Solomon Barkat

General Manager

Solomon Barkat grew up at the Jersey Shore near the resort town of Cape May. At the age of 15, he got a summer job at Freda’s Cafe as a dishwasher. Here he learned to anticipate what the chef would need to be washed first, and to appreciate the senior dishwasher’s preference for listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival in the dish pit. When he was given the added responsibility of deveining shrimp, his intrigue for the business grew. Through summers in high school, he worked his way up to a busboy at some of the most exciting restaurants in the burgeoning Cape May food scene. On his 18th birthday, he moved to NYC. He graduated from Fordham University and began waiting tables as part of the opening team at Todd English’s Olives New York. With 14 years of continual service at Olives under his belt, Solomon made the jump to a management career with Chef Driven Group at Marseille in the theater district. He then joined the Bastianiches at the Michelin-starred La Sirena and came to Babbo as AGM in 2017. In 2021, he was promoted to General Manager where he still listens to Creedence Clearwater Revival, albeit in the dining room, and sees the potential for anybody, like himself, to do anything in the restaurant business.