Growing up in family where the matriarchs were all connoisseur chefs, it was very rare to eat out. Only on special occasions did we find ourselves going to a restaurant and giving our home kitchen a break.

Everyone in the family also had an artistic touch. My parents both danced and played musical instruments and my brother and I wrote songs, sang in bands, recorded and enjoyed the balance of art and hard science.

After working in the corporate world for a while I decided I wanted something different. I wanted to create that same satisfying feeling I had when we got to mix good healthy food with music and song and good vibrations.

Both my grandma Carmela and my mother Rachel were known to invite people spontaneously (sometimes strangers) to a meal. But there was something more to it – My grandmother would be diligently involved in random acts of kindness and charity. She always said “you do something for someone else for two reasons only – because you can, and because you want to…” Not for getting anything in return but the satisfaction that you can help.

And so I created the New York Bagel Café. A place that people call “home away from home”, a place where we have healthy fresh food options, and philanthropy is second nature. We serve it up regularly, LOVE-FRESH-DAILY.