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Nancy Thomas, Co-owner
Bo Peabody, Co-owner
Omar Montoya, Chef Cafe Latino + Chef Mezze Catering
Joe Nastro, Chef Allium
Susan Bianchi, Dining Room Manager, Mezze
Celisha Racicot, Dining Room Manager, Cafe Latino
Halle Heyman, Dining Room Manager, Allium
Linda Stripp, Catering Director
| | | 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.
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Omar Montoya, Chef Cafe Latino + Chef Mezze Catering
Peruvian-born Omar Montoya was named executive chef and shaped the menu withhis South American- and New York City-inspired dishes. Montoya attended the New York Restaurant School and then the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. He honed his skill at several New York steakhouses and country clubs before becoming the head chef for the original Mezze Bistro.
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Joe Nastro, Chef Allium
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.
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Susan Bianchi, Dining Room Manager, Mezze
Susan Bianchi's accomplishments span over twenty five years in the
food and
wine industry, fifteen concentrated in the development, ownership and
operations of three renowned restaurants in the Berkshires of
Massachusetts.
Her expertise and experience in restaurant management accompanied with an
extensive knowledge of wine helped to rank her restaurants among some
of the"best" in Zagat's review, Food and Wine, Travel and Leisure magazine, as
well as achieving seven years of Wine Spectator Awards.
Susan started her career in the fine dining industry working for Cuisine
Management in Naples, Florida, while managing four restaurants and two
private country clubs where she was solely responsible for the
development
and management of a wine cellar and wine lists. She then joined the Ritz
Carlton gaining deeper knowledge of wines while working together with the
Sommelier. Having grown up in Connecticut she returned to her roots
in the
Berkshires in 1990 where she worked with a partner to launch the first of
three restaurants. Susan's comprehensive experience in the restaurant
industry combined with a passion and genuine knowledge of wine and food
makes her a tremendous restaurateur and partner for any venture.
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Celisha Racicot, Dining Room Manager, Cafe Latino
Celisha began working in restaurants while in high school and
continued to
wait tables throughout college. She graduated from Marist College in
Poughkeepsie, NY with a degree in Fashion Merchandising and Business.
She
worked in the fashion industry in New York City, and later Arizona, but
decided that she wanted a career in the restaurant industry in New
England.
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Halle Heyman, Dining Room Manager, Allium
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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| | Linda Stripp, Catering Director
As the Director of Catering for Mezze Inc. Linda is charged with shaping the overall direction of the catering operation. She is primarily focused on developing new business, delivering exceptional service, and planning and managing special events such as weddings, rehearsal dinners, and corporate functions.
Before joining Mezze, Stripp was Garde-Manger under Brendan Walsh at The Elms Restaurant in Ridgefield, CT. Prior to her stint at The Elms, Stripp was an entrepreneur, founding and operating The Natural Kitchen Catering Co. and The Natural Merchant Café. During that time, she developed the company's overall business strategy, created menus, managed purchasing and hired, trained and supervised staff.
Frequent corporate clients of Mezze Catering include General Electric, Duracell, Merrill Lynch and Pfizer.
Linda holds a BA in English and Masters in Education from Fairfield University. She maintains residence in Williamstown, MA with her husband and two children.
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