B'ARTUSI - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director
- Beverage Director
A native of Ohio, Joe Vigorito's earliest experiences in the restaurant industry were at his Uncle's sub shop where he worked as a jack of all trades. Growing up in an Italian family, everything centered around food. It wasn't until Joe was at Ohio State University studying Social and Behavioral Sciences-and he missed home-cooked meals-that he began to explore the culinary arts.
After graduation, he enrolled at The French Culinary Institute and formally began his career in New York City. Since then, Joe's held roles in several of New York City's most cherished restaurants including Lupa, Morandi, and the well-loved but short-lived Carmine Club Café. He's also spent time in several of the Epicurean Group's kitchens, first as the sous chef of dell'anima, and later as the executive sous chef of L'Artusi under his friend and mentor Gabe Thompson. In September 2016, he became the Executive Chef of L'Artusi.
When Joe isn't bringing people together with his food at L'artusi and now b'artusi and Via Porta, you can find him watching his beloved Ohio State Buckeyes (Go Bucks!) or at the park with his wife and young son. During lockdown, he also learned how to ride a motorcycle and is now the proud owner of a Triumph Bonneville.
Job Titles:
- Owner & Operating Partner
Born and raised outside of Albany, NY, Kevin Garry has worked in restaurants all his life, beginning at the age of 14 washing dishes in his Uncle's restaurant. Throughout High School, Kevin worked in both the front and back of the house, as well as catering, and fell in love with the energy of the restaurant world.
While getting a marketing degree from Boston College, Kevin continued working in various Boston restaurants. Upon his move to New York in 2003, he joined Danny Meyer's Gramercy Tavern as a server. Working at GT simply felt "different" to Kevin and this was the moment when it was solidified that this would be his career path. Inspired by the level of knowledge, passion, and professionalism, Kevin thrived and was quickly was promoted to Assistant Beverage Director. In this role, he launched the first-ever Vintage Beer Program at Gramercy Tavern, which was subsequently featured in numerous publications including the New York Times and Time Magazine.
After working at Gramercy Tavern for 5 years, Kevin was interested to learn the industry from a different perspective and joined a small up-and-coming restaurant group that was about to launch their second restaurant, L'Artusi. Kevin was the General Manager when L'Artusi opened its doors in November of 2008 and quickly was promoted to Director of Operations as the group expanded to open dell'anima, L'Artusi, Anfora, ellabess and L'Apicio.
In 2013, Kevin saw the industry changing with the rise of the fast-casual restaurant, and had the opportunity to go back to his Union Square Hospitality roots as the Area Director for Shake Shack in NYC. He joined the Shack team when there were less than 20 restaurants open, and during his time, he helped guide Shake Shack's growth to well over 200 locations. In May 2019, he returned "home" by returning to L'Artusi and Anfora - this time as Managing Partner and Owner. He's thrilled to be adding to the Epicurean family with the openings of b'artusi and Via Porta in 2021.
Born and raised in rural New Jersey, Maire got her start in hospitality working at a local restaurant, Tony's Pizza and Pasta, alongside her brother. At 18, she moved to New York City to attend The New School and never looked back.
Her first job in the city was at the longtime neighborhood restaurant The Place in the West Village. Here, Maire worked her way up over five years from server to manager, soaking up everything she could about hospitality and customer service, especially the team's attention and dedication to fine details. Eventually, it was time to move on, so Maire began as a Food and Beverage Manager at Keith McNally's Augustine restaurant at the Beekman Hotel just as Chef Markus Glocker (Batard) had taken over as Executive chef. She then became General Manager of the Lobby Bar at The Standard Hotel in New York's Busy Meatpacking district. The hotel business can be challenging with so many moving parts, but these roles gave her incredible experience as a manager.
As General Manager of b'artusi, Maire is thrilled to bring her passion for hospitality and give guests an all-encompassing experience-from the food, the beverage to the atmosphere and music. She's also excited to work alongside the partners at Epicurean, where she can contribute new ideas and help build out a diverse opening team with wide-ranging experience, each of whom has a deep affection for food and beverage.
Outside of work, you'll find Maire soaking up live music and concerts and enjoying the city's dining scene herself.