A native of Sparta, Greece, Harry Poulakakos traveled to the United States in 1956 in hopes of finding a wealthy uncle in America. When the man turned out to be a coffee shop counterman, Harry took his first job in Brooklyn at an ice cream parlor. After a brief stint in Manhattan at George's restaurant learning the bar, Harry found himself at the historical Oscar's Delmonico's. In 1972, after fourteen years in management positions within Oscar's Delmonico's, Harry found the perfect space for his own venture, Harry's at Hanover Square, in the basement of the historical India House building. Together with his wife Adrienne, Harry successfully opened three locations, with additional spaces within the American Stock exchange building as well as The Woolworth Building. Harry's at Hanover Square quickly became a Wall Street institution, and was immortalized in novels such as Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities as well as Brett Easton Ellis's American Psycho. In 1976 Adrienne gave birth to a son, Peter, whose birth was celebrated on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. As Peter grew he took pride in working within his father's restaurants, from sweeping the floor of the bar to eventually running the outgoing business during the summers. In 1998, after graduating from Georgetown University, Peter opened his first restaurant, Bayard's, a French American restaurant located on the second floor of the India House building directly above Harry's at One Hanover Square. His first pastry shop, Financier Patisserie, with partner and executive pastry chef Eric Bedoucha, was opened in 2002 on Stone Street, followed in 2003 by Ulysses' Folkhouse.