Abraham Paskowitz mini-bio: In SURFWISE, Abraham Paskowitz jokingly calls himself the “first girl” of the family, having used his culinary skills and empathy to help his mother manage daily life in the camper. Tired of his competitive brothers, Abe left his family in Baja California at age 15 with $50 in his pocket to pursue romance and a series of restaurant jobs in Southern California. Interviewed for SURFWISE while working as a chef at San Clemente’s Beach Fire Bar & Grill, he has recently moved to Spring Hill, Florida, and opened “Our Pots and Pans,” a restaurant and catering company. Despite his passion for cooking, surfing has always been a big part of Abe’s life. He ran the family surf camp for a whole decade (1984-94), and produced a number of major longboard surfing competitions, including the Cabo Classic (with Herbie Fletcher) and, for six straight years, “A Tribute to the Greats Longboard Classic.” In the mid-1990’s, working with Tommy Hilfiger, he developed a line of Paskowitz family surfwear, and began his own brand, called Jaisle. Near the end of SURFWISE, Abe and his wife Shelly are seen introducing their newborn baby, Levi, to grandfather Dorian for the first time at the Honolulu Airport. He has two other daughters, Naomi Paskowitz and Caia Jaisle.
