This service is available to all foodservice operators attending the Expo on a first-come, first-served basis. Appointments are limited - advance reservations are strongly suggested to secure your time for a personal one on one 5 to 15 minute consultation with our experts.
Christine M. Mueller, Esq.
Associate
Pettit, Kohn, Ingrassia & Lutz
Christine M. Mueller received her Juris Doctorate degree from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. While earning her degree Christine received an Honors-at-Entrance Scholarship and was the recipient of the CALI Excellence of the Future Award in Advocacy. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Humanities from Valparaiso University in Indiana. Christine was admitted to the Illinois State Bar in 2002 and the California State Bar in 2004.
Prior to joining Pettit Kohn, Christine focused on all areas of labor and employment law including litigation and advising employers. She also has an extensive background in general civil litigation and is experience in federal and state court, at both the trial and appellate levels. Her primary practice area focuses on Employment & Labor matters.
Practice areas:
Business Litigation
Employment & Labor
Affiliations:
American Inns of Court, Florenzo V. Lopardo Chapter (Chair, Membership Committee, 2008 to present)
Lawyers Club, North County Chapter
North County Bar Association, Board of Directors (2011)
San Diego County Bar Association
State Bar of California
United States District Courts, Central and Southern Districts of California
David Scott Peters is a restaurant expert, coach, trainer and speaker, specializing in teaching independent restaurant owners how to use systems for increased sales and increased profits. He is the nationally acclaimed restaurant coach whose unique “SMART Systems” approach to boosting profits has earned him the title of, “The man who can walk into any restaurant in America and find $10,000 in undiscovered cash before he hits the back door – Guaranteed!” Visit http://blog.TheRestaurantExpert.com to learn more tips, tricks and secrets for independent restaurant owners.
Andrew Kienle is a Partner and a member of Hart, King &Coldren'slitigation department. Mr. Kienle represents clients involved in complex business, real estate, and employment matters in state and federal court. He has extensive experience representing his clients in litigation, as well as arbitration and mediation. Mr. Kienle has been very successful in representing restaurant clients in numerous litigation matters. He may be reached at 714-432-8700 or via email at akienle@hkclaw.com.
Lucy Logan, founder and CEO of FoodCALC, LLC, has a track record of nearly a decade of industry excellence. Lucy is certified to advise on FDA product labeling regulations and is a recognized expert on nutritional practices in the industry. Her specialties include the design and development of online nutritional applications, marketing and monetizing nutrition information, profit building using nutrition information, and menu labeling laws.
Session takeaways:
- Learn about how nutrition is changing the industry and how it can benefit your business.
- Discover strategies for building customer loyalty and retention through nutrition.
- Maximize your existing menu to tap into the healthy dining market.
Darnell Holloway
Darnell Holloway is Yelp's Manager of Local Business Outreach. He meets with local business owners across the country to educate them on the value of engaging with their Yelp listings, and joining the conversations happening about their businesses. He works with Yelp's Small Business Advisory Committee to deliver constructive feedback from the business community to the different divisions within Yelp. He also hosts regular instructional webinars about Yelp's free online tools, and provides informative content to Yelp's blog for business owners. Prior to joining Yelp in 2009, Darnell worked as an Associate in Institutional Equity Research Sales for Thomas Weisel Partners. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Davis.
Dale Willerton
The Lease Coach
Dale Willerton is The Lease Coach -America's #1 Authority on leasing commercial space for restaurant tenants. As a senior Lease Consultant, Willerton works with independent and multi-unit restaurant owners, franchisees and their franchisors across North America www.TheLeaseCoach.com
Willerton is author of NEGOTIATE YOUR RESTAURANT LEASE OR RENEWAL and speaks at major restaurant and franchise shows and conventions. With over 1000 successful consulting projects to his credit, The Lease Coach provides restaurant tenants with coaching, consulting, new & lease renewal negotiations and mid-term rent reductions.
www.HelpULeaseRestaurant.com
Call 1-800-738-9202 or email DaleWillerton@TheLeaseCoach.com
Judy Hsu
Marketing and Consumer Resesarch Manager
judy@theculinaryedge.com
Drawing from her traditional marketing and research background, Judy brings a mix of both creative intelligence and analytical discipline to The Culinary Edge.
Education & Training:
In addition to her degrees in Marketing and Decision Sciences from Miami University of Ohio, Judy also earned a culinary degree from Kendall College in Chicago.
Professional Highlights:
Judy began her career in the CPG world serving a number of capacities, including R&D lab and sensory support for Nestle USA, consumer market research for Procter & Gamble, and most recently marketing and sales consulting with The Nielsen Company Kraft Foods account team.
In addition to her “day job”, Judy kept one foot in the kitchen by serving as a culinary concierge for the City of Chicago Office of Tourism, a teaching assistant for the City of Chicago’s World Kitchen cooking class series, and staging at several fine-dining restaurants.
At The Culinary Edge:
Now, at The Culinary Edge, Judy oversees all client consumer research initiatives. Specializing in business-issue driven solutions, Judy is dedicated to finding the right research method for our clients with the goal of delivering information that is simultaneously meaningful, insightful and actionable.
Quick Tip:
Consumer is king. Taking the time to first research what motivates your guests on the most basic of level is key to making smart business decisions. Every action you take should first be filtered by the question: Is this going to enhance or take away from my guests’ experience?
Areas of Expertise:
Consumer Behavior - Understand how basic human behavior and our natural reactions to macro societal trends (e.g. the economy, health concerns, etc.) impact how your guests interact with your brand
Consumer & Marketing Research - Best practices on how to properly gather insights regarding what your guests are thinking and doing and how that may impact your business decisions. Understand the value of consumer vetting and better understand the right research design for you
Target Marketing - Understand that "not all guests are created equal"--in other words, know how to identify your core consumer as well as how to streamline
Molly McGrath
Project Manager, Chef
molly@theculinaryedge.com
Molly's strong background in business coupled with her strong background in the food industry exemplifies the blending of both worlds at The Culinary Edge.
Education & Training:
Molly graduated from Northwestern University with degrees in Communications and Business Institutions. Later, she went on to earn a degree in Culinary Arts at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.
Professional Highlights:
Molly began her career working in project development coordination for Chicago Cares, where she helped to execute a day of volunteer service for over 3000 Chicagoans. Afterward, she moved into marketing, focusing on domestic and international clients for McMaster-Carr Supply.
Molly then made the switch to the world of food, and worked for top Chicago restaurants including Spiaggia, Blackbird and North Pond. After culinary school, she moved to California with a position at the national restaurant group, Hillstone.
At The Culinary Edge:
Now, at The Culinary Edge, Molly is able to merge her business acumen with her passion for food, managing the overall success of all of our client projects. Molly is able to lend her expertise across many areas including creative concept development, recipe development, operations optimization, commercialization as well as staff training and launch support.
Quick Tip:
In the menu innovation process, it's easy to get bogged down with reasons why a good idea won't work. However, it's important to remember that great ideas are often pulled from a sea of mediocre ones. The key, then, is not to come up with perfect ideas straight out of the gate but to allow yourself to think big. Create inspirational ideas–lots of them– and save the filtering process for later.
Areas of Expertise:
Operations Optimization - Understand how everything from labor allocation, kitchen layout, equipment selection, vendor partnerships, ingredient sourcing, etc. play into the overall efficiency and effectiveness of how your restaurant operates on a daily basis
Concept Development - Best practices when it comes to creative innovation in the restaurant industry including everything from the initial ideative stages to consumer validation to test marketing to launch
Recipe Development - The art and science of properly testing recipes for large scale production, starting from gold-standard bench testing all the way to full scale commercialization
Staffing and Training - Setting up your business for success with the right people. Understand best practices when it comes to human resourcing as well as training both your front and back-of-the-house staff
AARON NOVESHEN
Founder & President
aaron@theculinaryedge.com
Given his extensive experience and industry success, Aaron Noveshen has rightly earned the reputation of being one of the country's most prolific experts on all things restaurant, as well as one of the industry's most trusted business advisors.
Education & Training:
After graduating from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, Aaron went on to work in the world of fine dining, taking on chef duties at such restaurants as L'Orangerie in Los Angeles as well as Alain Rondelli and La Scene in San Francisco.
Professional Highlights:
Aaron has a long history of successful restaurant industry experience, with his most recent venture being the creation of The Culinary Edge, which he founded in 2002. For nearly 10 years, The Culinary Edge has grown to be one of the most successful culinary consultancy firms in the country, known not only for its creative solutions but also for its proven results.
In addition to playing a very active role in the day-to-day management of The Culinary Edge, Aaron is also the co-founder and president of the award-winning Pacific Catch restaurants based in San Francisco as well as an active partner of the west coast food truck group, Mobi Munch, home to Ludo Lefebvre's Ludo's Fried Chicken truck in Los Angeles and the Chairman Bao truck in San Francisco. Aaron also co-founded World Wrapps, Inc.., the restaurant chain responsible for bringing the now ubiquitous wrap sandwich into the world and winner of the Nation's Restaurant News Hot Concept award in 1996.
Aaron is a great advocate for the restaurant industry as a whole, representing both on a state and local level as a director on the boards of both the California Restaurant Association as well as the Golden Gate Restaurant Association.
At The Culinary Edge:
In addition to founding The Culinary Edge, Aaron also plays a very active role in the day-to-day project-work, adding his vast industry knowledge to all of the work that we do ensuring that, at the end of the day, all efforts lead to increased profits for our clients.
Quick Tip:
Be cautious of passing trends. Smart operators are those who are able to separate the wheat from the chafe. Adopt only those trends that compliment your restaurant's brand and always do so in a way that is the meaningful to your guests.
Areas of Expertise:
Operations Optimization -Understand how everything from labor allocation, kitchen layout, equipment selection, vendor partnerships, ingredient sourcing, etc. play into the overall efficiency and effectiveness of how your restaurant operates on a daily basis
Concept Development - Best practices when it comes to creative innovation in the restaurant industry including everything from the initial ideative stages to consumer validation to test marketing to launch
New Business Planning - Navigating the often complex world of investor relations, creating a compelling business plan and generating the proper funding to get your new concept off the ground
Recipe Development - The art and science of properly testing recipes for large scale production, starting from gold-standard bench testing all the way to full scale commercialization
Staffing and Training - Setting up your business for success with the right people. Understand best practices when it comes to human resourcing as well as training both your front and back-of-the-house staff
Donald is the Vice President of Consulting Services at Gaming Hospitality Experts. He has an impressive career of over twenty five years in the gaming hospitality industry. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master's Degree in Hospitality Management from Fairleigh Dickinson University and is currently working towards a doctoral degree in organizational leadership. Donald was the Executive Director of Human Resources and Quality Assurance at the Tropicana Resort Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City where he was responsible for licensing, benefits, training, recruiting, guest service delivery and administration. In this position, Donald handled the complete spectrum of human resource functions. Donald has an outstanding ability to interview and assess candidates. He also has a complete venue of the competitive environment of this industry and brings that understanding to clients worldwide.