About Peter Leffkowitz

At 50, he's got a lot under his belt. But he'll only let you know if it's part of what you need to know. When you meet him, he'll be in Carhartt coveralls with a dog attached to his side. "Oh, My God, we're getting trained by a carpenter with a college degree." Almost. No degree.

You get driven to his ranch and the first things you realize is the congruence between how he is and how he works. Handmade, solid, extra thick, honest. Each thing is only what it needs to be. You've walked into true work ethic that parallels an almost 'Amish like' reasoning. There is always a team of horses hitched up. A heavy draft horse team, hooked up to a farm implement or wagon. He works a seventy five acre ranch without tractors. Just draft horses and mules. He once told me, (I oversee the financial side of his companies), "You can't harness up a team every morning, bringing a different mood or character into the barn. The inconsistency makes your horses (or staff) nervous about what you expect from them. People also lose trust in you when your persona changes daily".

Be warned, when he listens to you, he slides past everything you want him to be a part of. He settles instead into what is really there. And only there. Somehow, he peels you. No matter how many layers you put on, the man finds your truth and that's what he works with. Some come and go in that discomfort. Some find excitement, renewal and real peace in their discoveries. These folks become Morgan Consulting Group clients and more important, his personal guests.

When you study his progression it appears that he has always stayed on the "front line" of a job long enough to get it figured. Then he starts this tweaking process and before you realize he's produced a system that appears more logical, ergonomic... it fits the user better. This has always thrust him into a demonstrating or teaching role.

For instance, 2 years at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh was enough. He couldn't see wasting 2 more years on pre-coursework before he touched a real kitchen in his hospitality management curriculum. So, he quits, waits tables at Victoria Station Restaurant until he can afford the flight to London. He arrives in 1976 and does an apprenticeship as a Sous Chef at Frederick's of Augusta in Islington. Peter returns to the States with great ideas and still no culinary degree.