropical fruits, tomatoes, and various vegetables, as well as of the local seafood offerings that South Florida had to offer. I attended Miami Dade College on an Honors/College Bowl/BrainBowl scholarship earning my degree in Physics, dabbling in mathematics and computer sciences (yes, I managed to tie up the entire server attempting to generate fractals....during registration). I relocated to Orlando for work and to further my education, and got the Disney bug, where I met many Culinary Institute of America and FCI trained chefs, and ultimately, Cyril Chappellet. At a staff wine tasting, he told me I had an amazing palate and needed to go into the wine business. On to NYC!

NotRichard: The son of regionally known Everglades artist Connie Hillyer, who "came to Florida for the family, and stayed for the clouds," I grew up in Homestead, spending weekends in the Keys and summers in Michigan at a lighthouse, and Helen, Georgia in the mountains above Atlanta for art shows. We had close to fifty different fruits and edibles in our yard, or in our neighborhood, giving me a broad sense memory of tropical fruits, tomatoes, and various vegetables, as well as of the local seafood offerings that South Florida had to offer. I attended Miami Dade College on an Honors/College Bowl/BrainBowl scholarship earning my degree in Physics, dabbling in mathematics and computer sciences (yes, I managed to tie up the entire server attempting to generate fractals....during registration). I relocated to Orlando for work and to further my education, and got the Disney bug, where I met many Culinary Institute of America and FCI trained chefs, and ultimately, Cyril Chappellet. At a staff wine tasting, he told me I had an amazing palate and needed to go into the wine business. On to NYC!

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