Around 16 I began going out with friends to the city. That's where the action was. We would go to this place on Times Square - real shifty - and get fake IDs made up.
Casa amigos means house of friends and that's how we work. We have lunch together every day; a couple of times a week we have drinks. There are no assigned desks - everyone just moves around. It's very social and creative.
I've hired people I've met at parties and other events, and I've hired a lot of people right out of college. It's really based on personality as opposed to experience.
None of our bars smell like a bar at all - that's our number one rule - and we use certain scented candles and certain types of incense in order to give our bars a specific feel and ambiance.
Wherever I travel, I always head for a drink at the hotel bar as soon as I arrive. Not only is it a great way to relax, but it's a fantastic way to feel the pulse of a city.
When we were younger, but still of legal drinking age, it would be things like Goldschlager or peppermint schnapps. Things like that are not something I ever enjoyed.
When I was in the restaurant and bar business, I followed a rule, which was that the places that I opened were places that I wanted to go to.
A lot of people go into the bar and nightclub business thinking: 'Hey, we can make money for a year or two, close and then open again,' but for me, it's always been a business and it's always been about longevity.
When I interview someone, I want to find out about their life, get a sense of their personality, their passion. Maybe I'm hiring for a certain job, but even if your job is marketing, I'm going to ask you for your opinion on other things - taste this, what do you think of this bottle?