Francis Schott

Age: 47

Place of birth: Orange, NJ.

Where you live: Metuchen, NJ.

Name of Company you work for: Stage Left Restaurant, Catherine Lombardi Restaurant, The Restaurant Guy Radio Program.

City you work in: New Brunswick, NJ.

Profession: Restaurateur/Radio Host.

Why I chose this career: A particular form of insanity? For some reason, I am happiest running bars and restaurants.

Status: Single.

Family: My late mother and father are Dorothy and Francis Schott Sr. (fire chief of Orange, NJ). My sisters are Michelle Schott, Esq, Pamela Schott MSW and Francine Schott, Judge of the Superior Court NJ.

The proudest moment of my career

I can’t really name a proudest moment of my career. For me it’s about building a sustainable and joyous party. Connecting farmers, winemakers, cheese-makers, chefs, bartenders, regulars, travelers and new-comers in a locus of community is what I’m most proud of. There is no moment, or if there is, we’re still in it.

Biography: Francis Schott co-owns three of New Jersey’s top-ranked culinary destinations: Stage Left Restaurant, Catherine Lombardi Restaurant and The Cocktail Bar at Catherine Lombardi. Stage Left was first, opened in 1992. He is co-host of The Restaurant Guys Radio Program (www.RestaurantGuysRadio.com), a popular show, geared to the industry and to hard-core foodies. He is a sought-after public speaker on issues of restaurants, wine and spirits, food and community. You can find his TEDx talk and several others on youtube. His restaurants, his activism and his advocacy have been an important part of the redevelopment of NJ’s most exciting city and the home of his restaurants, New Brunswick, NJ. He is a long-time director of the NJ Restaurant Association, which named him and his partner Restaurateur of The Year in 2011. Francis is third-generation Irish American, whose great grandparents emigrated from Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh. He maintains strong ties with Ireland and within the Irish-American community.