Forktales

Stephanie Jaeger is the President of Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI) and a veteran of the restaurant industry with over 35 years of experience. She also serves as a Learning and Development Specialist for the Joey Restaurant Group, where she focuses on training and team culture. LDEI is a global philanthropic organization of women leaders in food, beverage, and hospitality. With o...

Yanni Hufnagel, a former college basketball coach turned entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of Lemon Perfect, a fast-growing enhanced water brand. With a background in coaching at top programs like Harvard and Vanderbilt, Hufnagel applied his competitive drive and leadership skills to disrupt the beverage industry with a health-focused, innovative brand. Lemon Perfect is a fast-growing beverage...

Eat’n Park is a regional restaurant chain known for its family-friendly atmosphere, classic American comfort food, and iconic Smiley Cookies. Founded in 1949 in Pittsburgh, it offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with a focus on fresh, made-to-order meals. The brand emphasizes hospitality, community involvement, and sustainability initiatives. Parkhurst Dining, a division of Eat’n Park...

UNiTE Food is a Yorba Linda, California-based company that produces globally inspired protein bars. The brand offers unique flavors such as Churro, Mexican Hot Chocolate, and PB & Jelly, aiming to bring diversity to the wellness industry. Each bar provides around 10 grams of protein and is gluten-free, catering to health-conscious consumers seeking both nutrition and nostalgic tastes.  Clara o...

EPISODE 92 – Stephen Baldi – President of Baldi Management Group  EPISODE 91 – Nick McMillan and Amanda Signorelli – Managing Partners of Golden Steer EPISODE 90 – Anand Gala – Managing partner of Gala Capital Partners EPISODE 89 – Andy Gellert – President of Gellert Global  EPISODE 88 – Shannon O’Shields – VP of Marketing for R...

Stephen oversees Baldi Management Group (BMG), an airport concessions and management consulting company that manages restaurants in Reagan National Airport, JFK International Airport and Dulles International Airport.  Established in 2008, BMG operates various food and beverage outlets, including franchises like Dunkin’ Donuts, Potbelly, and Smashburger.  Stephen is an alumnus of Georgetown U...

The Golden Steer Steakhouse, established in 1958, is Las Vegas’s oldest continuously operating steakhouse. It has been a favored dining spot for numerous celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe. The restaurant is renowned for its classic ambiance, featuring red leather booths named after its famous patrons, tuxedoed servers, and tableside preparations of Caesa...

Anand is the Founder and Managing Partner of Gala Capital Partners, a diversified investment and holding company with interests in chain restaurants, software & technology, real estate development, franchising and public equities investment. He has spent the past 35 years in various executive capacities within the Software, Real Estate & Restaurant Industries. Gala Capital Partners invests...

Andy is president of Gellert Global Group. The company imports more than 5,500 unique food items from more than 60 countries and is one of the largest food importers in the world. Gellert Global Group is home to 12 companies, led by Atalanta, the largest privately-held food importer in the U.S. Gellert Global is a third-generation family-run business. The Gellert Global Group comprises many of the...

Shannon is VP of Marketing for Rubix Foods. Rubix bills itself as “a premier culinary and food science-focused provider of flavor and functional ingredients, offering up insight-driven concepts and breakthrough food solutions for industry leading restaurants, retailers and manufacturers in the United States.” Rubix works with about 70% of the top QSR and FSR chains with a focus on sauc...

Renfro Foods is a privately owned, award-winning food producer of salsas, sauces and relishes, including 30 Mrs. Renfro’s products, located in Fort Worth, Texas.  Founded in 1940, Renfro Foods is owned and managed by the second and third generations of the Renfro family. Its products are sold in the United States, the Caribbean, Canada and the U.K. As president of Renfro Foods, Doug works closely...

Burney Jennings is the CEO and president of Biscuitville. Burney took over the leadership reins from his father and founder of Biscuitville Maurice Jennings in 1996. Burney’s bold leadership, vision and keen sense of knowing what customers want has contributed to the company’s growth and success.  Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, Biscuitville Fresh Southern is a family-owned company se...

Ben started Tocabe with his friend and business partner Matthew Chandra. Opened in 2008, Tocabe is one of the only restaurants in Denver specializing in Native and Indigenous cuisine and one of only a handful in the United States.  Ben is a tribal member of the Osage Nation of northeast Oklahoma.  Ben also created Seed To Soul, which creates prepared authentic Native American meals for people in n...

Roboburger is billed as the “World’s First Burger Chef In a Vending Format.” RoboBurger condenses the average kitchen by 99% into just 12 square feet, including refrigeration, heating, ventilation, prep line and cleaning. Burgers are automatically grilled and assembled in under 4 minutes.  Roboburger RoboBurger was invented by Audley Wilson, a data scientist; Dan Braido, a Rutgers PhD grad; and An...

Craig is the founder of Doc B’s Restaurant & Bar. The restaurant is named after Craig’s late father, “Doctor B,” Doc B’s was first opened in Chicago in September 2013 and is a fresh, casual dining concept. Doc B’s has 10 locations in Chicago, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and Coral Gables, FL; Austin, Dallas, and Forth Worth, TX.   Craig was inspired to follow a career in the restaurant industry afte...

Embassy Ingredients combines creativity and science to provide its customers with the very best innovative flavors and bakery ingredients available.  Embassy Ingredients has an on-site flavor lab and full bakery test kitchen staffed with certified flavorists, food scientists and bakery specialists. They formulate, test and manufacture a wide range of flavors and bakery ingredients ensuring that ta...

Livit Design is the leading design firm specialized in creating unique guest experiences in the Food & Beverage and all areas of Hospitality, Fitness and Retail sectors. For over 20 years,  Livit has worked as strategic advisors to investors and global brands on design, operations, guest journey and guest experience with the focus on improving efficiency, profitability and increasing growth po...

Fransmart is a global leader in franchise development. For over 20 years, they’ve excelled at turning emerging concepts into national and global brands. Led by company founder Dan Rowe, Fransmart is known throughout the franchising community for spotting and growing brands like Five Guys Burgers & Fries and Qdoba Mexican Grill, from single unit businesses to the powerhouse chains they are toda...

Through his company, HospiVation, Jason coaches restaurant executives how to make their goals real in the restaurant and teaches restaurant managers how to transform their patterns of management to improve their hospitality leadership. HospiVation helps restaurants through coaching, speeches, workshops and books. They try to meet managers where they are and dive deep in the restaurant’s team to he...

Thanx is a leading loyalty and guest engagement platform for restaurants. The company, founded by Zach Goldstein in 2011, helps businesses embrace digital purchasing, capture greater customer data, and take action on that information to personalize guest engagement. Thanx builds digital UX – mobile apps and web ordering experience – that help restaurants differentiate themselves. Thanx also offers...

Duck Donuts is an American doughnut shop chain based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Duck Donuts was founded in 2006 in Duck, North Carolina, by Russ DiGilio and Robin Griffith, and has since expanded to over 100 locations in the United States.  Duck Donuts is known for its made-to-order donuts in a variety of unique flavors. It recently opened a location in Thailand.  Managing growth is something...

Broaster Company is an American foodservice equipment manufacturer headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin. The company is the leader in providing high quality pressure fryers and branded food service programs for over 65 years.  “Broasting” is a unique cooking method developed in 1954 when Broaster’s inventor and founder L.A.M. Phalen combined the principles of a pressure cooker and a deep fryer into...

TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants is based in Livonia, Michigan and has a portfolio of 150 casual dining, family dining, fast casual, and quick service restaurants throughout Michigan, TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants (TSFR) include Applebee’s, Olga’s Kitchen, Olga’s Fresh Grille, MOD Pizza and Wendy’s. Mark is the third generation of a four-generation family business. The company places a lot of e...

The International Food & Beverage Technology Association (IFBTA) is a nonprofit trade association that promotes the use of technology within the global food and beverage industries with a specific focus on education, networking, certification, standards, research, and events, while aligning with other industry associations and groups in support of their technology related initiatives. Rob star...

GiftAMeal is an app that allows diners to take a photo of their order from a partner restaurant. For each photo taken, GiftAMeal donates to a local food bank to provide a meal to a family in need.  Each month, more than 40,000 meals are provided through more than 100 local food banks in 37 states via GiftAMeal. In the last year, GiftAMeal has grown from 200 to almost 1,000 partner restaurants.  An...