The Manhasset-born brothers may well be Long Island's tallest restaurateurs, with Gillis standing 6 feet, 4 inches tall and George, 6 feet, 5 inches. Their father, James Poll, was originally in the shipping business, but in 1960 he opened Pappas of Sheepshead Bay, a Brooklyn seafood restaurant. George's first food-service job was as a cashier in one of the restaurants his father operated in Manhattan. In 1980, along with middle brother Dean Poll, the brothers opened a Pappas satellite in Williston Park which, after remodeling in 1989, became Riverbay. (Dean now owns Riverbay, along with the Boat House in Central Park.)
In 1986, George, now 45, and Gillis, in his 50s, opened Bryant & Cooper in Roslyn, the first of their forays into what Gillis calls "bringing the sophistication of Manhattan to Long Island." In 1993, they opened Major's Steak House in East Meadow; a Woodbury location opened in 1995.
Cipollini, their Italian-Mediterranean restaurant at the eastern edge of the Americana Manhasset shopping center, opened in 2005. When another space in the Americana became available, they wondered "what don't we have on Long Island?" The answer was an Asian mega-eatery along the lines of Manhattan's Morimoto, Buddha Bar and Buddokan. Next on their do-open list? Said Gillis, "a bistro nearby."
