For the chef behind Deep Roots Wine and Tasting Market in Woodtsock, cooking has never really been about following a recipe. It's about connection, the kind that starts with one very specific food critic: his five-year-old son, Cruz.
"The answer to how I got started always comes down to one specific inspiration: what does my son, Cruz, want to eat?" he says. He'd grown tired of cooking the same traditional dishes he was raised on, but Cruz's insatiable palate pushed him out of his comfort zone. Together, father and son began experimenting and blending flavors they both loved until an ordinary dish became something else entirely, what he now calls a "2.0 version." That instinct to reimagine the familiar became the foundation of his cooking style, and it still guides him today.
His journey began, fittingly, in his own kitchen cooking the foods he loved and eventually bottling his own hot sauce, Champ Sauce. But watching other chefs push the boundaries of the industry lit something in him. He moved away from the comfort food of his childhood and toward an innovative fusion style, a culinary evolution he says he's still pushing forward. "My purpose has become a mission," he explains, "to introduce our guests to vibrant flavors from around the world and show just how beautifully they can come together on one plate."
For him, food is best understood as a journey through the senses. "First is the visual, because we all eat with our eyes first. Second is the aroma, inviting you to imagine the taste before the food even touches your tongue. Third is the taste itself, delivering on that imagination with a perfect balance of sweet, salty, sour, or savory." But it's the fourth sense that matters most to him — the feeling after that very first bite, whether it transports a guest to a happy memory, a place they've traveled, or the warmth of a loved one.
That feeling is exactly what he's chasing every night at Deep Roots. "Serving food is never just a job; it is a love language," he says. "There is nothing quite like seeing the immediate smile and genuine happiness on our guests' faces when they taste the food." He wants every guest to feel like they've walked into their own living room — comfortable, cared for, at home — and he builds that experience through the food, the wine list, the service, and the atmosphere in equal measure.
That sense of hospitality runs deeper than the dining room. As Woodstock City Lifestyle builds its November Giving Back issue around stories like his, he's quick to point out that giving back isn't a seasonal gesture at Deep Roots — it's baked into how the restaurant operates every day. "Hospitality is not an industry; it is a radical act of care that must begin from the inside out," he says. That philosophy starts with his own team. In an industry long defined by burnout, he's worked to build predictable schedules and a culture where mistakes become teaching moments rather than failures. "You cannot authentically serve warmth and comfort to guests if your own people are running on empty," he says. "When we invest in our staff's mental health, growth, and creative freedom, that sense of security and respect translates directly onto the plate."
That same philosophy extends beyond the restaurant's walls, into the community's fight against food insecurity. "True hospitality cannot exist in a vacuum," he says. "It's about creating a space where anyone who walks through the door feels seen, nourished, and valued, regardless of who they are." A meal, he believes, is never just fuel — it's an opportunity to forge connection and cultivate joy, and that belief is what turns the act of feeding people into something bigger: a vehicle for real, positive change.
Looking back across the years and the restaurants he's owned, the meals he's served, what he's proudest of isn't the food itself. It's the people. "I honestly feel like everyone who has ever sat down to a meal I've served is a friend," he says, reflecting especially on his time at The Roswell Garden, where many of those friendships were formed and still carry through his life today. If there's one thing he hopes guests carry with them after a meal at Deep Roots, it's simple: "Meals create joy, joy creates friendships, and friendships last a lifetime."
"My purpose has become a mission," he explains, "to introduce our guests to vibrant flavors from around the world and show just how beautifully they can come together on one plate."
"Serving food is never just a job; it is a love language," he says.