Bill Hansen

Bill Hansen, a 55-year catering veteran, is widely recognized as a giant in the catering industry. Creative thinking, innovation, and good old-fashioned hard work have made Bill a leader in every facet of the profession. He caters, coordinates, trains, teaches, mentors, motivates, manages, and writes.

Bill began his catering career in the mid-1960s while attending the renowned School of Hotel Management at Cornell University. The young entrepreneur sold sandwiches, snacks, soda, and beer to pay for his tuition and board. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Administration in 1967. Bill’s military service as an officer included managing high-end Officers’ Clubs and Quarters at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Bill moved to South Florida in 1975 and started his own catering business (Bill’s Catering) in 1980 while he was also managing The Miami Club, Miami’s most prestigious luncheon club. Bill Hansen Catering, a luxury catering company, quickly became the standard by which all upscale South Florida caterers are measured.

Olafur Torfason is from Iceland High Ticket Closer and explorer listen to his journey its amazing journey....

He’s been labeled as the world’s leading authority for millennials and entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur.com and numerous other international publications; stars in his own TV show called “The Entrepreneur Grind” on the Whatever It Takes Network; founder of the prestigious Game Changer’s Academy, which is the premier networking community for young entrepreneurs; author of 2 #1 bestselling books and articles including the 27-time international best-selling book “6 Months to 6 Figures” and “The Entrepreneur’s Blueprint to Massive Success”; and creator of “The Young Entrepreneur Lifestyle” podcast which is one of iTunes most downloaded and listened to podcasts. Peter’s strategies have been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Time.com, Yahoo Small Business, Yahoo Finance, MSN, and many other international outlets and publications.

The crux of Peter’s giving and influential mindset is based on the simple, yet powerful philosophy that the more people you are able to influence and help succeed, the more successful you in turn, will become.

Fred Dex is one of only 236 Master Sommeliers in the world. Fred’s career as a wine and beverage professional spans nearly two decades and has touched upon nearly every aspect of the business.

He got his start early in childhood while growing up in a multi-concept family business Wolfey’s in Central Pennsylvania that included a video arcade and miniature golf course replete with a pizza and burger joint.

After traveling and working in some of the US's top seasonal spots like Nantucket and Jackson Hole an offer to move to New York City to work at the four-star Restaurant Daniel was too good to pass up. The rest, as they say, is history.

Fred has spent nearly 20 years in NYC working in some the the top gastronomic and wine savvy temples in the city. His many years and resume highlights include working closely alongside James Beard Award-winning chefs and restaurateurs including Jean Georges Vongerichten, Danny Meyer and Chris Cannon. He then spent five years with his good friend and mentor Chef Laurent Tourondel as the National Wine and Beverage Director for BLT Restaurant Group where he helped develop and open over a dozen outposts across the United States.

In 2009, Fred started a consulting business, Juiceman Consulting, with the mission of making the world a better place to drink. Fred has built an incredible array of diverse clients and has worked as the exclusive United States Educator for both Wines of Chile & Wines of Southwest France. He’s been consultant to Chef Laurent Tourondel, Motorino Pizzeria, Max Brenner Chocolate, The Grand Hyatt NYC, Tao Group, Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment, Full Circle Wine Solutions, Nespresso, Star Chef’s and more.

Fred is an accomplished mixologist and cocktail enthusiast. He has had several of his cocktail creations published in The New York Times, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, People Magazine, Cosmopolitan and Bill Hamilton’s Shaken and Stirred.

His goal is to Rock Your Wine World!

Joshua Kopel is an American entrepreneur, restaurateur and environmental advocate. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the spawn of bootleggers and retail giants, he was bred for the hospitality industry. Throughout Kopel’s 20+ year career in food and beverage he has managed venues ranging from the Alligator Bayou Bar, located on Alligator Bayou Road, seated on Alligator Bayou (it was exactly how you’re picturing it in your mind) to the hottest Hollywood nightclubs, bars, and ultra-lounges (far less glamourous than you’re picturing it in your mind). Kopel went independent in 2010 opening his first concept Five0Four, a New Orleans-inspired bar, on the Walk of Fame in the heart of Hollywood. Four years later, his sophomore effort, Preux & Proper, opened cementing his role as an arbitrator of taste in all things Southern within the confines of the city of Los Angeles.

Kopel’s varied interests and talents have landed him several positions of influence ranging from being voted one of the Steamiest Southern Stars by E! Entertainment Television to the elected position of Business Chair on the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council to founding and serving on the Board of Directors of the Friends of Runyon Canyon, a non-profit focused on the protection of local Los Angeles Park areas.

Jimmy Page is the President Of Hudson Creative.

Our story

Hudson Creative began on Hudson St. in Hackensack, New Jersey, at a local print and web dev shop over 10 years ago. Here our Founder, James Page was exposed to a variety of business owners all with different website needs. Time and time again, however, he noticed that despite each website being different, the business owners had a common question:

“My website looks beautiful but seems to be broken – why can’t I find it when I ‘google’ it?”

So began our journey with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Since then we’ve built a talented team of digital marketing experts, and had the opportunity to work with some truly incredible clients. Our team shares a genuine interest in predictive web analytics and how to leverage this information to help companies grow.

Marketing your business online comes with many challenges, especially in today’s rapidly changing digital landscape.  Hudson Creative will work with you to navigate these challenges and push your business to new heights.

Hudson Creative is a team of digital marketing experts based in New York City-with experience in the Restaurant And Hospitality Industries. Locate it in 79 Madison Ave ,2nd Flr. New York NY 10016 Phone (646)-844-4952 www.hudsoncreative.com

Stephen Fahy

Sales Director and Senior Buyer at the Wine Library

Stephen C. Fahy, DWS is the Sales Director and Senior Buyer at the Wine Library, and is passionate about the business of direct-to-consumer wine education and the complete customer service experience. He has proven to be a specialist in finding and promoting a wide range of exciting wines from around the world, working directly with importers, distributors, and the wineries themselves. His palate is widely recognized by an ever-growing local, regional and national consumer base, due in large part to the extraordinary quality of the wines he selects to put on offer, and loves the excitement of the business, especially when his contagious enthusiasm spreads to others.

For more than a decade prior to Stephen’s role at the Wine Library, he managed and ran the wine retail programs for other key, large scale wine merchants in both New Jersey and Manhattan. He also serviced and sold to some of Manhattan’s top restaurants and retailers while a Wine and Spirits Consultant with Winebow.

Stephen has been an active Adjunct Professor teaching “Concepts of the Sommelier” at Montclair State University. This three credit University course grounds students in the principles of wine tasting, key varietal and regional knowledge, and the service expectations of the wine professional in both on and off premise settings. Stephen has also been actively consulting with the London-based research and business strategy firm, Wine Intelligence as a Research Associate specializing in the U.S. wine trade and consumer sector.

In 2011, Stephen earned his Diploma in Wine & Spirits (DWS), with Merit, from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust in London. He is the proud father of three girls and with his wife, enjoys the hustle and bustle of the Garden State where he lives, in northern New Jersey.

Robert Scillia is the founder of Vignetti Wine Distributors Company .In this episode we talked abot being a small distributors how hard is it,but also we talked about his new prodcut Fratelli Saracenci.

Alexander LaPratt – Principal / Beverage Director

Alexander LaPratt MS is no stranger to fine food and wine. Having grown up in Detroit Alexander fell in love with wine at a young age while working for Madeline Triffon MS.  His passion has since taken him around the country where he has worked the floor for some of the finest restauants in the world including: Michael Mina, The French Laundry, Daniel, Atera, Le Bernardin and Jean-Georges.  He has received many accolades including winning the first Ruinart Trophy competition in the United States, being named Wine and Spirits Best New Sommelier 2011, having won ASA's Best Sommelier in America 2011 competition, he represented the United States of America at the ASIs Best Sommelier in the World competition in Tokyo Japan 2013 and he passed his Master Sommelier Exam in 2014 thereby becoming the 217th person in the world to ever do so. He has also been inducted as a Chevalier in the L’Order des Coteaux du Champagne, he starred on the “Uncorked” wine series with the Bravo network and has been featured in many top news publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Figaro as well as popular periodicals such as Men’s Health, Men’s Journal and Cosmopolitan.

In 2013 Alexander put to the test an entire careers worth of knowledge when he opened his own restaurant, Atrium DUMBO, with partners Leslie Affre and Laurent Kalkotour in the posh neighborhood of DUMBO Brooklyn which has been met with rave reviews. Alexander and his partners are currently preparing to open their next restaurant, Beasts & Bottles, in the first quarter of 2016 in the historic Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Sommelier Charlie Arturaola is legendary in culinary and oenological circles. A charismatic wine expert, Charlie approaches his life’s passion with expert knowledge and contagious enthusiasm. His unique presentations are enjoyed around the world.

Arturaola is the president of the Miami based Grappolo Blu Inc. where he lectures, conducts educational tastings, acts as an expert appraiser for insurance companies, consults with foreign importers, and mentors new members of the wine community. His fluency in five languages has taken him from Brazil to Bordeaux and from Montefalco to Patagonia, allowing him to deliver his passion for wine in Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and English.

In 2010, Arturaola starred in “El Camino del Vino,” a fictionalized documentary. In the film, he is at the Masters of Food and Wine in Mendoza, an event he originated and of which he is the founding sommelier. The fiction is that he loses his palate and seeks counsel from various people in the Mendoza wine business to get it back. He begins with Michel Rolland and proceeds on a funny and touching journey to six wineries in Mendoza, eventually returning to his birthplace, Montevideo, Uruguay. “El Camino del Vino” won the FIPRESCI award at the Mar del Plata Film Festival in 2010. In 2011, the film screened in the prestigious Kino Kulinarsche program at Berlinale, at the newly established Transatlanyk Film Fest, as well as at Enolgica 32 in Montefalco. Plus film festivals in Copenhagen, Moscow, and San Sebastian. The US premiere was at the Napa Valley Film Festival. “El Camino del Vino” is scheduled to screen in London in April and the Melbourne Film Festival in August.

Charlie has been honored with the 2012 International Wine and Spirits Competition Communicator of the Year Award, Sponsored by Vinitaly. The award recognizes an individual whose communication skills in the last 12 months have made an exceptional contribution towards promoting and increasing public awareness and interest in wines and spirits.

He is currently working on a television pilot with the director of the film, Nicolas Carreras. A second movie is also being discussed.

Charlie and Joaquin Parra Lopez recently published a book in Spain, “Manual de Cata, Es Bueno este Vino?” Charlie wrote the prologue and a brief history of wine. The second edition is currently being printed.