Cole attended Boston University, where he pursued a dual degree in finance and hotel & restaurant administration. While attending school, he cooked at Esquires Best New Restaurant, Anago Bistro, and taught cooking classes at the university as well. He won the prestigious Kopf wine scholarship that gave him an extraordinary opportunity to work in some of California, France and Italy’s top restaurants and wineries.

 

After graduating, Cole moved to Los Angeles to work with Hillstone Restaurant Group, prior to exiting the industry briefly to pursue a role as a financial analyst using his business degree to its fullest. 

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Cole returned to the restaurant world via Boston to take over the wine program at the four-star Clio by Ken Oringer. After, he found his way back to LA as General Manager at Bastide, which led to an opportunity to open a restaurant with Michael Mina, XIV, on the Sunset Strip. It was the first of many properties Cole ran for Mina, from General Manager at MGM and Aria in Las Vegas to Director of Operations for Mina Group restaurant properties in Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California.

 

In 2013, Cole left The Mina Group after 5 years to embark on his first solo venture, opening Stones Throw in Russian Hill. Following an enormously successful opening, he then opened Trestle, changing the landscape for affordable fine dining in San Francisco. Named Restauranteurs of the Year by San Francisco Magazine and the GGRA, and a rising star from StarChefs, this was the beginning of Hi Neighbor Hospitality.