Simon has been in the restaurant industry his entire adult life. He came for the food and stayed for the people. Food was always a very important part of family, so it made sense that his first job was in a kitchen.

He quickly understood that as long as he was cooking he could work wherever he wanted. This led to a series of relocations from New Mexico, Massachusetts, Florida and California before finally settling down in Seattle, Washington. By 2002 Simon had become a sous chef and his management career had begun. The revelation that being a chef has as much to do with people as it does food was an eye opener. The good news, Simon is a chatty MF and has always loved to be around people. As much a purveyor of a wonderful story as a stunning taco, Simon's desire to be a great leader and developer of people has informed his path for the last twenty years.

After over thirty years in the kitchen, 2022 brought with it the perfect moment to pivot out of kitchen operations. He has spent the last year plotting to take over the world, er, I mean finding a way to help chefs grow their leadership and assisting restauranteurs to improve their culture, systems and profit through his restaurant advisory firm, Culinary Mechanic.

In December 2023 Simon brought the Culinary Mechanic Podcast to life. Week by week finding ways to bring insights, strategies, tools and tactics for running your restaurant like a well-oiled machine to an ever increasing band of listeners (it's on YouTube too!!)