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OPENINGS & PRE-OPENINGS

RESTAURANT & HOTEL F&B OPENING ADVISORY

An opening is not an event. It is the first test of every decision made during development — concept, menu, kitchen design, team structure, systems, and standards. Most openings that struggle do so because those decisions were made independently, without operational discipline connecting them.

I work with ownership teams, hotel management, and culinary leadership from pre-opening through the first operational period to make sure the concept that opens is the one that was designed — and that it performs from day one.

WHAT THIS ENGAGEMENT COVERS

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT & VALIDATION 

Before a single piece of equipment is ordered or a lease is signed, the concept needs to be stress-tested. I work with ownership and culinary leadership to define the concept with operational precision: guest profile, menu direction, service model, competitive positioning, and financial targets.

PRE-OPENING PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Timelines, vendor coordination, equipment procurement, permits, staffing plans, and pre-opening budgets. I track the critical path from development to opening day and identify where decisions are falling behind before they become problems.

KITCHEN DESIGN WORKFLOW PLANNING 

Working alongside design and construction teams to ensure the physical kitchen supports the concept's operational demands — from equipment selection to station logic to traffic flow during service.

MENU DEVELOPMENT & COSTING 

Full menu development for the opening program: concept alignment, dish development, recipe standardization, full cost breakdown, and pricing strategy. The menu that opens has been engineered, not assembled.

TEAM RECRUITMENT ADVISORY 

Defining the organizational structure, writing position profiles, and advising on key culinary and FOH hires. The team is the operation — getting the right people into the right roles before opening is not optional.

PRE-OPENING TRAINING & SERVICE SIMULATIONS 

Staff training on systems, standards, and service protocols. Mock service and soft opening management to identify and resolve operational issues before the concept is in front of paying guests and press.

POST-OPENING STABILIZATION 

The first 90 days after opening are operationally critical. I remain engaged through the stabilization period to adjust systems, address emerging issues, and ensure the team is performing to standard under real conditions.

WHO THIS IS FOR

  • Hotel F&B directors preparing for a concept transition or ownership review

  • Restaurant groups that have scaled without formalizing their systems

  • Operators experiencing consistent food cost overruns or execution inconsistency

  • Ownership teams preparing for a management change or relaunch

OPENING ON SCHEDULE IS THE MINIMUM. OPENING WITH A TEAM THAT KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE DOING AND A CONCEPT THAT'S READY TO PERFORM — THAT'S THE WORK.

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