Alex Gaudelet
Founder & Principal
General Partner
Chief Executive Officer
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Partnership Creation
Business Development
Real Estate Programming
General Partner Operations
Alex oversees all aspects of Hospitality Firm as the General Partner and CEO, supporting the day-to-day Operating Partners and the overall team.
SHORT BIO
Alex has over 30 years of hospitality experience in hotels and restaurants, including senior leadership positions as COO of BR Guest Restaurants and Vice President of Food and Beverage of the MGM Grand Las Vegas.
Alex has held leadership positions and trained in unique properties around the world, such as Le Meurice, The Breakers, The Savoy, Le Gavroche, and La Tour D’Argent. Alex is a graduate from L’Ecole Supérieure de Cuisine Française Jean Ferrandi and L’Ecole Hôtelière de Paris, Jean Drouant.
Alex has been an entrepreneur for 10 years, developing several partnerships, companies, and joint ventures. Prior to founding Hospitality Firm, Alex was the founder and CEO of INVEST HOSPITALITY, developing restaurants across the US, including Joël Robuchon restaurants in NYC and Miami, Jonathan Benno in New York, and La Table in Houston.
Steve Hanson
Principal
Partner & Strategic Advisor
As a mentor to Alex and the rest of the team, Steve brings his years of experience, relationships, and a track record of success to the partnership. Beyond the overall strategy, Steve contributes to all aspects of the firm’s development and operations.
SHORT BIO
Steve is a New York entrepreneur, renowned Restaurateur and Founder of BR Guest Restaurants, which grew to generate over $200 million in annual sales and included such iconic restaurants as Blue Water Grill, Atlantic Grill, Isabella’s, Dos Caminos and Fiamma.
Steve also founded The James Hotel brand with Equinox Founder, Danny Errico, and together they opened locations in Scottsdale and Chicago. In 2007, Steve sold 50% of BR Guest to Starwood Capital at a valuation of $150 million. Throughout his career, Steve has designed, built, and managed over 50 Hotels and Restaurants.
Steve serves on the board of Chef’s Warehouse, a publicly traded company.
Jennifer Villemin
Partner
Chief Operations Officer
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Operations
Project Development
Operational Training
Jennifer collaborates with Hospitality Firm partners and operators on strategic initiatives and oversees all new openings and project developments from an operational and training process perspective.
In the day-to-day, Jennifer manages the operations team(s) in all aspects of service, on-going training, and operational process development.
SHORT BIO
Jennifer has 17 years of hospitality experience in hotels, restaurants, and events management.
Jennifer is a graduate from EHL – Hospitality Business and Hotel Management School in Switzerland. She worked in fine dining restaurants, 5–star hotels , and the luxury watch industry including Red Carnation Hotels, La Réserve Geneva, Beau Rivage Palace, and Swatch Group.
Prior to joining Hospitality Firm, Jennifer served as the Corporate Restaurant Operations Manager at Maison Kayser USA, and opened 10 locations in New York City.
Robert Israel
Partner
Director of Real Estate
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Master Lease Administration
License Agreement Administration
Vendor Relationship
Robert oversees all aspects of Real Estate for Hospitality Firm, including the administration of master leases with Landlords, license agreements with sub-tenants, and real estate analytics. In his role, Robert will be supporting the company in business development and identification of future food halls and real estate opportunities.
SHORT BIO
Robert has over 12 years of Real Estate experience in NYC. Prior to joining HF, Robert was a Senior Associate for Beam Living, a Blackstone owned Real Estate Management Company. He focused mainly on commercial and retail assets within the NYC multifamily portfolio.
His responsibilities included reporting, budgeting, analyzing new deals, negotiations, collections, and building relationships with the tenants. Before his role at Beam, Robert managed a portfolio of co-ops and condos in NYC for 7 years.
Robert is a graduate of the University of Arizona, where he majored in Urban & Regional Development and minored in Business Management.
Zach Steinberg
Partner
HF Real Estate
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Lease Administration
Portfolio Optimization
Zach oversees Hospitality Firm’s Real Estate Management business and focuses on providing leasing strategy, lease administration, due diligence services, and manages third party vendors such as brokers and property managers on behalf of the company’s clients.
SHORT BIO
Zach is a veteran of the Commercial Real Estate industry with over 10 years of experience as a leasing broker. Before joining Hospitality Firm, Zach was a Director at Ripco Real Estate, representing best-in-class property owners and retailers such as The Blackstone Group, RFR Holdings, Ralph Lauren, and H&M, among others. There his responsibilities included letter-of-intent and lease negotiation, market analysis, site selection, and general advisement on all things related to the leasing of commercial properties.
Zach is a graduate of The University of Rhode Island where he studied Communication Studies and Psychology.
Donald Carlin
Partner
Head of Hotel F&B
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Development
Branding
Operations
Asset Management
Donald oversees all aspects of Hotel Food and Beverage partnerships for Hospitality Firm. As a partner, he provides key expertise in areas of development, branding, and operational and asset management.
SHORT BIO
Donald P Carlin is a distinguished Leader with a remarkable career spanning over 25 years in hospitality operations and development. Serving as Vice President of F&B and Asset Management for Host Hotels and Resorts, Donald managed 150 hotels worldwide, with over 200 F&B outlets and over a million square feet of event space. During this time, Donald oversaw over 100 projects, openings, renovations, and outsourcings.
His career in hospitality also includes time with BR Guest Restaurants, Vail Resorts, Starr Restaurants, and Darden Restaurants. With expertise in all facets of hospitality, Donald has cultivated substantial experience working with recognized names across the industry.
Prior to joining Hospitality Firm, Donald was a Senior Vice President of Operations and owned his own hospitality consulting company, as well as his own restaurants. Donald studied Biology and Business Administration at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Victor Santibanez
Partner
Culinary Director
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Recipe Development
Culinary Operations