August Cardona '96

Cardona’s Market and Catering in Albany may be renown as the finest Italian specialty store in the area offering up succulent imported cheeses and olives since 1945, but founder Augusto Cardona’s grandson August Cardona ’96 has been the one earning raves in the New York City restaurant scene since the mid 2000’s. He is the press-shy force behind the West Village gems dell’anima, L’Artusi and the wine bar Anfora. It was his days at The Albany Academy that August fondly recalls as we met up in Manhattan. “Football, basketball and baseball were a big part of my memories. We had a great class, and I loved the battalion. That setting was such a beautiful and magical place to learn in,” said August. His brothers, Robert ’94 and Nick ’11, also attended the Academy, and his sister Gabriella graduated from Albany Academy for Girls in 1998. Another brother, Anthony graduated from Albany High School. After football games, August would head to the family store where he worked the sausage machine and shelved goods. “I cleaned and cleaned. It’s what I knew,” said August. He headed to Cornell University upon graduation, where he also played football. A member of the ATO fraternity, he says the class that was the most informative was Introduction to Wines. “It really sparked my interest in learning more about wine. We had wine tastings back at our frat house focusing on the Finger Lakes region.” A hustler even back then, August worked at a deli, as a bartender, and a teacher’s assistant all at the same time. Graduating in 2000 with a Business Degree and a concentration in Food Marketing, many of his friends from Cornell were heading to Chicago. August soon joined them. “I worked in finance but I didn’t really like it,” said August of his time spent as Zack’s Investment Research where he rose to an Associate Vice President position. He left the lucrative corporate job to take a position as a server in an Asian fusion restaurant “It was a real impactful area of my development. I still have their training manuals to this day.” Leaving Chicago, August spent almost two years working at Cardona’s with his brothers as it expanded. He knew he wanted to work in New York City and headed there in early 2004. “I wanted to go in the restaurant path.” First up was learning more about wine. He landed at Italian Wine Merchants (IWM), working on the floor as a sales associate. “I wanted to learn about high quality wines so I started reading voraciously about them. I found something I could sink my teeth into.” August moved his way up into the office dealing with wine collectors. “I was pouring amazing wines,” he said. “It really helped me develop my palette.” He became a Sales Manager then Director of Operations and Director of International Sales for the company. In 2007, his third year at IWM, August and a Cornell friend opened dell’anima, an Italian restaurant that seats 50 guests. Leaving IWM after four years, August helmed the opening of his larger restaurant L’Artusi in 2008. Anfora, his sophisticated wine bar, which focuses on natural and amphora-aged wines came along in 2010. When not working as the CEO and co-founder of the Epicurean Group which oversees the three properties, as well as concentrating on business initiatives and branding future businesses, August stays in shape by boxing at a local gym. A diehard Yankees and New York Giants fan, August likes to go to Fire Island in the summer but is happiest when he spends time with his two daughters, Kailey, 16 and Mariana, 6. A travel buff, he and his girlfriend, Becca, recently returned from Bhutan. Going back to The Albany Academy is something Cardona truly appreciates. “I still love that place,” he said. “It has a ton of history.”