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MANAGEMENT + STAFF  | | Nancy Thomas, Co-owner
Ms. Thomas grew up in Oklahoma City in a family who values hospitality. This mix of her Moroccan mother and Oklahoman father made for some memorable meals with family and friends, inspiring Thomas at an early age. The excitement of turning eating into an experience has led her to a life in the restaurant industry.
Ms. Thomas' career began when she was eighteen and has never slowed down. She ventured from the Mediterranean Sea to the panhandle of Texas to a variety of cities on the East Coast until she finally landed in Northern Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Ms. Thomas utilizes her unique training, disciplined creativity and extraordinary vision to create exemplary dining experiences in the Berkshires. In 1996, her vision was first made manifest in Mezze Bistro + Bar, which serves inspired cuisine to Berkshire County residents and tourists daily.
In 1999, responding to customers' desire to bring Mezze home, Thomas developed Mezze Catering, which has become both a stand alone business and a platform that allows Thomas to constantly try new things and perfect the individuality of the overall Mezze experience. In 2001, Thomas opened Eleven - The Restaurant at MASS MoCA, her second restaurant, housed at the country's largest museum of contemporary art. Eleven has allowed Thomas to expand her vision and serve a new audience.
Thomas has also recently co-authored "The Great Tiki Drink Book" and contributed to the Caribbean Drink Book with Author Jennifer Trainer Thompson.
| | | | | Bo Peabody, Co-owner
Bo Peabody is a well-known technology and media entrepreneur. His first company, Tripod, Inc. was the eighth largest site on the Internet when it was sold to Lycos, Inc. in 1998. His second company, Village Ventures, is pioneering new geographic markets for venture capital, investing in entrepreneurial projects in several smaller cities across the United States. Bo also co-founded Waterfront Media, VoodooVox and FullTurn Entertainment, three successful start-up companies.
Bo has been featured in several major media outlets including Forbes Magazine, Fortune Magazine, ABC Nightline, Business Week Magazine, People Magazine, MTV and Spin Magazine. Bo has spoken about technology and entrepreneurship at conferences and business schools around the world.
Bo's interest in the restaurant business is two-fold. First, he believes that "Restaurants are theaters. Every day is like a ten-hour play with no script. If the patrons like the show, they will tell one friend. If they don't like it, they will tell ten friends." Second, Bo believes that "Restaurants are easy businesses to analyze but hard businesses to run. Therefore, the relationship between owners and managers is of paramount importance. Everyday, owners and managers get data on exactly what customers like and don't like, and can make excellent decisions based on this data. But everyday managers have to implement those decisions, and this is the hard part. If owners and managers listen to each other, success will happen."
Bo lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts and New York City and is on the board of the Williamstown Theater Festival and The Academy at Charlemont.
| | | | | Joe Nastro, Chef
Joe Nastro comes to allium via the sous-chef position at the famed restaurant Primo, located in Rockland, Maine, where he worked under Chef Melissa Kelly. As sous-chef, Joe sharpened his knives while focusing on principles of organic and local farming, alongside his passion to create dishes with integrity. A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, Joe also holds a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science from the University of Vermont.
| | | | | Halle Heyman, Dining Room Manager
Halle has been involved with the Mezze Inc. group since 2003, working as a core member of the front of the house management team at Mezze and now allium. During this time with Mezze Inc. much of her focus has been on developing wine programs reflective of new trends + education. This includes monthly focused restaurant programs such as "Jurrasic Jura" + "Gimme Gamay." Halle inspires the front of house teams she works with to delve into a curiosity for pairing wine with food and being put to the challenge of offering grape varietals which are lesser known.
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