Meet: Terry Anastasio

Where I hail from:

Brooklyn, New York, in another century

Where I now call home:

I have an apartment in the West Village and share a house in Long Beach with my son.

Where I hang out:

Pearl Oyster Bar, Oppa Tapas Bar, and of course the beach.

Favorite food:

Macaroni

A memorable meal:

Sitting on a cliff overlooking the Black Sea in northern Turkey with the local people and a huge spread of native dishes.

What inspires me in design:

I am the bookkeeper (and a former math teacher) but ironically my father was the Art Director of an ad agency in the 1950s. When I quit teaching in 1978, I answered an ad in the New York Times for a bookkeeper. Although I never took a bookkeeping course in my life, I figured if I could teach Trigonometry I could figure out bookkeeping. The place I interviewed was Push Pin Studios; I got the job because I was wearing a light purple pastel coat and Seymour Chwast (the nicest man in the world) said I matched his color scheme! After my first son was born, I decided to just work part-time and started my own business but stayed in the graphic design field.

Talents I’m proud of:

Organization and patience (sort of)

The restaurant vibe I love most: 

Anything Douglas Riccardi does!