QUALITY BRANDED - Key Persons
Alan Stillman began his career as a restaurateur by founding and opening T.G.I. Friday's at 63rd Street and First Avenue with a $5,000 loan from his mother. He grew and expanded the Friday's concept to the first twelve units in various cities before selling the rights to Friday's outside of New York City in the mid-seventies, maintaining ownership of the Upper East Side flagship, which he sold by the end of the decade. He has never regretted selling the concept and is often credited with opening the first "singles" bar. As Friday's grew, Stillman conceived sister concepts around the city: Tuesday's, Wednesday, and Thursday's, each with a unique concept and a singular sense of fun.
Soon after, he opened Smith & Wollensky at 49th Street and Third Avenue in 1977, which grew to nine locations around the country. At the same time, he developed a series of unique restaurant concepts in Manhattan that he refers to as "one-of-a's," such as Manhattan Ocean Club, Maloney & Porcelli, and The Post House. During 2001, he took the chain public with partner Tom Lee, the venture capitalist. Alan and his son Michael partnered with some of the brightest young chefs in the business and award-winning design firm AvroKO to transform Manhattan Ocean Club into the acclaimed restaurant Quality Meats and the team's transformation of Park Avenue Café into Park Avenue Autumn that was awarded two stars from New York Times food critic Frank Bruni. In 2007, the company was sold for approximately $100 million.
In 2007, along with his son Michael, Alan founded Fourth Wall Restaurants, now called Quality Branded. The group comprises the flagship Smith & Wollensky, Maloney & Porcelli, Park Avenue, Quality Meats (NYC and Miami Beach), Quality Italian (NYC and Denver), Quality Eats, Don Angie, and Quality Bistro. They have partnered with talented, young chefs, as well as award-winning design firm AvroKO to create sister concept to Quality Meats, Quality Italian, as well as build the striking space of Park Avenue Summer/Autumn/Winter/Spring. Currently, the Stillmans are looking for new locations in New York City, Chicago, Miami Beach, and London.
He is a master of marketing in the restaurant industry. He comes up with extremely creative ideas that promote the restaurants in a way that is fun and meaningful to his customers. He once ordered the delivery of $1 million shipment of wine in a Brinks truck. He thought up National Wine Week, in which winemakers from all over the world pour their wines at lunch in his restaurants. During the early years of the program which is now celebrated twice a year, both Robert Mondavi and Count Antinori personally poured their wines at Smith & Wollensky.
Alan was a founder of Citymeals-on-Wheels and sat on their advisory board, in addition to his responsibilities on the board of Friends of the Highline and on the board of The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis.
Since 2005, Bryan Schneider has created cocktails for some of the most acclaimed bars and restaurants in New York City. From Michelin-starred Daniel, to Brooklyn's Clover Club and midtown Manhattan's Quality Italian, Schneider has collaborated with an award-winning and diverse list of chefs and bartenders, while creating some of the most original and compelling cocktails in the city. Schneider and his cocktails have been featured in top publications such as The New York Times, Time Out New York, Esquire Magazine and Tasting Table.
Known for his sense of humor and capriciousness behind the bar, Schneider is perpetually pushing the boundaries of cocktail culture, with drinks that are simultaneously playful and satisfying. His mantra is simple - "Cocktails should be like a good joke: lighthearted, innovative, witty, and most importantly, easy to swallow." At Quality Branded, Schneider's cocktail programs are inspired by the seasonal nature of the restaurants, and he has created interesting lists of verdant and fresh drinks using a variety of herbs, homemade elixirs, and tonics.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Finance
At Quality Branded, Carole Chapuis is the senior director of finance, responsible for all accounting functions, as well as financial reporting and analysis. Prior to her current role, Carole built her finance career in the luxury sector as a finance manager in the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy group, where she successively managed the accounting and budgeting of all US operations of the Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Berluti brands.
Carole holds a Master of Business Administration from Baruch College, and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Leeds Metropolitan University. In addition to her penchant for numbers, Carole is also passionate about cultures and languages. She is an avid traveler and has stepped foot on 7 continents. She is originally from France and is fluent in French, conversational in Spanish and currently learning Italian and German.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director of Private Events
Denise Bryant is the director of private events for Quality Branded. She plans and executes exemplary events for clients, ranging from intimate family celebrations to large-scale full restaurant buyouts for major initiatives, like annual meetings, film premieres and product launches. Her expertise was gained by years in the operations side of the restaurant business, managing restaurants and their offices. Prior to her restaurant career, Denise graduated from New York University with a dual degree in Education and Hotel, Restaurant & Hospitality and worked at Lehman Brothers in their securities division.
Jennifer is General Counsel of Quality Branded. Her practice touches all areas of law affecting the hospitality industry, including managing employee relations, wage and hour matters, drafting and negotiating advertising, public relations and other related agreements, handling real estate issues and lease negotiations, and providing advice with respect to litigation and intellectual property matters. She is the co-founder of the Hospitality Counsel Networking Group and is a member of the NYC Bar Association Restaurant & Hospitality Committee. Jennifer was previously corporate counsel at The Donna Karan Company, where she primarily focused on licensing, real estate, litigation and employment matters. Before that, she spent almost ten years at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP specializing in intellectual property transactional work and litigation. Jennifer earned her B.S. degree with honors from Cornell University and her J.D., cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Operating Partner / Quality
Industry and company veteran with over thirty years of experience Kevin Dillon, the chief operating officer of Quality Branded, oversees each of the restaurant's operations. After graduating from Florida International University with a degree in hospitality management in 1982, he joined Smith & Wollensky in New York City, learning the restaurant's business from a variety of front- of-house positions. He distinguished himself with a keen eye for detail and logistics and was soon named general manager at the group's restaurants, The Post House and Manhattan Ocean Club, and was opening general manager of Park Avenue Café and Maloney & Porcelli. With an in-depth knowledge of the restaurants' operations, Dillon was selected as director of New York City restaurant operations and was then named acting chief operating officer of The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group. When Quality Branded was formed, Dillon had the specialized knowledge and expertise to both oversee and be involved with the day-to-day decisions to manage its restaurant operations. In this role, he also supervises the human resources function for Quality Branded and the information technology department as it relates to restaurant operations.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Strategic Operations
Luke Momo is the Senior Director of Strategic Operations at Quality Branded, where his responsibilities include oversight of all daily operations and technology in all Quality Branded restaurants and new openings. His keen understanding of in-store operations and systems allow for a strategic approach to the intersection of hospitality and technology. A native New Yorker, Luke joined Quality Branded and was the General Manager of AGM of Quality Meats New York, a position he held for a few years. After graduating from Columbia University, Luke honed his skills in the kitchens and dining rooms with the Maccioni Group at Le Cirque and Sirio and was a Partner and General Manager at Huertas, a critically acclaimed Basque-inspired restaurant in the East Village of Manhattan.
As the son of one of the country's leading restaurateurs, Michael Stillman grew up with a special vantage point on the inner workings of the industry. Michael learned from a young age how artful design, quality ingredients, and creative marketing all play a critical role in attracting and retaining a loyal clientele. Michael worked for the acclaimed Union Square Hospitality Group before learning the business of The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group from the ground up. After stints in the restaurants' kitchens and purchasing departments, Michael played a critical role in the opening of the Smith & Wollensky restaurants in Houston, Dallas, and Boston. During openings, Michael participated in staff recruitment and training, menu development, and operations.
Michael channeled his creative vision and business sense into the concept creation of Quality Meats, which opened in New York City in 2006 and Miami Beach in 2015. Michael led the execution of every aspect of the new restaurant, from recruiting acclaimed designers AvroKO and talented young chef Craig Koketsu to negotiating lease terms and working with contractors to keep the job on budget and schedule. After closing the sale of The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group and founding Quality Branded in 2007, Michael created a succession of restaurants that achieved both critical and popular acclaim, Park Avenue Summer (Autumn, Winter, Spring), Quality Italian, Quality Meats Miami Beach, Quality Eats, Don Angie and Quality Bistro with the same creative design and culinary teams. Michael's focus is the smart, effective expansion of the Quality brand.
Job Titles:
- President & COO / Quality
Nat was born and raised in New York City and began exploring the city's restaurant scene from an early age. During high school, Nat worked in the kitchens of Chanterelle and Gramercy Tavern, before heading to culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. After graduating from Georgetown University with a degree in Political Science, Nat worked for the NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau as an Intelligence Analyst, but after three years in that field, he followed his heart back into the restaurant business. He began with Quality Branded as Service Director at Park Avenue Winter/Spring/Summer/Autumn, then moved to the corporate office as Special Projects Coordinator. Shortly thereafter, he was promoted to NYC Operations Manager where he worked with the Executive Chefs and General Managers at five NYC restaurants and oversaw all daily operations in those units. Then, in his role as Director of Operations for Quality Eats, Nat led the concept development and rollout of the Quality Eats brand, as well as oversaw all daily in-store operations and business development. Nat became VP of Development & Operations and a Quality Branded Partner in 2016, followed by Chief of Staff in 2019 and President in 2020.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Financial Officer / Quality
Steven Jolton is the chief financial officer of Quality Branded, where his responsibilities include overseeing all financial areas, including operational finance for Quality Branded's managed and/or owned restaurants and developing projections and budgets for new openings. Prior to his current role, Jolton was the director of finance of Starbucks Coffee Company, responsible for 3,500 stores and $3.5 billion in annual revenues for the Eastern half of the United States. He joined Starbucks in 1994 as a financial analyst when that company had 400 stores. During his fourteen years with that company, Jolton handled a wide variety of financial areas, including financial analysis, reporting and budgeting, as well as played an integral role in new store development. During this time, Starbucks grew to over 15,000 stores. Prior to joining Starbucks, Jolton was a financial analyst at The Coffee Connection, which was acquired by Starbucks in 1994.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Human Resources
With over 20 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, Susan has worked in both operations and human resources for industry leaders, including Marcus Samuelsson, Keith McNally, and Tom Colicchio. She is a well-rounded hospitality professional who is able to blend a philosophy of people care, employee satisfaction, and development with labor law compliance, operations, and HR protocols knowledge for more effective employee programming. At Quality Branded, she oversees the entire human resources function, creating vision and strategy for employee growth and development, harassment prevention training, investigation and resolution, labor law compliance, wage parity, and creating improved succession planning/management practices focused on employee satisfaction. At Crafted Hospitality and at Hill Country Hospitality, she began as head of human resources and then took over operations, folding the human resources department in by creating partnerships between the two departments, thereby serving the employees and the company in a dual role.
Susan is committed to reemployment, working with organizations such as FedCap, the Doe Fund and ComAlert. Her work in HR and operations has been recognized by the NYC Hospitality Alliance and she was named one of the Top Women in Metro New York Foodservice & Hospitality for 2017.
Susan is also a 20-year veteran of the volunteer team for Centurion, the first innocence organization in the U.S. She supports Centurion's efforts to free the innocent in prison, fundraising year-round and providing Centurion's exonorees with job counseling and life skills coaching.