NY Podiatrist Still a Chef at Heart
Some things are easy to change. In elementary-school word games, it just takes a letter to change food to foot. In life, career changes can take longer. For John Viscovich, the change came in his 34th year. In 1987, after he completed college, he and his dad opened a restaurant on Second Avenue between 49th and 50th streets in Manhattan.
But working in a restaurant can take its toll; you don’t get to see family and friends because you’re working Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. It also takes a toll on the feet, having to stand all the time. Viscovich developed arthritis in his right ankle as a result of a hockey injury in college. In 1996, he decided to go back to school to learn something new -- podiatry.
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Dr. John Viscovich |
Viscovich earned his degree from New York College of Podiatric Medicine. He commuted from his home in Briarcliff Manor to study and also kept working in the restaurant. Once completing college in 2000, he began a three-year residency at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn. He encountered a lot of foot trauma there, primarily from teenage criminals getting hurt trying to elude the police by jumping from fire escapes. In 2003, Viscovich joined Larry Rockmacher at his practice in Mount Kisco. He has since bought the practice and added an office near his home in Somers. Viscovich’s dad closed the restaurant in 2001.
You can take a man out of the kitchen, but you can’t keep him from cooking. Viscovich says he cooks every night for his wife, Laura, and 4-year-old twins, Isabella and Quinn. And when it comes to footwear in the kitchen, what does the good doctor recommend? How about no shoes like another TV cook Ina Garten, a.k.a. the “Barefoot Contessa”? “I never cook barefoot; anything with arch support.” Kitchen clogs are a good choice, he says.
Source: Bob Rozycki, Westchester Business Journal [4/3/07]
