Occupation: Chef at Groundswell (1340 Thomas Ave., St. Paul; 651-645-6466; groundswellmn.com)

Age: 36

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a professional musician. My dad was one of the first two custom drum builders in the U.S., so I grew up in the music industry. All I did was play drums or work for a couple of different companies. Then, I got married and realized most of my friends in the music industry were divorced. So I started cooking. I still play music a little bit.

What's your first food memory? There was this little Greek pizza place we used to go to in South Florida, where I grew up. It was a real hole in the wall, but it had great food.

What was your first job in food? About 10 years ago, I worked at Andy's Garage in Minneapolis. My wife was a server/malt maker there.

What brought you back here? This job at Groundswell. We moved from a really cool foodie town, Asheville, N.C. It's like a little San Francisco in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. But so far, I really like it up here.

How did you wind up in the restaurant business for good? I've gone back and forth between music and cooking for about a decade. I like both professions. This was a pretty cool opportunity with Groundswell. I also have a specialty cream-cheese company called Dream Cream in Asheville. Some of the flavors are on the Groundswell menu right now: candied bacon and pecan on a waffle sandwich with pimento cheese, which is not a cream cheese, and a cranberry habanero, which is kind of like the sweet and sour. The cream cheese kills the heat a little so you can taste the habanero without getting your face melted off.

How would you describe your style of cooking? Definitely Southern.

What's your favorite dish on Groundswell's new menu? The waffle sandwich. It's a buttermilk cornmeal waffle and an apple fig jam with candied bacon and pecan cream cheese. Then there's more bacon inside, and it comes with maple syrup with another piece of bacon in the syrup. The biscuits and gravy are also out of control. It's a bacon and gruyere biscuit with sausage gravy and more bacon on top. The kitchen is really small. I have, like, two induction burners and a little tabletop stove and a panini press, so it's kind of like a "MacGyver" episode.

What's something few people know about you? My dad was a total rock 'n' roller, and my mom was a total hippie, but somehow I ended doing a lot of rodeoing in South Florida. I went to horseshoeing school when I was 15. I still do horseshoeing and stuff like that.

If someone were to play you in a movie, who should it be? Any of the guys from "Sons of Anarchy" because they look like me -- big, tattooed, burly dudes.

What's your favorite restaurant? I haven't been to many places locally yet, but I just went to Al's Breakfast in Dinkytown, and that place rocked my world.

What's next? Right now, the menu is pretty much a lunch and small-plate menu. Lots of sandwiches, salads, tacos and stuff like that. But we're going to start doing more dinner entrees. And I found a local farmer who I'm going to start getting produce from.

FYI: Groundswell, a neighborhood coffee shop, expanded into a neighboring space in late spring. It now serves a full menu.