"Well, to be honest, It was 2008 I believe Boone passed liquor by the drink, like ABC beverages by the drink to be sold in restaurants. So I had been doing sushi in Colorado for a long time, I had been into the business. I was from Boone, and, you know, I was used to working in restaurants with high end food and cocktails. When I was in college at Appalachian State, you could go to a restaurant in Boone and you could get beer or wine. So in 2008 when I heard that food has passed liquor by the drink, I saw an opportunity to do an upscale restaurant that not only offers upscale food and culture, but martinis and cocktails and, you know, a service in that industry."

Interviewer: How do you think your menu has changed over the years?

"Honestly, not much it's been pretty consistent, we have  kind of tweaked it here and there, but we basically, we find what people like and see what we're selling the most of, whether it's cocktails or sushi or appetizers or really anything. And then we're always willing to try new things, and we'll try new things, and if they work, we'll keep them on the menu, and we'll constantly just evolve the menu that way based on what it is the people want.'

Interviewer: What do you find most important in managing a restaurant?

"To me, employees and providing a good work atmosphere for your employees will always be important. If you work hard for them, then they'll work hard for you. And then along with that, I find consistency of your product really important, so just being able to deliver the consumer what they got last time over and over again at the same quality."

Interviewer: What do you think is something that kind of makes CoBo unique or special to Boone? 

"What makes CoBo unique, especially when it opened 12 years ago, is that it was different. So it was a different kind of style of a restaurant for Boone. It was a new sushi restaurant at the time, I was offering different cocktails that were, you know, Boone didn't have a lot of at the time, as far as the bar program went. Now, there's a lot of restaurants like that around here, but now the restaurant scene has really evolved to feature many types of food. One thing we did hear a lot, especially when we first opened, was that when they come into CoBo, they feel like they've stepped out of Boone for the evening. Maybe that is still the case these days, but that was something we heard a lot early on and it’s something I think is really important."

Interviewer: Do you have anything you want to add or you think may be interesting? 

"Do you know what the meaning of CoBo is, where we got the name? I have been working in restaurants since I was 15 years old, I was a Boone local, I went to Appalachian State, but since I went to college in my hometown, I wanted to get away for a while. So I moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and I got a job in a sushi restaurant, and I worked there for five years. And when I came back to Boone to open CoBo. I didn't know what to call the restaurant, and I thought about it, I thought about it, and then I figured it would be some sort of meeting that sounded like a sushi restaurant and then I came up with CoBo which is Colorado and Boone together."