Bob grew up in Somerville, Massachusetts, the youngest of three children. He remembers his first restaurant jobs as simply a way to make a little money. But that changed quickly in 1979 when he began to work at Panache in Cambridge. Chef owner Bruce Frankel was pushing a new type of food, nouvelle French, and Bob was fascinated. He counts Frankel as one of the most important influences on his career, a man who forced him to take the restaurant business seriously while learning to express his creativity in the kitchen. Bob worked side-by-side with Frankel for the next nine years; even running the entire show for two years while Frankel concentrated on a new restaurant. After this new venture closed, Frankel returned to Panache, but downscaled it to become 798 Main Street.

Bob left to expand his repertoire by cooking at several Boston area hotels including the Layfayette Hotel, the Copley Plaza and the Dedham Hilton. In 1992 Bob returned to 798 Main Street to purchase the restaurant with his significant other Susan Finegold, who is now his wife. They changed the name to Anago Bistro and together turned it into one of the hottest restaurants in the country.

He draws heavily on his Mediterranean roots for inspiration and is known for creatively balancing flavors. Sampling menus are another specialty at Anago as Bob loves to see his guests enjoy a wide variety of dishes. He believes a great restaurant not only offers excellent food but crates an atmosphere that is warm and welcoming. His success is a tribute to both his culinary creativity and his common sense philosophy that diners recognize as the mark of man who truly loves to make his customers happy.

Interview with Bob...

GlobalChefs; Why did you leave the security of the hotel environment to set up Anago?

To fulfill the dream of owning my own restaurant, like most chefs it was what I had always wanted and with the help of Bruce Frankel it was possible.

How did you go about finding backers?

Bruce Frankel was the main backer, then there was family friends and my credit card. I only needed about $25 000 in working capital to get started thanks to the great deal Bruce gave us (Bob's partner and Wife Susan Finegold). The money was paid back after the first year with the exception of Bruce, he was paid back after five years. When we moved Anago to Boston it was not so simple. We ended up with twenty five partners with one share each. One share represents a $10 000 interest in Anago. We pay them yearly interest and they have dining credits to. We can buy them out after five years. On top of that we have one other major partner.

How much business training did you have prior to opening…. How much do you have now!

Very minimal, I am a little wiser now, however Susan drives the business side of things.

How did you market Anago prior to opening and how did that change afterwards?

When we moved to Boston, Anago came to life on the wave of the great press it had received in its previous location. Since opening curiosity and continued timely press has kept us busy especially a piece in The Boston Globe.

How was your staff turnover in the first year?

In the kitchen I still have the three people who came with me from the old restaurant. That has been a great base to work from. Front of the house has been a little more tricky.

What did you buy that you did not need?

Nothing really, the wood burning grill was not quite the one I needed ....

What did you expect to happen that did not?

I expected business to be a little easier, bigger lunch business, more hotel related business and banquets.

Who are your customers?

It's pretty broad,business people, people from the suburbs, city folk and some hotel guests. Generally it's the slightly older crowd thirty fives plus.

What is your food cost?

36%

Who takes care of your books?

An outside company.

What would you do differently if you did it again?

Just some design stuff, flow related.......