Welcome to Flood's
A quick note from the guy behind the lens
I grew up in Metro Detroit around a family of restaurateurs.
My first role in the business was a pivotal one — serving bread at Grandpa Larry’s Italian restaurant, Salvatore Scallopini. Customers loved me (so I’m told).
The restaurant business isn’t an easy one. Even the most successful operators will tell you that. It’s non-stop. And part of the challenge is that tireless effort doesn’t guarantee success. Effort must be paired with creative vision. And creative vision is a difficult thing to cultivate.
Grandpa Larry had vision — maybe too much vision. He was a businessman until the day he died — he never stopped buying, opening, and selling restaurants. When an idea hit him, he had no choice but to see it through. This drove my Grandma insane. But she knew it made him happy. I guess that’s love.
In the 80s, Larry bought a bar in Ann Arbor, MI. It was an established student [hippie] hangout with live music 7 nights a week. A wild place called Mr. Flood’s Party.
My fascination with food, restaurants, and hospitality has been with me from the start — that’s undeniable. It’s a significant part of my persona that I’m learning to share.
Over the past few years, I’ve thought carefully about how I want to interact with, and eventually impact the hospitality world around me. And that’s not a resolved thought — it’s still very much on my mind today.
But last year I took an active step toward figuring it out.
Mr. Flood’s Party started in March 2023. I was on a flight back to New York from Mexico City, fresh off a week of exploring, eating, and snapping photos. I felt like I was at my inspirational brim. So I opened up my journal and I wrote — the entire way home.
Flood’s began as a creative outlet — and that hasn’t changed. This platform has allowed me to channel the constant stream of thoughts about the restaurant world into something tangible: photography and writing about my favorite places and spaces. Flood’s is an expression of how I see and think about the world.
This has never been about being “comprehensive.” The constantly evolving nature of the restaurant business is incredibly exciting to me. New openings every week. Cities changing across visits. What’s great today could be gone tomorrow. The present experience is all we’ve got.
And that’s what I aim to capture — the experience. How a place makes me feel. That’s why the concept of ambiance is so important: space, design, music, temperature, lighting, and volume. I like using the European spelling because it feels like a European principle. Great ambiance requires thoughtfulness and attention to detail — which I believe is the key to excellent hospitality. Ambiance is crucial to my storytelling — it helps you feel what I feel.
My creative approach is thoughtful and thorough, but never critical. Every restaurant, every song, and every street corner is showcased with intention. I highlight the places that make me feel great. In hopes that they’ll make you feel just as nice if you visit for yourself.
The result is a curated collection of tasteful scenes. My personal hit list. Flood’s stands for quality over quantity; substance over flash. It’ll guide you toward amazing hangs and shift how you think about food, culture, and space.
Adding Substack is intended to push me toward being a better writer, which I’m excited about. I’m hopeful this evolution of Mr. Flood’s Party will enhance the experience for those who enjoy reading what I have to say.
My posts — photos and writing — aren’t made to go viral. The thought of using trending audio instead of a song I actually listen to is beyond silly to me. I do hope to reach a wide audience with my offerings — but not at the expense of quality and pursuit of my interests. If you have a friend who you know would enjoy Flood’s, please pass my page along. It’s so greatly appreciated.
Connecting with this community of food-interested people has been an unexpectedly great part of the project. I’ve had the chance to meet many of you — sharing meals and talking places we’re eager to try. I’ve gotten messages from around the globe with “thank yous” for helping with travel itineraries. If you’re interested in getting together or collaborating, please send me a note on IG.
Mr. Flood’s Party is an homage to my family of restaurateurs. Flood’s exists because of their creativity, tireless effort, and perseverance throughout the years.
I’m incredibly proud of this page — how it started, how it’s going — and I think Grandpa Larry would be too.
Thank you for being here.
