Milwaukee restaurateur John Vassallo, call him Johnny V., expanded his presence in "Mowaukee" in March with the purchase of Grenadier's, the once-popular upscale restaurant downtown. In less than six months, he's made his new place, Moceans, into one of the best-reviewed seafood restaurants in town. Recently, he changed his Mo's Market to a casual Italian dining spot, Mo's Cucina and just weeks ago OMC reported on his plans for a new 24-hour coffee house called Mocha-A Coffee Bistro at 124 E. Wisconsin Ave.

He's all about innovation and no stranger to risk, Vassallo opened Mo's -- A Place for Steaks downtown in 1999, a time when most of the power structure in town was still pessimistic about the neighborhood and its ability to sustain upscale, quality development.

Needless to say, Johnny V. has proven many wrong, and the former bartender and high school dropout has more than made his mark on the Milwaukee restaurant and bar scene. With more plans in the works, a buzzing Mo's -- A Place for Steaks still growing in downtown Milwaukee and in Indianapolis, too, Vassallo sat down with OMC to talk about his successes, failures, attitudes and, of course, his thoughts on Milwaukee (excuse us, Mowaukee).

OMC: Give us the Johnny V. story, in a nutshell.

Johnny Vassallo: I was born in Racine, moved to Milwaukee when I was 2. My father is from Italy and worked in a restaurant (for) the first part of my life, and then he went on to sell food. My mom is from Iowa, she's Irish, she came to Milwaukee to go to Alverno College and grew up in Greenfield. Five brothers and sisters, there were eight of us in the house. And just from an early age I liked cutting deals and doing business stuff ... so from buying and selling bubble gum and baseball cards when I was a kid to T-shirts, to fireworks, to a huge paper route.

I started working about 60 hours a week by the time I was 16, didn't graduate high school. Went to Greenfield, Marquette High School. It was an unbelievably good experience in retrospect, I just wasn't ready for it. I don't think I was challenged or whatever my situation was. And then started bartending when I was 21.

OMC: Where were you bartending?

JV: Scotty's Pub, 28th and Forest Home. The guy was the master, he still is. He's the king, taught me everything. As he would always say, he taught me everything I know and half of what he knows. He's a great guy, a great mentor, a great teacher, really knew the business. He really, really knew what it took to get people to come this far. Next, I opened a flower shop, then I owned a jewelry store, bought a few houses over on the South Side, too. Then I bought Smuggler's, which is now Slim McGinn's. And then owned a Subway submarine shop over on Marquette's campus. Then I got involved with my parents at Johnny V's Classic Café in West Allis.

OMC: What year did that open?

JV: That was May 5 of 1992, and I took over for them on Jan. 1 of '93.

OMC: That's still open, right?

JV: Yeah. Actually in '96 my parents and my brother Jaime bought me out. Sold my flower shop in '96 and closed my bar on 10th and Lincoln, Johnny V's Social Club, which I opened Nov. 6 of '89. First bar I ever owned. The jewelry store ... lost a couple hundred grand in that, that was a very good experience. And then I opened up another Johnny V's Classic Café in West Bend. That was probably my greatest learning experience, lost about a million bucks in three years and had to drive 42 minutes each way.

My boiler broke in my house so I didn't have heat in my house for three years. It was (an) interesting time, a lot of reflection. At that time -- I pretty much figured and believed since everybody told me it was me getting everything done. I was the man, I believed them. Now I realize I just lead a team, if I have a great team and I'm a good leader and a good manager things will work out, if I'm not then they don't work out.

So, I got out of that, scraped a little bit of money together, opened up Nacho Mamma's (775 N. Jackson St.) and that was a very good success. Sold that to my brothers. Took that money and opened a place called Papa Luigi's in West Bend in 1999.