Wednesday May 5, 2010 Welcomes Connie Mac's Home Plate Show # 97

I was born Cornelius M. McCarron...a/k/a Connie Mac. I was named after the baseball legend Connie Mack.
We moved to the Oakland area in the 1970's where I spent the next 30 years. During this time I had started working for fun at a taco joint when I was 12 years old. By the time I was 20 I had worked in Mexican, American Italian, steak and seafood restaurants, as a busboy, dishwasher, cook and bar back.
Then decided to take a break from that and went on the road with a rock band (doesn't everyone), played semi-pro soccer and coached at my junior and senior high schools.
Realizing I was not going to make it big as a pro athlete or musician, I went to the California Culinary Academy and went to work for one of the teachers (chefs) at the school in San Franciso, and made the choice to stay in the food business.
I haved always loved food, family and friends and in the late 1980's I returned to my home town of Fremont, California.
I began working at the Seafood Broiler until it was bought out by Red Lobster. Since that time I worked at the Mills College in Oakland and opened or rehabbed over 30 restaurants.
I opened Connie's Home Plate in 2009 as a hobby which I have grown to love. We use green product lines, American made equipment and local vendors. We are socially conscious and respect all people.