Santhosh Kumar, Panera Bread
Santhosh Kumar is Panera Bread’s new chief information officer, effective Wednesday. He joins the fast-casual chain from United Natural Foods Inc., or UNFI, where he led a warehouse transformation program and cloud modernization and migrations. Before that, he spent nearly 21 years at Dunkin Brands Inc., including as SVP of IT.
Fogo de Chão hired Georganne Erickson as its new chief marketing officer. Erickson was previously U.S. CMO for Krispy Kreme for more than two years, and before that held marketing roles at Pizza Hut for nearly 10 years. She replaces Janet Gieselman, who spent more than a decade at Chão and announced her retirement in December.
Just Salad is bolstering its C-suite with three new executives.
Jennifer Lally, Just Salad
Jennifer Lally has been promoted to chief marketing officer, after serving as the chain’s VP of marketing. She has been a key architect of the brand’s marketing strategy, and fostered successful partnerships with Sesame Street, independent restaurant chef Amanda Cohen, Poppi and Barstool Sports. Previously, she was a marketing director at Nespresso USA.
Mark Berinato is the new chief experience officer at Just Salad. He previously held leadership roles at Panera Bread, where he helped shape the omni-channel experience there, as well as Cava, where he led digital initiatives. At Just Salad, Berinato will oversee the holistic guest experience, both in-store and digitally.
Stephen Blum is Just Salad’s new chief development officer overseeing the brand’s growth strategy. He also worked previously at Panera, as well as Panda Express, Au Bon Pain and MOD Pizza.
May Han, Burgerville
May Han has joined Burgerville as chief development officer. Han worked previously with Dutch Bros, and has 25 years of experience scaling businesses.
Sonny’s BBQ named George McAllan chief growth officer. Sonny’s operates nearly 100 locations in the Southeastern U.S.
Jonathan Bauman has been named executive chef of Delilah at Wynn Las Vegas. He joined the Wynn team in 2008 and has held several positions within the culinary department. Most recently, he was executive chef at the restaurant Jardin there.
Mary Dumont, The White Barn Inn
The White Barn Inn, Auberge Resorts Collection, in Kennebunk, Maine, has named Mary Dumont executive chef. Her background includes working in restaurants that include Jardiniere; Elizabeth Daniel; and Blackbird before returning to New England to open The Dunaway Restaurant in New Hampshire.
Juan Carlos “JC” Mendez is the new executive chef at Naples Grande Beach Resort in Naples, Florida. He will oversee the resort’s dining outlets, including The Catch of the Pelican, Mantra Lounge and Rhode’s End, among others. Mendez is the former executive chef at Café Alfredo, and has worked with Emeril Lagasse at Emeril Orlando.
Matthew Zita has been named executive chef at Front & Main at the Lockwood Hotel in Waterville, Maine. He previously worked with three restaurants in New York’s Hudson Yards and managed Neiman Marcus culinary locations in Dallas.
Andrew Ho, The Rosewood Hotel
The Rosewood Hotel in Washington, D.C. has promoted Andrew Ho to the role of executive chef at the restaurant Cut by Wolfgang Puck. In Washington, Ho worked previously as chef de cuisine at The Watergate Hotel, and as sous chef at the former Capella Hotel. He joined the Rosewood in 2020 as sous chef.
L’Auberge Del Mar in San Diego has three new food-and-beverage executives.
James Montejano is the new executive chef. He worked previously with the Mina Group at Aqua and International Smoke. He also spent time at La Valencia Hotel and RMD Group’s Huntress.
The new executive sous chef is Josh Richardi, who also worked at La Valencia, as well as the Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa.
Chad Berkey is the resort’s new lead bartender, and Christophe Bureau is director of outlets, including Adelaide, The Living Room Bar, Lyric Coffee and the poolside bar.
Peter Szekely has taken the role of director of restaurants for JW Marriott Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa in Clearwater Beach, Florida. He will oversee all culinary operations, including the new Latitude 28, the casual restaurant Eskape and the rooftop restaurant and bar The Deep End. He was most recently director of restaurants for W Hotel Aspen in Colorado.
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