Bringing it all back home.

Teo‘s story (you say it Tayo) took him from the renowned Michael Stadtländer to cooking in Paris and the Italian piedmonte.

He became an earnest admirer of the everyman appeal of the Paris bistros and brasseries and their simple fare. (UNION’s marble bar is a tribute to Le Petit Fer à Cheval, “The Little Horseshoe,” in the Marais district.)

But it was while serving up eight-course private dinners in the tiny kitchens of grand Parisian apartments that he found his unique style, and a kitchen’s true heart and soul—a place where guests sip wine and chat and are an essential part of the preparation.

In Italy, speaking no Italian, he would ask at the local ristorante if he could work alongside the family. (“Food has it’s own language,”) discovering there that the best cooking is home cooking, served in an atmosphere that feels like home.

A rare blend.

Either Christopher found Paris or Paris found him, we’re not sure. But a passion for the language and culture drew him there early on.

Lucky for UNION. His time there tending bar, as a photographer’s assistant, a DJ, or simply taking it all in—the markets, the restaurants, the wine and the people, has instilled an uncompromising sense of what a really good restaurant is: simple yet refined, a total experience in warmth, hospitality, sound, energy and tastes so well blended together you hardly notice, you’re having too good a time.

A graduate of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers and now as UNION’s Sommelier, he has none of the pretension the title often carries. In fact, he’d like it be “wine guy, someone who loves good wine and loves exploring one of life’s great pleasures.