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At 12 years of age, Todd's passion for food began as he assisted his father in the catering business preparing Christmas dinner for the governor of Connecticut. At only 15, he worked
all stations of the Yankee Silversmith Inn in Wallingford, Connecticut under the direction of Chef Kevin Smith. Todd pursued a culinary career at the Culinary Institute of America in
Hyde
Park, New York where he learned the fundamentals and fell in love with French cuisine. Upon completing his apprenticeship with Chef Tell on Grand Cayman Island
in the British
West Indies, and after graduation at the C.I.A., Todd set his sites on New
Orleans in 1991.
Securing a position at the Four Star Sazerac Restaurant in the Fairmont Hotel, Todd
was re-enforced by the techniques of classic French preparations. Quickly promoted to Sous Chef of the restaurant, he was in charge of a staff of 8. Todd also assisted in the banquet kitchen preparing meals for up to 5,000 guests including off-site parties on the Mississippi
River boat, Natchez. Searching for the next challenge, Todd accepted a position at the
5- Star, 5-Diamond Ritz Carlton Hotel in Naples, Florida.
Starting as Sous Chef in the Ritz Grill Room in 1993, Todd was promoted to Chef de Cuisine
of the Café Restaurant. As the youngest Chef de Cuisine in the company, Todd
refined his skills both as a chef as well as a manager. He was certified in Total Quality Management.
The Ritz Carlton won a Malcolm Baldridge Award for Excellence in Service
that year. During
his tenure as Chef de Cuisine, Todd took charge of the Café Restaurant serving up to 1,000 guests daily. He assisted in large banquets and functions in the hotel banquet kitchen. Then
he set his sights on the San Francisco Bay Area.
In June 1994, Todd met Chef Roland Passot of La Folie in San Francisco. He began as Sous Chef at the Left Bank in Larkspur and was promoted the next year to Chef de Cuisine.
At Left Bank, Todd refined his passion for rustic French cuisine and opened the Left Bank in Menlo Park in 1998. He received several Three Star reviews from San Francisco Chronicle
food critic Michael Bauer. Falling in love with Northern California, Todd next pursued a
lifelong dream, his own restaurant.
On March 21, 2001, the first day of spring, Liaison was born and a new beginning
created in Todd's culinary journey. Liaison is a neighborhood French bistro in the heart of Berkeley, dubbed "French Food for the Soul.” It is critically successful and a favorite destination for
locals and Bay Area Francophiles seeking an authentic bistro dining
experience.
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