Dan's Papers - June 29, 2007 - Behind The Scene At Onshore...

HER
Joann Piccozzi is a much beloved Shelter Islander. She is also a member of a well-respected Island family. Her grandfather came here from Popoli, Italy, in 1907, and her father Joseph, known to all as Jake, was born in 1909. Her mother, Williette, is a member of the Johnson Family, which traces its Island roots back to the American Revolution. Joann is a member, as is her mother, of the DAR.

In 1927 Jake and his brother Augie bought the gas station, coal dock and coal yard on Bridge Street. "It wasn't fancy like it is today," laughs Joann, referring to the white, pea gravel drive of the yacht facility across from the gas station that replaced the coal dock of the1920s. These properties are still in the family after nearly a century. In fact, station is set to celebrate 80 years as the longest running privately-owned Mobil Station in the country.

After earning a degree in medical anthropology, Joann worked for Dan's Papers as production manager, and at both Associates & Ferren and Disney as a graphic designer. Today, in addition to Onshore, she runs the Island Food Centre and Island Home and Gallery, and divides her time between the Island and Tuscany, where she owns a villa and working farm.

HIM
Onshore partner Robert Mullins decided to leave a very lucrative career in the world of telecommunications to live full time here on the Island shortly after the turn of the new century. For twenty years he had commuted between New Jersey and downtown Manhattan, where he was Vice President of National Sales for WorldCom. Robert summered here as a child, and later returned full time to attend Shelter Island High. Though he and Joann are almost the same age, they didn't date and knew each other only casually. After school both headed off to college, married other people and raised families. Then......

THEM
Joann decided to throw herself a birthday party...... in Tuscany. She invited lots of friends, many from the Island, including Robert. He flew over expecting to wish her a happy birthday, which he did. What he didn't expect, and neither did she, was that they finally, after all these years, noticed each other in a new way. Sparks flew. And so did Robert and Joann. Back to the Island, after the party, after everyone else had left. Together.

EPILOGUE
Now heading into their second season at Onshore, Joann and Robert can be found at their restaurant almost any time of the day or evening. "I have been on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at least 100 times," says Robert, "but the Exchange has nothing on a restaurant kitchen on a Saturday night. Six different dinners, all piping hot and heading out to a table at the same time. Now that's impressive."