In this role, I was responsible for a $1million+/yr wine program and service staff hiring and training. I developed a Continuing Education Training that is still used throughout the company.

As the Assistant Culinary Manager, I was responsible for daily kitchen operations, ordering, and inventory management. Staff coaching and mentoring were also integral within this position.

As a consultant working with this multi-unit restaurant group, I designed a beverage training program for a 100+ unit restaurant group. I also designed, planned, and executed a company wide sales contest to promote a new line of beverages for the company. An additional project I spearheaded was a reworking of their host/hostess training program to increase efficiency and decrease table turn times.

During my time as an operations intern, I trained and worked each position within the restaurant, both front and back of house. I was also selected to join the opening team of a new restaurant for my final 3 weeks, which consisted of training all of the new hosts within the restaurant.

As the Wine Buyer for Hillstone Restaurant Group, I was responsible for overseeing the wine and beverage program for 50+ restaurants. In addition to purchasing directly for our Napa Valley locations, I oversaw buyers at our other restaurants to ensure constant improvement of our programs. I worked closely with wineries, distributors, and importers to gain access to exclusive wines, negotiate pricing programs, and maintain long term relationships for all of our restaurants.

Hillstone Restaurant Group is a privately-held collection of upscale restaurants with 45+ locations in major cities across the country. Some of our more well-known operations are Gulfstream, Houston's, R+D Kitchen, and our newest location, East Hampton Grill. The uncompromising quality of our food, service, art, and architecture has set the standard in our industry for nearly three decades. Our secret? A progressive management culture unlike any in our industry, in which the craft of managing and developing people is as important as culinary arts itself.