Chad and I used to close shifts together at Via, end up at house parties on Vernon Hill, and somehow make it back in for the next day's lunch service. That was Worcester, circa 2007. Then life happened.

Now he's in Connecticut building custom built-ins, knocking out Barnes & Noble locations with a crew that shows up at 4AM to unload tractor trailers, going viral with 2.5 million views on a carpentry reel, almost landing an HGTV segment (they made him and his boss sit on milk crates to get the lighting right), and just got pre-approved for a mortgage on a three-family while four months into cutting out the stuff that was slowing him down.

Oh — and I showed him a 45-minute house party video from 2007 that Cheryl accidentally recorded on my iMac. It is in sepia. He is on it.

We talked about all of it — six Virgin Voyages cruises with his fiancé Rich, the
old-growth wood hidden inside Worcester triple-deckers, losing his best friend to a gastric bypass complication, what it's actually like being gay in a veteran-owned trades company (spoiler: the guys have his back), DJ nights behind the Palladium,
and why Connecticut is basically a creative desert that's forcing him to build
his own backyard scene from scratch.

⏱ CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction and Backgrounds
02:29 Travel Adventures and Experiences
05:33 Carpentry Journey and Career
11:24 Memories from the Past
19:28 Reflections on Work and Life
25:03 Nostalgic Memories and Connections
27:37 Content Creation and Podcasting Journey
31:23 Social Media Strategies and Engagement
35:43 Reflections on Aging and Social Life
39:09 Adventures in Hawaii
43:13 Craftsmanship and the Value of Woodwork
45:00 Personal Growth and Lifestyle Changes
53:07 The Changing Social Landscape for Youth
58:19 Hobbies and Personal Projects
01:00:33 Navigating Loss and Personal Growth
01:02:37 Travel Aspirations
01:08:54 Workplace Dynamics in a Male-Dominated Field
01:13:39 Future Aspirations in Content Creation

🎙️ 20-Year Timeout — reconnecting with people from the past, unscripted and unfiltered.

📲 Website: https://www.20yeartimeout.com

Send us Fan Mail

Subscribe for new episodes and honest conversations.

20 Year Timeout is a podcast where I reconnect with people I have not spoken to in over twenty years to see what time has done to our stories.

Listen & Watch Here:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7Aa3P0QSufFWzgbUSOtUTB

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/20-year-timeout/id1862794471

https://www.youtube.com/@richmarksthespot

Jason Restivo was my GM at the Old Pink House in Savannah, Georgia — the guy who would disappear for five minutes and come back to a dining room with a bottle of wine on every single table. He was also the reason I got the job in the first place when someone else in management wasn't so sure.

Now he owns Sobremesa on 40th and Abercorn — a restaurant he built out of a wine bar that used to be a dentist's office, in a neighborhood that used to be a gas station, in a district that had absolutely nothing going on when he opened Atlantic back in 2016.

Spoiler: Starland is now the food mecca of Savannah.

We got into it all — how he left California real estate behind for a Victorian house in Savannah for $146K, what it was really like to run Atlantic with 40 staff before COVID shut it down, why he thinks mentorship is the whole point of the restaurant industry, how he got staff members out of debt and into their first homes, cell phones vs. fine dining, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette, and his daughter heading out into the world at 17.

Plus — he dropped out of engineering school to be a busboy in a thousand-dollar suit and never looked back.

⏱ CHAPTERS:
00:00 Reconnecting After Years
02:57 The Evolution of Starland District
05:50 Opening Atlantic: A New Dining Experience
11:46 Transitioning to Sobre Mesa
14:54 Savannah's Restaurant Scene Growth
20:02 Nostalgic Memories in Savannah
20:25 Introduction to the Podcast Journey
23:09 Nostalgia and Memory in Wine
26:05 The Art of Service and Mentorship in Hospitality
27:37 The Importance of Mentorship in Hospitality
28:34 Transformative Experiences at the Pink House
29:33 Empowering Staff for Success
30:45 The Evolution of Interviews
32:08 Small Business and AI
38:14 Family and Parenting
43:56 Networking and Building Connections
49:57 Memorable Experiences and Celebrity Encounters

🎙️ 20-Year Timeout — reconnecting with people from the past, unscripted and unfiltered.

📲 Website: https://www.20yeartimeout.com

Send us Fan Mail

Subscribe for new episodes and honest conversations.

20 Year Timeout is a podcast where I reconnect with people I have not spoken to in over twenty years to see what time has done to our stories.

Listen & Watch Here:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7Aa3P0QSufFWzgbUSOtUTB

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/20-year-timeout/id1862794471

https://www.youtube.com/@richmarksthespot

Alan — aka LOA — and I used to close shifts together, order Ming House Chinese at midnight, and record tracks in my apartment with half-broken cords and mics peaking at zero. That was the Via era. Then life happened.

Now he's in Fort Lauderdale teaching Pilates and yoga at 6AM, training an 83-year-old client and a 12-year-old kid, freestyling with his daughter in the living room, and painting Basquiat-inspired portraits on five canvases in a month because a videographer gave him a deadline.

He's also got a mentor, a plan, and an easel in the background — and he still won't tell me what LOA stands for.

We got into it all: going plant-based, tearing his ACL in a bar fight and healing it through Bikram yoga, the environmental cost of AI, doom scrolling, Mac Miller, Nas's new stuff, building a treehouse, and what it means to finally invest in yourself.

Oh — and we made some music together back in the day. You'll hear about that too.

⏱ CHAPTERS:
00:00 Reconnecting Over Ming House & Old Times
05:33 Memories of Via & The Restaurant Years
11:04 Going Plant-Based (Mostly)
21:45 Tearing His ACL in a Bar Fight & Healing Through Yoga
27:25 Getting Flexible: The Bikram Journey
30:26 Teaching Pilates & Finding a New Lane
35:08 Still Rapping — Freestyling With His Daughter
40:32 Painting Basquiat, One Month Deadline
45:06 What Style Is He Building Toward?
51:26 Landing in Fort Lauderdale
58:46 Training Clients of All Ages
01:01:23 Investing in Yourself
01:06:30 Building Connections and Networking
01:14:53 Setting Goals for the Podcast
01:25:50 Rap Right Now — Nas, Nav, Mac Miller
01:30:07 What Does LOA Stand For?
01:34:03 The Environmental Cost of AI
01:37:34 Disconnecting from Tech
01:39:10 Collages, Magazines & Creative Therapy
01:41:11 Building a Treehouse, Living Through the Kids

🎙️ 20-Year Timeout — reconnecting with people from the past, unscripted and unfiltered.

📲 Website: https://www.20yeartimeout.com

Send us Fan Mail

Subscribe for new episodes and honest conversations.

20 Year Timeout is a podcast where I reconnect with people I have not spoken to in over twenty years to see what time has done to our stories.

Listen & Watch Here:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7Aa3P0QSufFWzgbUSOtUTB

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/20-year-timeout/id1862794471

https://www.youtube.com/@richmarksthespot