OSJ: First off, congratulations. You are very newly-weds!

AW: Yes, we were married this weekend. On Trunk Bay. It was beautiful. We had a great sunset.


OSJ: So how did you guys discover St. John?

DW: I came here for the first time about 20 years ago. Back in the late 1980’s, I worked down here for awhile, at the Greenhouse on St. Thomas.  I moved to DC and went to school at Georgetown University, and later  moved to the Bahamas, where I ended up running about a half dozen bars and restaurants.

AW: Dave introduced me to St. John two years ago. We came for a visit, and just kept coming back.


OSJ: Why did you decide you wanted to run a bar and restaurant on St. John?

DW: We have six bars and restaurants in Columbus, Georgia and we wanted to downsize. We wanted to settle down someplace and just run one business and we decided St. John was the best place to do it.  We’re in the process of selling our businesses back in Columbus.


OSJ: What kind of businesses in Columbus?

AW: Quite a mix. We’ve got a pizza place, a dance club, a piano bar, a courtyard pub and a music venue.


OSJ: So what’s with the name, The Crazy Cracker?

DW: Crazy Cracker was our dog. A little Chihuahua who had the greatest personality. He went to work with me every day and everybody loved him.  He got a hold of a palm tree seed and died a few months ago. So, this is in memory of him.


OSJ: What are your plans for The Crazy Cracker?

DW: We loved the old Duffy’s and the energy it had. We base our places on energy level.  It will be very similar.

AW: Our chef is Matthew Nicolosi. We recruited him out of South Florida. He has helped open a number of successful restaurants, and he understood our idea of “good food without attitude.”


OSJ: What do you mean by that?

DW: It seems like down here on St. John, you can get a $10 burger or a $40 entrée with ten adjectives in its name. Our menu will be innovative but affordable. Things like roasted pork wraps with fresh chips and salsa. We’re trying to strike a balance between creative food and affordable food. That’s important for us, especially in this economy.


OSJ: We know what you got the leasehold for. It was a bargain. Was there a lot of negotiating?

DW: No, they were searching for a good tenant with experience. We delivered.


OSJ: It’s a pretty cool space. Are you changing things?

AW: We fell in love with the space the minute we saw it. We’re changing the Tiki look just a bit, going for more of a hip surfer look, but we’re not changing things around that much.


OSJ: How about the music?  The crowd you hope to attract?

DW: We’ll have a Dee-Jay, but he’ll be more like a party host. There will be a lot of dance music, but it will be 80’s stuff and old Motown remixes. 


OSJ: Anything else you want to add?

AW: We are going to be a fun, party place. Not a stuffy restaurant. We’ll absolutely keep the tropical drinks and party favors and we’re hoping the bar and the dancing will be a big draw. We have high hopes of being another Back Yard or another Duffy’s. We hope we can live up to that!