About Thistle Hill Tavern

David Massoni

Proprietor / General Manager

David Massoni brings over seventeen years of restaurant experience to the team of “Thistle Hill Tavern”.  He started at the early age of fifteen working in his parents’ Zagat rated and Wine Spectator award-winning hotel and restaurant, the Imperial Hotel, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

David moved to NYC in 1997 and spent his first three years under the tutelage of Chef-Owner Henry Meer at The Cub Room Restaurant in Soho and City Hall Restaurant in Tribeca.

David’s next position was opening and running a high-end dining experience nestled inside of the  popular nightclub Lotus in NYC ‘s Meatpacking District.

After leaving Lotus, David took some time to study in Napa Valley at the Culinary Institute of America.  While there he received an offer from restaurateur Joe Bastianich that would begin a four year work relationship.  Starting out as Maitre’d at Joe and Mario Batali’s critically-acclaimed Italian seafood restaurant Esca, David was then asked by Batali/Bastianich to be part of the opening and direct the service team for their newest venture, Otto Pizzeria e Enoteca in Greenwich Village.  Service Director at Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, arguably the number one Italian restaurant in the USA today was David’s final post with Batali/Bastianich.

After working at some of the best Italian restaurants in NYC, David felt the yearning to live and work in Italy; he spent nine months in Northern Italy completely immersed in food, wine and service.  His experience began in Friuli working the Green Harvest at Bastianich Winery and Harvest at Scarbolo Winery.  Next up was an unpaid room and board “stage” at the Michelin starred restaurant La Ciau del Tornavento in Piemonte.  In these three months Chef-Owner Maurillio Garola pushed David through the paces of every aspect of his restaurant.  David’s second “stage” was at La Gallina,  part of the Moccagatta Family’s award-winning wine estate and Hotel, Villa Sparina in Piemonte.

Upon returning to NYC David wanted the right venue and team to put his experience and the breadth of his career to work, and he found it with old friends Jason and Joe Denton in the role of General Manager at their successful wine bar and restaurant, ‘inoteca. During that time David and John Bush conceptualized and brought to fruition Thistle Hill Tavern.

On the heels of the success of Thistle Hill Tavern, David and John Bush partnered up with Chef Dale Talde to open the incredibly popular Asian-American restaurant and bar, TALDE.

David lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn with his wife Rachel, their son Luca & daughter Olive.

John Bush

Proprietor / Bar Manager

John started working in bars as a bar-back at the early age of eighteen in the local bars of his hometown of Santa Cruz, California.  His extensive bartending background would have John mixing and serving drinks all over the world, from San Francisco to New York City, from England to Japan and Southeast Asia.  John’s passion in photography and music have taken him to over fifty countries, where he toured the world with some of the last two decades’ most influential punk rock bands.

On the West Coast, John worked at two very reputable bars in San Francisco: Mad Dog in the Fog and Club Deluxe.  Working tirelessly at both venues, John learned everything he could from those around him and at Club Deluxe witnessed and participated in  the rebirth of swing in the early 90s.  In 1995 John was asked to come to New York City to tend bar at the seminal East Village bar 2A.

After a couple of years at 2A, John was asked to be one of the lead bartenders of a new East Village bar that was being opened by two New York City local rockers, Jesse Malin and Johnny T.  That bar was Niagara, where, for the past thirteen years John had been tending bar and managing before helping to open Thistle Hill Tavern.

In addition to his work at Niagara, John has tended bar and consulted on cocktail lists all over NYC.  From the trendy Vig Bar in Nolita, to Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich’s Otto Pizzeria e Enoteca in Greenwich Village, to the popular East Village bar and lounge Black & White, John has always focused on gaining as many different experiences as possible.

John has also had the great fortune of touring the country and world with the likes of NOFX, Green Day, The Offspring, Rancid, The Foo Fighters and the Vans Warped Tour.  Whether John was touring as an independent photographer, selling merchandise, tending bar or just going along for the ride, John has eagerly soaked up every experience that he could, ultimately leading him to be one of the partners at Thistle Hill Tavern, and perhaps more importantly, the guy that you want on the other side of a bar.

John splits his time between Thistle Hill Tavern and his new restaurant and bar TALDE.

John lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn with his wife Angelica and is a diehard Yankees fan.

Jon Wallace

Executive Chef

Although Jon Wallace hasn’t spent his entire working life in the kitchen, he has certainly made a career for himself as an accomplished, respected, and talented chef. After a ten-year corporate career stint culminating in a position of Director of Publications for Source Enterprises, publisher of hip-hop music and culture magazine, Jon—in his own words—burned out, quit corporate and found himself washing dishes at a Mediterranean bistro in Brooklyn. He graduated quickly from dishwasher, becoming familiar with the restaurant kitchen and realizing he was stoking a previously unknown passion. The Brooklyn restaurant Buttermilk Channel is where he really cut his teeth in the kitchen and made him certain his move away from corporate had been the right one. Fast-forward several long and ambitious months and Jon’s got a new title: Executive Chef, Thistle Hill Tavern. Originally from NY, he and his beloved are new homeowners in the city’s best borough, Brooklyn.

Fat Mike

Proprietor

Fat Mike is the frontman and bassist of the seminal punk band NOFX. For more information visit their official website.