2019 TechTable Summit

Marguerite Zabar Mariscal is the CEO of Momofuku. Marguerite joined Momofuku in 2011 as an intern. She took on design and communications for the group and was named Brand Director in 2016. In 2018, she was promoted to Chief of Staff and Creative Director. She became CEO in 2019. Marguerite has lived in New York City every year of her life except four majestic years in Maine.

Julie Rice is an entrepreneur best known for co-founding the fitness phenomenon, SoulCycle. Rice's life's work has been about building community and she served as Co-CEO at SoulCycle from 2006 to 2015 before serving as a Partner at WeWork from 2017 to 2019. She is currently the Co-Founder of LifeShop. LifeShop advises and invests in entrepreneurs and consults with businesses at scale. LifeShop is also developing original concepts in the health and happiness space. 

Danny Meyer is the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group and the founder of Shake Shack. Union Square Hospitality Group comprises some of New York’s most beloved restaurants, including Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, and more. Danny, his restaurants and chefs have earned an unprecedented 28 James Beard Awards, and Danny’s recent personal achievements include the Julia Child Award (2017) and his inclusion on the TIME 100 list of the Most Influential People in the World (2015). Danny’s first business book, Setting the Table (HarperCollins, 2006), a New York Times bestseller, examines the power of hospitality in restaurants, business and life. An active national leader in the fight against hunger, Danny serves on the board of Share Our Strength and has long supported hunger relief initiatives including City Harvest and God’s Love We Deliver.

Michael Solomonov is the executive chef and co-owner of Philadelphia’s pioneering Israeli restaurant, Zahav, and the co-author of three cookbooks. He is the 2011 James Beard Award winner for “Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic”, a 2016 James Beard Award winner for “Best International Cookbook” and “Book of the Year” for his and business partner/co-author Steven Cook’s first cookbook, Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking, and the 2017 James Beard Award's “Outstanding Chef.” In 2018, Zahav was recognized by Food & Wine Magazine as one of "The 40 Most Important Restaurants of the Past 40 Years". In May of 2019, Zahav was awarded "Outstanding Restaurant" by the James Beard Award Foundation.

In addition to his duties at Zahav, Chef Solomonov co-owns Philadelphia's Federal Donuts, Dizengoff, Abe Fisher, and Goldie. In July 2019, Solomonov brought another slice of Israeli food culture to Philadelphia with K'Far, an Israeli bakery & café. By the end of 2019, the pair will also open Merkaz, an Israeli sandwich shop – and Laser Wolf, an Israeli shipudiya restaurant – both in Philadelphia. Since 2017, Solomonov and the Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) are partners in championing Israel’s extraordinarily diverse and vibrant culinary landscape.

Jimmy Suh is the President and Founder of One Night, Inc. One Night was created to become the most trusted hotel distribution platform for both the hotels and users, alike - empowering independent hotels to maximize incremental revenue while increasing brand equity with its affiliation. For the users, One Night delivers innovative channels to discover and book independent hotels that offer unique stay experiences.

One Night launched in September 2016 with its One Night app - a same-day booking app selling distressed inventory for a curated list of highly sought-after independent hotels at great rates. The app is now operating in 18 cities.

Later this year, One Night will capitalize on the growing intersection of the social media and the sharing economy with a launch of a new online distribution channel. The channel is poised to disrupt the existing OTA’s and introduce the next generation of travel agents.

Jimmy previously served as the Chief Commercial Officer for The Standard hotels. Prior to The Standard, he has held executive positions with Loews Hotels, Kimpton Hotels, and was the managing director of The Private Label Company, a white-labeled sales and distribution technology provider for over 30 international hotels brands.

Alice Cheng is the Founder & CEO of Culinary Agents, a professional networking and job marketing website designed for the hospitality industry.

Having spent 13 years working at IBM helping companies apply technology to solve business problems, Alice brings her experience into the hospitality industry to solve inefficiencies and gaps around talent sourcing and career development. Passionate about helping people build careers, Alice takes leadership roles in mentoring across all industries with a focus on helping talent succeed in their careers.

Culinary Agents is a website to find career-related information about the hospitality industry. The platform empowers aspiring and existing talent to easily discover and apply to the best jobs. Culinary Agents also provides job marketing, recruiting and employer branding solutions to help businesses hire the best talent.

Angie started her career in Benefits with Empire BCBS and Frenkel & Company and, after more than 20 years honing her HR expertise at companies such as The Church Pension Group and AIG, followed her true love for managing teams and the food industry to Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. Angie remained at USHG for close to 15 years, building their HR team and leaving an indelible mark on those she supported and mentored.  Today she is a Managing Director for Empowered Hospitality and super proud to be supporting her HR Consulting colleagues who together with their Founder Sarah Diehl serve the entire Hospitality industry in NYC!

Basu Ratnam is the founder of INDAY Restaurants which has three existing locations in NYC and three additional restaurants under development. In addition to his work at INDAY, he currently serves as an advisor to companies in the hospitality and technology space. Prior to founding INDAY Basu was an investor at Sycamore Partners, a consumer and retail focused private equity fund and consulted at Bain & Co. where he worked with Fortune 500 clients in Consumer/Retail and Private Equity Group. Basu graduated from Brown University. INDAY combines Basu's passions for wellness, his Indian heritage and scalable businesses. 

Chris Cocca is Global Vice President of Digital at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. In this role, Chris and his teams are responsible for global distribution, ecommerce and digital product development teams, including Fourseasons.com and Four Seasons mobile app and chat. Before joining Four Seasons, Chris worked at Big Spaceship and Rogers Media in strategy and UX roles.

Sarah Robbins, a founding partner of 21c Museum Hotels, oversees all hotel, food and beverage operations, as well as human resources. A natural leader with an innate understanding of the art of gracious hospitality, Robbins draws on her exceptional experience in restaurant management and consulting to lead team members and process for the company. 

Sarah has been with 21c Museum Hotels since 2005, having previously served as Chief Hospitality Officer. Robbins, along with the 21c Museum Hotels team, oversees the hotel and restaurant development process from design to operations – while ensuring a seamless relationship between each hotel and its restaurant. Under her leadership, the company’s restaurants have earned numerous accolades, as 21c’s chefs are among the best in the country. Chef Matthew McClure from The Hive at 21c Bentonville is a five-time James Beard Foundation Semifinalist for “Best Chef: South.” Proof on Main at 21c Louisville was named to Tasting Table’s list of the “Best Hotel Bars in America” and The Hive was listed on Eater’s list of “The South’s 38 Essential Restaurants” in 2017. She is an active member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a James Beard Foundation Women in Culinary Leadership mentor and serves on the board of the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau. In 2015, she was a featured speaker at The Welcome Conference, and at the 2017 and 2018 FAB Workshop – a series of educational and inspirational workshops created by women, for women in the hospitality industry. 

Robbins began her career working for Myriad Restaurant Group at the famed Tribeca Grill in New York City, where she served in a variety of management positions. Robbins eventually left New York to return to her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky while staying on with Myriad. She continued her role as a project director and lead trainer for opening teams consulting with Noble Hospitality, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Destination Hotels and Interstate Hotels & Resorts, amongst others. Robbins was a part of the team that opened Proof on Main, ultimately accepting a permanent role with 21c in 2006. Sarah Robbins is a Captain (Ret.) in the Army Reserves and a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. She lives in Louisville Kentucky with her husband and two sons. 

Brad Hargreaves is the founder and CEO of Common, the nation’s leading residential brand enhancing the value of real estate through convenience and community with 27 coliving homes in six markets across the country. Before founding Common in early 2015, Brad was the co-founder of General Assembly, a global education institution with campuses in more than 15 cities worldwide. As part of the General Assembly founding team, Brad led the growth of the company's education business from its launch in 2011 into a global institution with over a dozen campuses. Most recently, he was a Venture Partner at Maveron, General Assembly's lead investor. Brad has been named to Vanity Fair’s “The Next Establishment”; Inc Magazine’s “30 Under 30”; Business Insider’s “Silicon Alley 100”; and Crain’s 2017 “40 Under Forty.”

Kelly Esten is the Senior Director of Product and Partner Marketing at Toast. She is responsible for translating customer needs and market insights into product roadmap, pricing, packaging and segmentation and launching new products and partnerships. She comes to Toast having spent the last six years at EnerNOC building Product Marketing from the ground up, then leading Enterprise Sales, building the go-to-market for their Energy Intelligence Software platform. She began her career at UBS in sales, finance and strategy roles. She has an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth and a B.A. in Environmental Science from Dartmouth College.

Charles Bonello is co-founder, CEO and very proud "first dad" of Vivvi Early Learning. Vivvi is the first company to provide employer sponsored child care for companies of all sizes, including full time and back up care. 

Prior to launching Vivvi, Charles was a Venture Partner at RTP Ventures, and co-founded Grand Central Tech, New York's largest, most selective and most inclusive tech ecosystem, with over 100,000 square feet and 100 companies under its purview. Previously, Charles managed the Venture Debt practice at Three Point Capital, was co-founder, Analyst and Portfolio Manager at River Twice Capital and began his career at Fred Alger Management as a Research Associate covering the consumer sector. He has contributed research and writing for a number of books, including: Superfusion: How China and America Became One Economy, Sustainable Excellence, and The Leading Indicators: A Short History of the Numbers that Rule the World.  Charles is a graduate of Tufts University and Regis High School in NYC.

Andrew Kropf is the Director of IT for Major Food Group, the New York-based restaurant group founded by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Jeff Zalaznick. Andrew oversees the implementation and optimization of technology at Major Foods 12 restaurants, including Carbone, The Grill, and ZZ's Clam Bar, and sets MFG's IT strategy to ensure the business is at the forefront of tech developments in the hospitality space. He joined MFG in 2016 and played an integral role in building out the infrastructure for the renovation and launch of The Grill, The Pool, and The Lobster Club in the Seagram Building. Andrew has 18 years of experience in managed services space, building out technology strategy and environment for companies in a variety of fields.

Andy Hooper is a restaurant industry veteran with 15+ years of people, operations, brand and technology leadership experience. He has led diverse multi-unit teams for both domestic and international brands, responsible for shaping culture, product + culinary innovation, talent development and guest satisfaction + engagement.

Andy currently serves President + COO for &pizza, the anti-establishment establishment built on the renown of its creative pies and craft beverages, shop design and the unit of its ampersand-tattooed Tribe of employees. He previously served as Chief People Officer. Prior to &pizza, Andy served as the Chief Innovation Officer and Chief People Officer for Cafe Rio Mexican Grill, and earlier in his career he held a variety of leadership roles in HR for Burger King Corporation, both domestically and internationally. Andy holds a degree in Marketing and Human Resources from the University of Miami Business school. He and his family live on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.

Meredith Sandland is the Chief Operating Office at Kitchen United. Prior to joining Kitchen United, Meredith Sandland was the Chief Development Officer for Taco Bell, a division of Yum! Brands. In that role, she added more than $1 billion in sales to the system through the addition of 1,000 restaurants. She was responsible for concept, franchise sales, expansion strategy, market planning, real estate, architecture, construction, and maintenance. She also led International Development Strategy and overall Brand Strategy in other roles during her tenure at Taco Bell. Previously, Meredith worked for more than a decade for Bain & Company, specializing in Private Equity due diligence and post-acquisition alignment of management teams and owners.

I started meditating over five years ago and now teach Vedic meditation full time. Prior to teaching, I had an exciting 20-year career in the hospitality industry as a partner in Tom Colicchio’s Crafted Hospitality.  Starting with the opening of Craft restaurant in 2001, I led operations and new project development until my departure in 2017.  The mission of our company was “Make People Happy” and for me teaching meditation is a natural extension of that same goal.  Now instead of making guests happy over dinner, I have the opportunity to teach my students a technique that can make them happy for life.  It’s the best.

Justin Rosenberg is Founder and CEO of honeygrow, a fast-casual stir-fry and salad concept founded in Philadelphia in 2012. With a mission to create a unique, spirited brand focused on simple, wholesome foods, Rosenberg has led the company's creation and growth, which today consists of 27 units. 

Prior to launching honeygrow, Rosenberg worked as an Asset Manager and Manager of Energy Services for PREIT in Philadelphia, where he was responsible for purchasing and hedging strategies, energy costing, solar power development, capital budgeting, retail re-merchandising strategies and forecasting for a portfolio of over 35 national shopping centers and malls throughout the US. 

After seven years in the finance and real estate industry, Rosenberg decided it was time to pursue his true passions of entrepreneurialism, cooking and creative brand-building. Influenced by his recent adoption of a plant-based diet and his love for design and music, he drew inspiration for a concept set to differentiate itself from the rest. To prepare himself for this new venture, Justin staged at various restaurants from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. to gain further experience in kitchen operations, cooking, and leadership. 

In 2012, the first honeygrow location opened in the Rittenhouse neighborhood of Philadelphia, and Rosenberg’s vision catapulted to the next level. Since that day, honeygrow would continue to expand its unit count and team, with sights set for becoming an enduring, sustainable organization. The company has raised over $70 million in equity financing and has grown into the Boston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington DC and the New York City metro areas. 

Justin resides in the Philadelphia suburbs with his wife and three children. His passions outside of honeygrow include Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, cooking, all-things guitar, hiking, and surfing. He is a member of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s (CHOP) Corporate Council and a board member of the Common Market Mid-Atlantic. 

Elizabeth Dunn is a James Beard Award-nominated journalist who writes about food and innovation for The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, Entrepreneur, The New Yorker, and other publications. She lives in Harlem with her husband and two sons.

With 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Nick has played an important role in helping brands develop business operations and financial strategies. Through his career, he has focused on developing high performance teams and organizations. As Vice President of Finance, he is responsible for the oversight of finance, accounting, business analysis, human resources, information technology, security and interior design teams at Blackberry Farm and related brands including Blackberry Farm Brewery, Blackberry Mountain and Blackberry Real Estate & Development Companies. Nick also plays an active role in the administration and management of the Blackberry Farm Foundation. 

Prior to Blackberry Farm, Nick held multiple leadership positions with Ruby Tuesday in operations, human resources, finance and IT. He is a graduate from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a B.A. in Mathematics and an M.B.A from LSUS. Outside of work, Nick is an avid cyclist and craft beer enthusiast and enjoys spending time with his wife and children. 

Caroline is responsible for sourcing, reviewing, and optimizing business opportunities for RSE Ventures, a private investment firm founded by Stephen M. Ross and Matt Higgins, which specializes in incubating, operating, and growing consumer brands, with a focus on food, technology, sports and media. 

Caroline works across the RSE portfolio, which includes Momofuku, Milk Bar, Fuku, &pizza, and Bluestone Lane among its restaurant investments. Caroline also leads due diligence surrounding RSE Ventures CEO Matt Higgins’ restaurant investments on Shark Tank, where he is a recurring Shark. In addition, she oversees RSE’s partnership with media-marketing company VaynerX and serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, leading deal processes for new investment opportunities and monitoring firm and industry performance.

Caroline holds a BA in Economics and Environmental Studies with a certificate in Community Action and Public Policy from Connecticut College.

Giancarlo Fiorarancio is VP of Hospitality Technology/IT for the Howard Hughes Corporation, a publicly-traded real estate development and hospitality management company with a portfolio of hotels, restaurants and retail including the newly renovated Seaport District neighborhood and Pier 17 in New York City. He is currently leading the company’s strategy to implement and scale a variety of hospitality-focused systems while delivering unique guest experiences for their growing Hospitality Division.

Giancarlo has over 20 years’ experience in leading technology and innovation teams at a variety of retailers and restaurant groups focused on bridging the gap between technology, operations and the guest experience. His in-depth knowledge of both front-of-house and back-of-house has allowed his teams to deliver solutions that have resulted in operational efficiencies, digital transformation and frictionless commerce. Prior to Howard Hughes, Giancarlo has held senior leadership roles at Flywheel Sports, Shake Shack, Le Pain Quotidien and Dean & Deluca. 

Bill Chait is the Managing Partner of S/III LA. He has been involved in the restaurant industry for more than 30 years during which time he has developed and operated over 20 highly successful restaurant concepts.

Through 2015, Chait operated as the founder and Managing Partner of Sprout LA, he was responsible for the development and the opening of several of Los Angeles' most exciting restaurants including restaurants such as Bestia, Petty Cash, Republique, Barrel and Ashes, Otium, Redbird, Sotto, Rivera, and the Rose Café and Restaurant.

After leaving Sprout, Chait formed S/III, a development company and investment vehicle for restaurants. As founder & CEO of S/III, in addition to his principal project, Tartine, he has partnered with Carl Schuster’s Cast Iron Partners. Together they developed The Fields LA, a food hall adjacent to the Banc of California Stadium, home of the new LAFC Major League Soccer team. The duo are also working on the restaurant at the forthcoming Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax.

In 2016, Chait joined the wildly popular Tartine Bakery, co-founded by Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt, as a managing partner and investor. In this role, he is focusing on the next phase for Tartine and their expansion to Los Angeles, and additional locations in San Francisco and Seoul Korea. In 2018, he partnered with Michelin-starred chef Raphael Francois, to open Tesse, a French-leaning restaurant located in heart of West Hollywood. Most recently, Chait took on the revamp and new ownership of Church and State, one of the original restaurants lauded for helping to kick off the Arts District restaurant boom.

Chait and his restaurants have been featured in countless publications including, most recently, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Bon Appétit, Nation’s Restaurant News, Sunset Magazine, and Los Angeles Magazine. He is on the Advisory Board for OpenTable. Chait attended the University of California, Berkeley and is married and lives in Los Angeles.

Nicholas Miller is co-founder and CEO of events platform Gather. In 2013, Miller and his co-founders launched Gather to help restaurants, venues and hospitality groups make event management simpler and more fun. Under Miller’s leadership, Gather has become the ultimate growth engine for hospitality businesses of all sizes and now works with over 6,000 restaurants and venues throughout the United States.

Prior to founding and leading Gather, Nick worked at Bain & Company as a senior associate. Miller graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in philosophy and psychology.

Brita brings 15 years of investment, strategy and M&A experience within the food and food tech verticals. She is recognized as an expert on the food tech ecosystem and works with start-ups, entrepreneurs, and institutions. Brita’s comprehensive Food Tech & Media Landscape map and analysis on the sector is regularly used by participants in the space to understand the quickly evolving ecosystem. Before joining Better Food Ventures, Brita founded the food tech advisory firm Rosenheim Advisors, and previously was an investment banker focused on the consumer and media industries at ThinkEquity Partners, SG Cowen & Co. and Robertson Stephens.

Dana Cowin is a tastemaker and innovator in media, food and style. Her work spans public speaking, podcasts, social, video, TV, magazines, books, restaurants and events. An award-winning influencer in the food world, Cowin is building brands, speaking across the country and hosting a podcast, Speaking Broadly on Heritage Radio Network and all major podcast platforms.

On Speaking Broadly, Cowin interviews women in the hospitality industry who share the stories of their lives--their passions, their successes, their challenges and their wisdom for moving forward. Cowin has been invited to record Speaking Broadly across the country and around the world--from Japan to Montana to Portland, OR.

Cowin started a career coaching business in 2018 that focuses on helping people identify the dreams that are locked inside themselves and the devils that are holding them back. With just one or two sessions, Cowin is able to help clients set out a new, actionable plans for the future.

In 2017, Cowin launched a Brand/Editorial/Food/Digital/PR/Marketing consultancy for businesses as diverse as the farm-fast concept Dig, where she's Chief Brand Advisor, and Neiman Marcus and the Trust for Governors Island.

For 21 years (1995-2016), Cowin was the Editor in Chief of Food & Wine magazine. She transformed Food & Wine into a must-read lifestyle publication and digital outlet for anyone who wanted to track culinary trends, up-and-coming chefs, news about travel destinations, entertaining, wine and spirits.

Cowin has a longstanding commitment to helping others. She's on the board of Hot Bread Kitchen and Food Education Fund, as well as on the advisory board of Women in Hospitality United and on the Food Council of City Harvest.