dime pound? cause, ya know, 10 years and all? I’m not one for anniversaries or birthdays but a decade is a true landmark. When I have the “where we’ve come from” thought, I often turn to the one person who was more influential than Eric, Hector, Cedd, Matt, Foxy, or myself combined: Sasha Petraske. Seven years ago was my first - and sadly, last - time to meet a man larger than life. Meek is hardly the word. To watch him (dressed in a three-piece-suit) waffle over which protein and cheese for his Cole’s French Dip baffled me at the time; I figured that type of food “beneath him” (my words). But I learned that as a professional in the hospitality industry, the timing of his next meal was likely out of his control, and so he ate for he had bigger fish to fry. During our training, to watch him behind the bar was a spectacle. His shake was....vigorous. I have never seen a bartender exert so much energy and use their whole body in a shake. Allow me to clarify, I have seen bartenders put energy into shakes, but they were doing it for themselves - for the showmanship. Sasha was doing it for the drink. His hair flew about like tentacles but as soon as he was done, with a flick of his head, they fell back in line. [Continued below in the comments ⬇️ ]