Music is like glue.
It links generations.
It collects and carries traditions through time.
It connects people. Like New Yorkers Frank Prisinzano and Mike Haar.
Both masters in the respective crafts, Frank is an award-winning chef and restauranteur, while Mike is a master barber and owner of Haar and Co Barbershop.
When Frank came in to get a beard trim from Mike, Proraso joined them to talk about music, tradition and what’s next.
Frank on meeting Mike:
“We met in a barbershop. He was playing some AMAZING music and I was just beginning an internet radio station. And I said, ‘Do you want a show?’ His knowledge of early American music was incredible. I couldn’t believe it. He was like an encyclopedia on it.”
Mike on being a DJ:
“I think what was cool about that station and that show was that you’re at street level with a window. I really thrive off the energy of the city and the pace of New York. So to have the people coming by. Mine was a morning show, so I had the people either going to work OR the people who had been up all night!”
Frank on being a New Yorker:
“Knowing what to do in New York isn’t something you just have. You have to live it. You have to live here to understand it.”
Mike on Frank’s style:
“Frank’s style of cooking is all his own. And I think that’s why people tune into it. The recipes are his grandmothers, but he’s got three generations into it and he’s amping it up. People are drawn to that. If whatever you’re doing it honest, people like it, because it’s hard to find.”
Frank on Mike’s style:
“Swing, of course. He’s all about swing. That’s how I see him. But when I first saw him dance, I was completely blown away!”
On taste:
Mike: “Taste is important. Well, it’s important to have some!”
Frank: “I didn’t wanna go THERE!”
Frank on tradition:
“Things take time to perfect. And tradition is that. It’s that in a nutshell. It’s when you do something over and over again, but it gets better each time. For instance, we always do “Ragu Sundays” and every week, the ragu evolves. It just keeps getting better and better. That’s what’s so important about tradition. It ends up being a true representation of history.”
Mike on being ok with making mistakes:
“You have to be proud of your mistakes, because that’s how you grow. If you live your life afraid to make a mistake and you’re constantly deflecting and you try to duck it all and remain this pristine, perfect person, it’s just unrealistic.”
Frank on how to find what’s next:
“Rhythm is really what it is. When you’re cooking, or when you’re barbering, there’s kind of the vision of what you’re gonna do next already in your head. And you think of how to do the eloquently. How to make it move into the next thing that you’re gonna do.”
Watch and shop this and more Proraso Stories here.
Visit Haar & Co. Barbershop at 45 Christopher St in NYC or click here to book.
When in NYC, do not miss the opportunity to eat at any of Frank's restaurants: Supper (our NYC-based Proraso team favorite), Frank, or Lil Frankie's.
