Inaugural Operator Innovations Awards

Submit your nomination using the online form or download the pdf application.

Nominations will be accepted until March 7, 2012.

The National Restaurant Association is calling on individuals from throughout the industry to nominate commercial and non-commercial operators for the National Restaurant Association's first-ever 2012 Operator Innovations Awards. Winners will be recognized as leaders who transform the industry with their extraordinary creativity and commitment.

Commercial and non-commercial operators may self-nominate. Manufacturers, dealers and distributors, media and other restaurant and foodservice industry professionals are also invited to also submit nominations for operators.

The industry-first awards will celebrate the best the industry has to offer in innovation in five distinct categories: Technology Applications, Sustainability, Menu Development, Food Safety, and Health & Nutrition. An independent panel of judges will narrow nominations to three finalists in each category. Winners in each category, as well an innovator of the year, will be announced at an evening affair featuring cocktails, dinner and marquee entertainment on Saturday, May 5.

Questions? Please contact Lisa Goecke at (312) 853-2525 or via email at lgoecke@restaurant.org.

Who are the judges?

Patricia Bando (Associate Vice President, Auxiliary Services, Boston College)
Scott Barton (President, Fine Dining Division, Lettuce Entertain You)
Jeff Broadhurst (President & CEO, Eat’n Park Hospitality Group)
Marc Buehler (President, O’Charleys)
Jean-Marie Clement (Director, Global Food & Beverage Line of Business, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide)
Douglas Davis (Director, Global Food Safety, Marriott International)
Chris Demery (Vice President, Applications, OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC)
James Houser (Vice President of Administration, Delaware North)
John Metz, Jr. (Executive Chef, President and Co-Founder, Sterling Hospitality)
Christopher Pappas (CEO, Pappas Restaurants, Inc.)
C.W. Craig Reed (Director of Food & Beverage, Broadmoor Hotel)
Ron Serluco (Senior Vice President of Operators, Guckenheimer)

Patricia Bando
As Associate Vice President of Auxiliary Services at Boston College, Pat Bando is responsible for the university’s enterprise operations. Prior to her work at Boston College, Pat was Director of Dining at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Her food service and hospitality career experience also includes Trump Plaza Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey and The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in New York City. A registered and licensed dietitian, Pat received her Bachelor of Science degree in dietetics from Michigan State University and her Master of Arts degree in food service administration from New York University. (back to top)

Scott Barton
Scott Barton, president of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises' fine dining division oversees the day-to-day operations at Tru, Eiffel Tower, L20, Nacional 27, Osteria Via Stato, Pizzeria Via Stato and M Burger. A graduate of Eastern Illinois University, Barton joined Lettuce in 1992 as a restaurant manager. Today he works to develop new and exciting concepts that feed the dining culture's constantly evolving appetite. His attention to what makes a restaurant successful-genuine hospitality and the return of happy guests-remains at the core of his operations and training, furthering the division's growth.(back to top)

Jeff Broadhurst
Jeff joined Eat’n Park Hospitality Group as Director of Business Development for Parkhurst Dining Services in 1996 following a 5 year career with Federated Investors in their Chicago and Kentucky markets. In 2002, he was promoted to President of Parkhurst Dining Services and in 2006 took over the responsibilities of President of Eat’n Park Restaurants. In 2008, Jeff became President and CEO of Eat’n Park Hospitality Group. Jeff received his undergraduate degree in Hotel Management from Cornell University in 1991. He received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business in 1992. (back to top)

Marc Buehler
Marc Buehler is the President of O'Charley's responsible for the leadership and operations of more than 220 locations in 17 states. Buehler brings an extensive and successful record of accomplishments in the casual dining industry including the post of President, CEO and a director of Kona Grill, Inc., serving from November 2009 until June 2011. Previously, he served as CEO of LS Management, Inc., the operator of two restaurant concepts with a total of nearly 200 locations: Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon and the Texas Land & Cattle Steak House. In addition, Buehler was also with Romacorp, which operated or franchised over 200 Tony Roma's, joining the company as Vice President of Marketing and rising to President, CEO and director. (back to top)

Jean-Marie Clement
Growing up in Normandy, France, in a family of six, Jean Marie Clement would skip doing homework just to be in the kitchen with his mother, “standing on the stool and watching her cook,” he says.
His impressive route from 1983 to 1991 includes chef de partie at Restaurant Laperouse, and at Restaurant Le Dodin Bouffant, chef at Le Pavillon Puebla and sous-chef de cuisine at Restaurant Ledoyen. Then Disney came to Paris, recruiting for the new Euro Disney Resort (now Disneyland Paris) in nearby Marne-la-Vallée, opening in 1992. He was promoted to manager of Training and Development for Food & Beverage in 1994, and to manager of Recruitment for Food & Beverage in 1996. In 1997, Clement came to the United States to the Walt Disney World Resort as manager of Operations for Food & Beverage teams in the Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and Magic Kingdom ®Park. It was back overseas in 2005 as director of Food & Beverage for Tokyo Disney Resort, where Clement headed the Food & Beverage team until 2010. This was the perfect springboard to Clement’s current position as director of Food & Beverage Line of Business for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Worldwide as he focuses on the Far East again with Disney’s next project, Shanghai Disney Resort, scheduled to open in late 2015. (back to top)

Douglas Davis
Doug is currently the Director of Global Food Safety for Marriott International based in Bethesda Maryland. His scope includes multiple brands including Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance Hotels, JW Marriott Hotels and all select service properties including Courtyard and Fairfield Inn. A 24 year veteran with Marriott, Doug has worked in every hotel culinary position in the company at one time. He is also a former culinary instructor at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont. Doug is a certified executive chef and certified culinary educator with the American Culinary Federation. (back to top)

Chris Demery
Chris is responsible for all technology initiatives that support or serve internal users throughout the OSI enterprise – a network that comprises nearly 1200 international and domestic stores, and over one hundred thousand corporate and franchise end-users. He’s responsible for integrating internal technologies with customer-facing applications, as well as implementing ERP and BI systems that support the Enterprise. In addition to Restaurant applications, Chris has strong cross-industry business expertise in software engineering, process improvement, project management, six-sigma, training development, and computer programming in both government organizations and the commercial sector. His experience spans coupling enterprise social networking tools – open-source portals, forums, wikis, blogs, and interactive learning – with proprietary Point-of-Sale (POS) technologies. (back to top)

James Houser
Jim Houser is vice president of administration for Delaware North Companies, a global leader in hospitality and food service. Houser has been with Delaware North for more than 30 years. He currently oversees the company’s facilities, supply management, security, culinary, retail, communications and e-commerce functions, as well as its environmental management system called GreenPath® and its customer service program called GuestPath®. Houser earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and has taken a variety of training and management development courses over the years. He received the inaugural Delaware North President’s Award of Excellence in 2006. (back to top)

John Metz Jr.
With more than 28 years of restaurant and hospitality experience, John Metz knows what it takes to create, run and maintain a successful restaurant company and has done just that for the past 13 years with his many culinary ventures in the Atlanta area. Metz began his education at one of the top learning institutions in the country, The Pennsylvania State University, where he received his Bachelors degree in Hotel, Restaurant Management. He then went on to pursue his culinary education by obtaining a degree from the distinguished Culinary Institute of America where he graduated at the top of his class. Currently, Metz is the Executive Chef, President and Co-Founder, Sterling Hospitality, which created, and currently operates, six locations of Marlow’s Tavern, an upscale neighborhood gathering place, and Atlanta-dining-destination Aqua Blue Restaurant & Bar, which specializes in offering a unique seafood, steak and sushi experience. (back to top)

Christopher J. Pappas
Chris Pappas has 30 years of operational management experience in the restaurant industry and is actively involved both in the general operations of all of the Pappas restaurants and in the development of new sites and concepts. The roots of Pappas Restaurants stretch back to Pappas Refrigeration Company, a family-owned major distributor of restaurant equipment and supplies. Today, the family business has expanded to include eight brands-Pappas Seafood House, Pappasito’s Cantina, Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, Pappas Bar-B-Q, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Steak Company, Pappas Burger, Yia Yia Pappas Greek Kitchen and the Dot Coffee Shop. Pappas Restaurants also operates a very successful catering business in the Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio markets. Chris received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. (back to top)

C.W. Craig Reed
Mr. Reed became the Director of Food & Beverage at The BROADMOOR in 1991. During his tenure as the head of The BROADMOOR’s vast array of food and beverage teams and programs, Mr. Reed has helped redefine the dining experience in Colorado. Mr. Reed is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Where he earned a bachelors degree in business administration, Mr. Reed began his career as the Director of Food & Beverage for the Williamsburg Inn in Williamsburg, Va., in 1976. He then joined The Greenbrier in 1978 as the Manager of Food and Beverage for The Greenbrier’s Golf Clubhouse. After leaving The Greenbrier in 1982, Mr. Reed became the Director of Food & Beverage for the Wintergreen Resort and Development in Wintergreen, Va. Subsequently, Mr. Reed served as the Assistant Director of Food & Beverage at the Boca Raton Hotel and Resort in Boca Raton, Fla., before returning to The Greenbrier as Assistant Food & Beverage Director in 1987. (back to top)

Ron Serluco
Ron joined Guckenheimer in 2004, and is responsible for leading operations and sales growth across the Central United States. Since joining Guckenheimer the region has grown steadily, adding fortune 500 clients as well as innovative start-up companies. Ron’s 25 years of experience in both operational and business development capacities in the corporate dining market effectively drove this growth. Ron received his BS Degree in Restaurant, Hotel and Institutional Management from Purdue University. His career path, driven by this degree led him into managerial roles in a national restaurant chain and inflight dining services, ultimately leading to Aramark Business Services prior to joining Guckenheimer. (back to top)

Questions? Please contact Lisa Goecke at (312) 853-2525 or via email at lgoecke@restaurant.org.