Growing up on the East Side of New York City during the 60's and 70's we experienced a wonderful evolution in neighborhood hospitality and restaurants. We were born into a world of local saloons and nightclubs. Michael "Billy" Condon, Toots Shor and Jack Dempsey were all great New York restaurateurs who were invariably gracious, and at whose restaurants my brother and I were taught good manners, good behavior and good food. From these neighborhood roots in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and other great cities, the 'soul' of the great American restaurant experience was born, exploding across our nation in the past thirty years to become America's largest industry.