Operations

Maggiano's Little Italy's new president comes from the high-end resort world

Former MGM Resorts exec Dominique Bertolone has been tapped to lead the next wave of growth for Brinker International's Italian casual-dining brand.
Maggiano's Little Italy
The new president is originally from Monaco and speaks fluent Italian, French and English. |Photo: Shutterstock.

Maggiano’s Little Italy has a new president who has years of experience at high-end resorts—and even worked at a palace.

Brinker International on Friday said Dominique Bertolone has been named the new president. He will replace Steve Provost, who announced in July that he planned to retire at the end of August.

Bertolone has more than 20-years of experience in the restaurant industry and served most recently as senior vice president of food and beverage strategy and development at MGM Resorts International in Las Vegas, where he oversaw that company’s large portfolio of restaurants, bars and nightlife venues.

Before moving into MGM’s corporate leadership, he worked at Bellagio Resort & Casino for 15 years, where he served as director of service, executive director of food and beverage, and vice president of food and beverage.

Dominique Bertolone

Dominique Bertolone.|Photo courtesy of Maggiano's.

Bertolone is originally from Monaco, where he also worked with SBM Hospitality Group at properties like Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo Beach, Monte Carlo Golf Club and Palais Princier de Monaco. The latter is the prince of Monaco’s residence, which is also a museum.

“Dominique is the perfect leader to usher in the next wave of Maggiano’s growth,” said Kevin Hochman, Brinker’s president and CEO, in a statement. “His experience leading all types of foodservice concepts has direct application to accelerating the three Maggiano’s channels of dine-in, off-premise and banquets, as well as developing the next generation of Maggiano’s restaurants.”

Hochman said Bertolone also has an “impressive track record of leading employee engagement, developing one-of-a-kind guest experiences, achieving operational excellence and elevating brands.”

A sister brand to Chili’s, Maggiano’s has 52 restaurants across the country.

 

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Despite their complaints, customers keep flocking to Chipotle

The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.

Operations

Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

Financing

The Tijuana Flats bankruptcy highlights the dangers of menu miscues

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.

Trending

More from our partners