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The term "Starving Artist" might come to mind when you read some of the menu items at downtown Toledo's newest restaurant. Take the "Five Borough Burger," a tribute to the five districts that make up New York City. The ingredients of this feature-cheese, onion, mushroom, bacon, and one egg over easy-were born the night "two very hungry guys from New York" sat in a greasy spoon in Toledo.
But the story really begins a few years earlier in New York's most famous borough: Manhattan. Like thousands of other wouldbe actors, Toledoan Zach Lahey headed for the footlights of Broadway. And like every other pavement pounding thespian, he landed his first starring role in one of the city's many restaurants. "If you want to keep your days free to attend auditions then you have to find employment at night," says Lahey who, in addition to theater, holds a degree in computer science. There aren't a lot of computer science jobs that start at 5 p.m. so actors survive by learning the restaurant trade.
It was at one of his worst restaurant jobs that Lahey met Mike Petrillo. Petrillo, though born in New Jersey, grew up in the city and began his restaurant career in high school. Following graduation he attended the New York Restaurant School where he gained a degree in Culinary Arts and French Baking. The next ten years were spent learning everything he could from New York's best and worst eating establishments. It was at his worst restaurant job that he and Lahey realized they shared a common disdain for poor management and a belief that...