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Knoebel NEWS

Table of Contents 4

From the Director

In Memoriam: David Malcom Hensarling

Betty & Fritz Knoebelâ€™s Legacy

Celebrating the Life & Accomplishments of Betty Knoebel

Fritz Across America: Journey across the nation with our alumni from West to East coast.

Steele Platt | Yard House

Peter Morton | Hard Rock CafĂŠ & Casino

Jon Schlegel | Snooze, Chook & Attimo

Adam Schlegel | Snooze, Chook & Attimo

Anthony Lygizos | Leven Deli Co.

Aileen Reilly | beast + bottle & Coperta

Gene Tang | 1515 Restaurant

David Flom | Chicago Cut Steakhouse

Zach Smith | Pizzeria Bebu

Max Goldberg | Strategic Hospitality

Doug Katz | fire

Richard Gonzmart | Columbia Restaurant Group

David Wizenberg | Passion Food Hospitality

From the Director Happy fall to all! I hope this year has been good to all of you. It has certainly been a successful year for the school. We graduated a relatively small but talented class of seniors, 95% of whom had committed to full-time positions after graduation. We welcomed several new employers to the roster of companies recruiting from us and expect a couple more to join us next year. One of the great additions this year was Auberge Resorts. Auberge just initiated a college recruiting/management trainee program and Fritz Knoebel was one of only eight programs at which they recruited. They didn’t make offers to seniors from all the schools at which they recruited and, other than Fritz seniors, made only a single offer at the other programs. I’m so proud to share that three of our seniors started their careers with Auberge in July! The recruiter commented to us that our seniors really stood out from the competition.

engage them. I look forward to continuing to build and strengthen these relationships. We share more about Betty’s life in this issue. The legacy she and Fritz leave at DU is truly incredible. We also lost a former faculty member, Dr. David Hensarling, this past February. Our deepest sympathy goes out to the whole Hensarling family. If any of you wish to share memories of David, we will be happy to include them in the next issue of Knoebel News.

My team, our Executive Advisory Board and I continue to work hard to elevate the program and we are aided by the support provided by our alumni and friends in all its forms. Some of you share your expertise and time, some share financial resources, some cheer us on, and more than a few of you do all three. We are so thankful for all of you.

As fall quarter begins, we’re excited to welcome a new class of first-year students, who join us from all over the United States. This is a very challenging time for universities, with high schoolers applying to more and more schools, pitting us against one another for the best financial aid offer. Some who want to study hospitality end up at schools that don’t have have hospitality programs for purely financial reasons. We yielded 25% of the students admitted to DU who specified that they want to major in hospitality, about double the yield rate (the percent of students admitted who deposit and come in the fall) of the University overall. Our goal is to continue to grow in yield percentage and overall number of students over the next few years. The scholarship resources we now have thanks to Betty and Fritz Knoebel will certainly help us do so. It is now possible for a student with demonstrated financial need to earn a DU/Daniels/Fritz Knoebel degree with less than $10,000 in student loans. Our goal is to bring this number to zero.

Speaking of the team, this spring we celebrated that our most junior faculty member, Karen Xie, was promoted to associate professor and awarded tenure. Karen is a fabulous scholar, teacher and colleague. The whole team is delighted for her and, selfishly, for ourselves. We want her to stay at Fritz for a long time. Congratulations, Karen!

As you will soon see, this issue of Knoebel News focuses on restaurant entrepreneurship. We focus particularly on Fritz Knoebel alumni, but also celebrate several Daniels alumni restaurateurs who have become close with the school. If we missed you, I apologize. Please let us know you are out there! We want to celebrate you too.

Last August we received the news that our benefactor, Betty Knoebel, who named the school posthumously for her husband, Fritz, passed away. We will miss Betty, though we have had the joy of getting to know more of the Knoebel family as a result of them holding Betty’s celebration of life at the school. We subsequently held a dinner event for the family and several DU representatives to more personally thank and

In hospitality,

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David L. Corsun, Ph.D. Director & Associate Professor

In Memoriam David Malcom Hensarling, PhD, age 70, of Bird City, Kansas, and Tyler, Texas, passed away on Feb. 23, 2019. He was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on Sept. 22, 1948 to Frank and Louise Jones Hensarling. After graduating from Hattiesburg High School, he enrolled at The University of Southern Mississippi where he earned bachelor and master of science degrees. He then pursued doctoral studies at Texas A&M University. Hensarling retired as a professor after many years of teaching at the University of Denver and later the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. Hensarling loved scouting, achieving the Eagle Scout award. He was a free spirit who loved traveling, which included teaching summers abroad. He was adventurous and enjoyed motorcycle riding, skydiving and anything else that came his way. He was also an entrepreneurial spirit who invented and patented two products. Hensarling traveled the country visiting old friends and making new ones along the way. He will be fondly remembered for the many tall tales and yarns he always enjoyed sharing.

Betty & Fritz Knoebel’s Legacy As the direct result of Betty Knoebel’s naming gift in Fritz’s memory, the school’s scholarship endowments nearly doubled; we will begin awarding over $700,000 in need- and merit-based scholarships beginning in the 2020–21 academic year. This amount will represent more than 6% of the total school/department-level scholarships at DU! With $1 Million of the naming gift as a match, we were able to secure a $500,000 gift from the Marriott Foundation to endow our refugee/immigrant training program, Ready for American Hospitality (RAH). RAH is now in its eighth year and we will no longer have to worry about funding it. The remaining endowed fund established by the naming gift will support special curricular, co- and extra-curricular programs (stay tuned to upcoming issues), student and faculty travel, faculty research, and any special needs the school may have (things like classroom technology and equipment and our share of building maintenance and upkeep come to mind). The Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management will be transformed over the next few years as a result of these new resources. Our deepest thanks go to the entire Knoebel family, but particularly to Betty and Fritz. FALL 2019 | KNOEBEL NEWS

elebrating

THE LIFE & ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF

Betty Knoebel

Betty Burnett Knoebel passed away in Grand Cayman on July 30, 2018, after a short battle with pulmonary hypertension. She was 87 years of age.

Betty was born at home in Hobart, Indiana, on July 12, 1931, the second child of Frank 0. Burnett Sr. and Louise C. Burnett. Betty loved horses all her life. In Hobart, she worked in the local sheriff ’s stables, where she trained horses and participated in barrel racing. She was a talented athlete, even playing softball and basketball well enough to compete in semi-pro leagues. After high school, she trained as an X-ray technician at Methodist Hospital in Gary, Indiana, and moonlighted in Iowa as a lady wrestler named “Baby-faced Betty” until she was found out by the supervising doctor at the medical clinic and forced to give up her (more lucrative) pugilist alter ego. She married Daniel Lynch in Indiana and supported him during his

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veterinary training at Purdue University. They moved to Colorado before they divorced in the early ‘70s. During that time she was an administrator at Melissa Memorial Hospital in Holyoke, Colorado. Betty studied at Indiana University and trained to be a secretary. She became an awardwinning stenographer with the ability to accurately transcribe 120 words per minute. It was her secretarial prowess that led her to the love of her life, F.C. “Fritz” Knoebel. Fritz was CEO and founder of Nobel Foods and hired her as his personal secretary.

to succeed, while still being genuine and generous. According to one granddaughter, “Betty was a breath of fresh air and a ton of fun.” Fritz was amused and commented many times about how the truck drivers at Nobel SYSCO would always make a point of stopping by his executive office to say hello to Betty. Everyone felt Betty was a friend. Always a peacemaker and a builder, Betty made Fritz complete. She was devoted and completely dedicated to him—always his companion, secretary, and masseuse.

After a few years of working together, “Mr. Knoebel” started asking Betty to marry him. Her answer was always, “No, it would never work.” Finally, his persistence paid off. She said, “Yes, but it has to be right now.” Fritz and Betty were married on April 27, 1974 and remained happily married and deeply in love for more than 31 years until Fritz’s passing in December 2005. Betty was wrong about their marriage: they made it work brilliantly.

They built Nobel Foods into one of the largest and most successful food distribution companies in the United States. After Nobel Foods was merged into SYSCO Foods in 1982, Betty served as a director of the Nobel-SYSCO Corporation and held leadership positions in several restaurant associations. Fritz served on the board of SYSCO for several years before retiring to travel the world with Betty aboard a private cruise ship and spend time in their favorite island paradise in Grand Cayman. Betty and Fritz also enjoyed time together at their horse ranch and mountain home in North Turkey Creek, Colorado.

Betty and Fritz were an accomplished couple: Fritz a driven businessman and Betty an empathetic and compassionate partner. Betty brought Fritz’s extended family closer together. Many have said, “Betty was the reason I got to know my grandad.” Visiting family members were inspired at their collective drive

Fritz and Betty were involved in many philanthropic activities— often anonymously—ranging from

institutional donations in education and healthcare to personal philanthropy, such as financing extensive orthodontia treatment for a local teenage girl they met in the horse stables. Betty had great empathy and compassion for those less fortunate. Because of her own varied life experiences, she understood on a very personal level their needs, fears and struggles. After Fritz’s death, Betty’s life changed dramatically, but the one thread that continued from her life with Fritz was her generosity. Betty was an amazingly talented woman who continued to make a difference in the lives of many people. This ranged from helping those who were downtrodden and unlucky, to family and friends, to individuals she would never meet. She gave graciously, including the North Turkey Creek Ranch donation to the University of Denver honoring Fritz’s name and passions. Betty was unpretentious and wanted no accolades for her donations to others; she shunned the limelight. Despite her wealth, Betty was generous and kind to everyone. She reveled in opportunities to tip hard-working restaurant servers enough to “make their day.” Betty was very bright and capable. She would rattle off phone numbers, account numbers and names with glib response. She was also incredibly organized. She would read every word of legal documents and managed all her own finances until her death.

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Acro

Our alumni are EVERYWHERE! Follow their individual journeys across the nation, from West to East Coast...

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ross America

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Steele Platt Yard House | Originally in Long Beach, CA

How did you come to hospitality? I enjoyed cooking at the age of 16 and always fantasized about owning a restaurant. I became even more interested in the hospitality industry when my older brother attended Cornell University’s Hotel & Restaurant School. I went to high school in Hawaii. A representative from the University of Denver visited my high school when I was a senior and gave a detailed presentation about DU and what it offered. I saw that DU offered a major in Hotel and Restaurant Management, and that interested me. It was the only college I applied to, and I was accepted! Skiing was an important factor as well—I will not lie. I remember my first day at the Hospitality School—we learned about the history of the hotel business, beginning with European inns offering their guests food and drink, in addition to their lodging (the start of the restaurant business) in my first class. From that point on, I knew I was all in!

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Back in 1978, the DU Hospitality School was a cool little building. It was a school inside of a school.

What did you love?

What I loved the most was the ability to be creative and design new restaurant concepts. The restaurant business will test your skills on almost every aspect of running a business—plus, it was fun for me. So, to be able to create an idea into which people can walk and see, hear, taste and enjoy creates a tremendous sense of one’s own accomplishment. I feel I have influenced a lot of lives by providing them with the Yard House.

What was your greatest lesson?

There are so many! Most of them deal with understanding how to deal with people from both the business side, as well as the consumer side. Hospitality is a people business, and one must understand that aspect first if hoping to succeed. Being in business requires one to be able to communicate with people in a professional and honest manner while understanding how the human

mind operates. Understanding this will reduce a lot of stress, anger and impatience when it comes to dealing with fellow humans—especially in business.

What was your greatest success?

Most obvious is coming up with the Yard House concept and writing the business plan. But, included with that, is taking that idea and growing it into a viable multi-unit business and then selling it for close to $600 Million. Not many restaurateurs get to enjoy that aspect of the business. I was able to use my business skills learned from DU, in addition to being a creative restaurateur. Inspirational people are individuals who pursue their dreams and/or goals and succeed. It can be on any level. It always brings a tear to my eye and tugs at my heart.

Peter Morton Hard Rock Café, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino | Originally London and Las Vegas

How did I come to hospitality?

My family has been in the restaurant business for close to 100 years, so it was almost pre-ordained. I fell right into it—I was working on restaurant concepts at a young age. DU had a good hotel and restaurant program. For me, it was DU, Cornell or Michigan State. I didn’t see myself living in Ithica, New York, or Michigan, and DU just felt right after I did my research. I enjoyed being in Denver at the time—it was right on the cusp of growth, and it was great to feel as though I was a part of that growth and there to witness it.

Favorite aspect of hospitality?

I love the whole business. I think it’s a business that’s not suffering in the way that the retail industry is, and it’s a great business model going forward. You can’t deliver food over the internet (besides services like DoorDash and Postmates), so it has a great outlook. I feel very positively about it.

Success and Inspiration?

Opening the Hard Rock Café, Hotel and Casino and Morton’s Restaurant in Los Angeles, and seeing these businesses grow and be successful are my biggest successes. My dad and the lifestyle I know I want to live inspire me. I figured out at a relatively young age that my father, though he was somewhat economically privileged, was helping me live a certain lifestyle. I knew that if I wanted to continue this great lifestyle moving forward, I would have to learn how to make some serious coin.

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Jon Schlegel Snooze, Chook, Attimo | Denver, CO

How early did you know you wanted to study hospitality?

I was 13, and I went to my parents because I wanted a bike. They said I needed to get a job, so I got a worker’s permit at 14, and I went to work in a café in Littleton, Colorado. At the end of my shift, I got paid, and I thought it was incredible how I could get paid to do something like this. I moved around to different roles—cashier, line cook, chef—throughout the industry after that. I was thrilled to get paid to eat out!

And DU?

It was one of my top five colleges to go to, and I was a soccer player. I was able to meet the soccer coach, and he helped me with some financial aid. I had to stay in Denver for another four years with that opportunity. I started as an accounting major, until I figured out I could get a degree in hospitality, and I moved over to Knoebel. I have so many memories, but best overall was when they blew up the old WWII hanger—the old ice arena. We all made batches of Bloody Marys and headed over to the common area to watch them blow it up. I also remember the business plan I wrote with Tom O’Connor—it was my first business plan; a brewery, in fact! It was so challenging and daunting at the time, and now I teach the class. It’s so fascinating to see how the world goes ‘round!

My favorite thing about hospitality?

I always joke that I advise people not to get into the restaurant business—it’s a nickel and dime business, and a lot of extracurricular activities can get in the way. However, for a moment, our guests can either leave the chaos of their lives or come celebrate at a place that I created. At Snooze, you’re not treated as customers, you’re treated as guests. We treat our guests as if they walked into our own home. I get to give back to the community and help people come together over something I created with authenticity and care. I get to be part of that celebration every day.

My greatest success has to be…

My beautiful wife and two healthy kids; living in Italy when I turned 40; my breakfast family; my soon-to-be new concept—my winery; and getting to do all I do with my family—with my brother, my sister, my mom—it was an all-in Schlegel idea.

Adam Schlegel Snooze, Chook, Attimo | Denver, CO

Why DU and how does a finance guy end up in the restaurant business?

Not a romantic answer—money. DU offered me the best scholarships and opportunity. Our father thought the world of DU, and when scholarships made it the most accessible of any option, it made the choice clear. My brother! I spent years in corporate consulting, but I left to help my brother wherever and however I could when his dream started to turn into a reality. But once in, I got the bug for all that it could be.

What is your favorite aspect of hospitality?

Certainly, providing a family a meal and moments they cherish is a special feeling…such an immediate and gratifying impact. More so, I love the opportunities in hospitality—how to develop a business that serves as a force for good. We have a broken food system and businesses have taken the environment for granted for too many years. Restaurants have a chance to regenerate the world on so many levels.

Success?

I’d measure success in the experiences I’ve had, and having had the opportunity to travel around the world for work left more of an impression on me than anything else. And of course, Snooze becoming a restaurant where people love to work is something I feel great about because you know it’s truly making a difference in people’s lives.

And learning?

How important hiring the right person is. Success is harder than you envision. The importance of building over burning bridges. Take the opportunity when presented, no matter how unqualified you may think you are.

Anthony Lygizos Leven Deli Co. | Denver, CO

Why hospitality?

My draw to hospitality began with my upbringing and my parents’ values, primarily having a nightly dinner together, which included cooking, setting the table, eating and cleaning—all together. It was part of life. My parents are also great hosts and were constantly inviting guests over for dinner as well. My mom is an amazing cook and she shared her passion for cooking with me and encouraged me to get a job in a restaurant at a young age.

And why DU?

I liked the size, direction and business savviness of DU. Ultimately, I liked the fact that students could switch schools internally freely and the range of curriculum they offered. I was a general business major until my second semester junior year when I moved into [what was then] the HRTM program, all the while working in restaurants in Cherry Creek.

Career learnings & successes?

School taught me how to think and problem solve, but the majority of my professional successes have come from perseverance. The adage, ‘perseverance pays off ’ is very applicable to my business career. This past July, when we built a new restaurant concept from the ground up, called Leven Deli Co. (eatleven.com). We are located behind the Denver Art Museum in the Golden

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Triangle. We have an amazing team, serving quality food and it’s been popular in the community.

Inspiration?

I’ve been lucky enough to meet a lot of amazing and inspirational people in my career, many of whom I met through my alma mater network of DU. While working in Aspen, I was lucky enough to get connected to amazing businessmen named Danny Patterson, Mark Patterson and David Birzon who started and grew Paradise Bakery into an amazing company. They all played pivotal roles in my career development and encouraged me to pursue an entrepreneurial path. Jon and Adam Schlegel have mentored me and helped develop my career. They are both incredible visionaries with one-of-a-kind, first-hand knowledge/experience. They also both possess the conviction to set goals and go after them, which is harder done than said. They both have an entrepreneurial spark in the way they look at, shape and ultimately improve the world we live in, not just by serving delicious food with warm hospitality, but by the charitable giving, career development of their teams and continuous education they both prioritize and participate in. Jon and Adam were hugely responsible in shaping the Leven Deli Co. business plan and then helped guide us to getting our business started.

Aileen Reilly beast + bottle & Coperta | Denver, CO (with brother Paul, a chef)

The draw to hospitality?

My parents would host parties at our house growing up, and I quickly learned that I loved being a co-host and entertaining. It was fun to see the planning come together for a successful event surrounded by friends and family. I’d say from about 10 years old, I knew I wanted to be in a career that was peopledriven. I believe hospitality is first and foremost about people and celebrating them. We are lucky enough to get to meet so many others being in hospitality, and I get to learn something from each and every one of them.

And to DU?

I spent my later childhood years in the foothills of Denver. During high school, I began working at a New York pizzeria. When I first began college, I attended the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. where I studied French. When I moved to D.C., I left my job in a restaurant, but within my first semester away from a restaurant, I felt like part of me was missing. I found out that DU had a hotel and restaurant program, and I moved back to Denver to attend DU halfway through freshman year.

My best school memory?

This is a very difficult question since there are a few that come to mind. During our senior year, we put on the dinner for the Classical Cuisine class, which is truly a favorite memory

of mine. It was one of my favorite group projects for teamwork. The night of the dinner was a smashing success! I was the wine director, and it taught me how exciting wine is and can be. Before that class, I did not have much experience with wine.

Learning & success …

In 2012, we closed our first restaurant of which I was an owner. Turning a restaurant around from when we took it over and then to lock the doors was very hard. I learned that if you fall you must get back up. It’s very easy to feel like a failure but being able to continue on and learn from failures is the key. The biggest successes in my career are seeing employees who have trained under me go on to take over their own restaurants, bar programs, etc.

My inspiration?

My team—they push me to get better. I couldn’t do what I do without my team surrounding me!

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Gene Tang 1515 Restaurant | Denver, CO

The influence of family?

I was raised in the hospitality industry, so it has been ingrained in me from an early age. I was able to learn and love the business through tasting and seeing other people work. My late parents owned a boutique hotel and continental restaurant in Hong Kong, and they both studied abroad in Italy, so they spoke fluent Italian. Many of the cruise ships that docked in Hong Kong carried Italian chefs, so my parents were introduced to many of these chefs through word of mouth on the ship. They worked together with my parents, exchanging knowledge and gifts, so I was able to sample fois gras and caviar at a very young age. My parents also loved to travel all over the world and sample the top restaurants. I went with them when I was 16 years old and was fortunate enough to try all of the top restaurants. It got me even more excited about the industry.

The DU years …

I was really fortunate to spend my time at a great school like DU, honing my business skills, since I got my hospitality degree and MBA at DU. One of my professors, Louise Harbison, took me under her wing and introduced me to Leo Goto, an independent restaurateur at that time, and it got me started in Denver. I stayed with him for a while until I went on to start my own business.

Success at 1515 …

We have been awarded Wine Spectator’s ‘Best of Award of Excellence’ restaurant 2018, ‘The Rising Star’ designate in Colorado after earning the ‘Award of Excellence’ restaurant for the past 14 years. We were very proud to be named Green Business of the month in April 2016 by Denver Environmental Health and received the Gold level designation by the Colorado Environmental Leadership Program for the past four years. On top of these accolades, we hosted the only 2016 Denver James Beard Celebrity Chef Tour dinner. Our last invitation to the James Beard House Celebrity Chef dinner in New York was eight years ago. Both dinners were huge successes! Editor’s note: After many successful years in the industry, Gene retired and closed 1515 Restaurant on May 31, 2019.

David Flom Chicago Cut Steakhouse | Chicago, IL

What was your draw to hospitality?

I always loved helping my mom set a table, go to the store and pick out special ingredients for a meal and prepare a dinner that would wow my parents’ friends. I must have gotten it from my mother who cooked every day for either our family or guests at the house.

Why entrepreneurship?

I have an amazing friend, Matt Moore, who one day at the end of 2008 in the middle of the worst recession of our lives, told me that this was the greatest time to open a restaurant. As there was not a soul opening a restaurant at the time in Chicago, I clearly thought he was crazy. He convinced me that real estate was at an all-time low price, construction costs were at an all-time low and it was a great time to encourage great people from other restaurants to leave since so many of them thought their business was so poor. His drive and direction pushed me to believe in the idea, which made Chicago Cut Steakhouse what it is today.

My best DU hospitality memories?

The professors, who all had real-world experiences and translated them into the classroom. There isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t hear Andy Divine, Paul Laesecke or Bob O’Halloran sharing the lesson of the day that has [come to life] in my business. I am grateful for their knowledge and ability to share the intelligence that has made me successful today.

Zach Smith Pizzeria Bebu | Chicago, IL

Why hospitality?

I have known since I was a child that this is what I would do.

And why DU?

My initial visit was really cool, and the fact that DU interviews each student means you’re not just a piece of paper. Whether it’s a current student, alumnus, faculty or staff member, every individual helps make DU so unique.

Best memory at DU? Graduating!

What is your favorite aspect of hospitality?

Delighting people—it’s the name of the game. We get to make people happy every day and are a place you can go every night. I have regular guests and it’s so gratifying when the restaurant has become the fabric of people’s lives. We’ve been in people’s wedding vows—that’s how you know we’re more than just a pizza place!

What is the biggest success of your career?

I don’t think I could have one single success. Part of our business is that it’s never over, and the project is never complete. To encapsulate everything we do into one event would be a tremendous disservice to the village of people that I work with.

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If I had to choose something, I’d say the biggest success is that we’re doing well enough to continue to do this every day. We get personal, emotional joys on a daily basis by being in the restaurant. It’s a wonderful privilege to be intimately involved in peoples’ lives.

Biggest career takeaways ...

I am not the best at everything, and I never will be. It’s ok not to know. The more you fail the more you learn. Mark Twain said it best when he said, “why is it that we learn more from our failures than our successes?” You have to keep wanting to get knocked down and wanting to get back up again.

Your inspiration ...

Mayatrancia is a Spanish word that translates roughly to, ‘the celebration of the work of the people around you.’ I’m inspired by other people in the pursuit of excellence. There is a long list of chefs or operators that I admire—such as Danny Meyer, Will Gedara and Anthony Bourdain—and I have learned poignant things from each of them, and from all the things that have come before me. I love the tradition and the secret society aspect of the hospitality business. We’re all in a special club together. I wish my dad was here to see my success—that would be meaningful, and cool. There’s also a fire that burns hard and bright inside of me that is addicted to this business, and I get up every day to satisfy that urge and delight people. It just feels good.

Max Goldberg Strategic Hospitality | Nashville, TN (Henrietta Red, Bastion, Le Sel, Pinewood, The Catbird Seat, The Patterson House, Merchants, The Band Box)

How did I come to hospitality?

Success & inspiration?

The people I work with are one of my favorite components of hospitality, but I truly love being part of people’s experiences and curating these experiences whether they’re having a great day or a horrible day. I am passionate about creating stories with the community and creating spaces where they can have so many of life’s experiences. We want to make people feel comfortable in our spaces.

I find inspiration from a lot of different spaces. My brother is my best friend and my business partner, and I’m inspired by him every day—by his work ethic and his vision, and it motivates me to be a better version of myself.

I was living in New York City after college, working in financial consulting and communications, and I wasn’t necessarily proud of what I was doing—I was just going into a job and getting a paycheck. My older brother, Benjamin, wanted to partner up so we could grow together. And my sole reason for joining him was to create jobs in the city where I grew up. We’ve created over 650 jobs in Nashville, and we’ll be hiring about 300 more in the next 18 months.

The ethos of our business is based off of a Maya Angelou quote—”People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” We try to embody this in all that we do.

The number of jobs we’ve been able to create and putting our signature on the city in the last 15 years are our greatest successes. It’s an honor to be a part of the hospitality industry, which is such a critical backbone of Nashville. While it’s absolutely wonderful to be nominated for “Forbes 30 Under 30” and James Beard awards, we’re honored to have had a lot of chefs who are now partners with us. We’ve created these environments where we get to work with some of the most talented people in the world and partner and grow together. That is one of the coolest feelings in the world—getting to grow with this work family.

Learning & success …

I learn every day. I make failures every single day. It’s how we fail that determines how we succeed. I learn way more from failure than I do from success. I try to take those failures and learn from them and improve on them so that I don’t make that same mistake again.

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Doug Katz fire | Cleveland, OH

Why hospitality?

When I was 7 I knew I was going to be a chef. I always knew I would go to culinary school at the Culinary Institute of America, but I knew I was going to go to college first. I don’t think I ever planned on doing anything but hospitality. We always traveled as a family, and it’s an innate sense to be hospitable. I’m an outgoing extrovert that loves making people happy.

And why DU?

I loved skiing. I visited DU, and I met someone who came to Cleveland from DU and I came to Denver Days, and I had awesome experiences in both instances. After enrolling at DU, I ended up working at the Denver Stouffer Hotel in Stapleton, through a few connections from Cleveland at DU. It was a great opportunity to work there, even as a bellman, seeing the hotel operations and hospitality in action. Two memories stick out for me. First is the restaurant class—designing a restaurant from start to finish in a year for the class. It is something that I referred back to when I was opening my restaurant and even now—food costing, setting up my menu, etc. I still have it on my shelf, and I learned so much doing it. Second, we went to London for a summer with one of the professors and spent the time exploring gardens and hotels. I will always remember that as a great experience.

Why do you love hospitality?

My favorite aspect of hospitality is connecting with people, both employees and customers. Creating a community and relationship— building through hospitality is so important. We’re so lucky in hospitality to create communities around what we do—food, staying in hotels, traveling, business meetings, social functions—every aspect to me is about bringing people together. The purpose of hospitality is to have a positive guest experience. I want to win people over, and you have the opportunity to exceed people’s expectations by making them happy and win them over for life in this industry.

What’s your inspiration?

I learn so much from my employees. I was so lucky to have opened my restaurant at a time that is totally different than today, with the high competitive nature and over saturation of restaurants. My staff teaches me how difficult the job can be. They have such stamina; they can bounce back and make it through, even though they get paid very little and they have little personal time. They teach me and inspire me to be grateful.

I am also inspired by farmers. They work so hard—they’re so reliant on the weather, and they have to get their products to market right when they’re ready. It’s such an incredibly difficult job. Farmers are people I want to support. They have a work ethic and drive and a friendliness despite it all. Those are the attributes that I want to see in myself, and I want them to get some exposure for what they do. They nurture us as people in every way—without them we wouldn’t have food.

Richard Gonzmart Columbia Restaurant Group | Florida Gulf Coast (Ulele, Goody Goody & More...)

How did I come to hospitality?

It’s in my blood. I’m the fourth-generation “caretaker” of a restaurant my family started in 1905. When I was 3, I thought my job was determining whether fish were fresh by looking at the clarity of their eyes. I started really working in the restaurant when I was 12.

What makes Columbia hospitality special?

At our restaurants, we provide the setting for generations of families celebrating births, birthdays, engagements, marriages, anniversaries and celebrations of life. I love that people choose to be with us for the most important moments in their lives. I learned to do business the way my ancestors did: Don’t cut corners. Work with local family businesses that you trust. Believe that a handshake agreement is stronger than any contract. Learn from the past, look to the future. Never undermine your integrity. Know that you’re only as good as your last meal. I’m inspired by my great-grandfather, a Cuban immigrant, who started the business in 1905. By my grandfather who expanded the business, including opening Tampa’s first air-conditioned dining room in 1935 in the middle of the Great Depression. Also, by my mother and father who kept the restaurants going with hard work, tenacity and a flair for entertainment.

My greatest professional success?

Restoring the Columbia to its former prestigious status and financial stability. After my father died, we came so very close to losing everything in the ’90s because of financial struggles. We reinvested in quality and, through hard work and dedication, we’re now one of the most successful restaurant groups in the country. We have 13 restaurants in Florida, all family-owned and operated, with two more scheduled in the next three years. Along with that success came awards: Florida Trend (a magazine) Hall of Fame, DiRoNA Hall of Fame, three-time James Beard semifinalist and hundreds of community awards for our philanthropic work. Pope Francis awarded me the highest recognition of the Catholic Church, the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.

And why DU?

My counselor at Jesuit High School in Tampa gave me a booklet with all the hospitality programs in the country. Cornell seemed to focus on hotels. Michigan State was too institutional. I had football scholarship offers to a lot of schools, including FSU, but I thought University of Denver had the best restaurant program (but no football, so my parents had to pay full tuition!). At DU I met life-long friends such as Jimmy Philopoulos, who died two years ago. And I remember on the first day of my ‘Introduction to Hospitality’ class, Dr. Douglas Keister said, “Don’t count how many hours you work a week; if you do, you’re in the wrong business.” He was right, and I never forgot it. 21

David Wizenberg Passion Food Hospitality | Washington, D.C. (Acadiana, Penn Commons, District Commons, Tenpenh Tysons, Passion Fish, Burger Tap & Shake)

How did you find your way to hospitality?

I began as a dishwasher to make extra money. I then entered a contest for a position at a local, high-end restaurant as an apprentice and was awarded the role. I cooked for several years through high school and ultimately went to the Culinary Institute of America in New York. I then wanted to round out my culinary education with a BSBA and looked at several first-rate schools, including DU. At DU, I found the combination of size of school and an urban environment attractive. Being slightly older than most students, it was important to me to have avenues to enjoy culture, be in a city and be able to work while in school. DU came across as a very good school but also well-grounded and appreciative of my particular needs.

My best DU hospitality memories?

I hope I get the names right … Robert Christie Mill was awesome as was Professor Hensarling. There was an instructor who taught a class where you theoretically built a restaurant, and he was really stuck (in my young opinion at the time) in what he thought should be included; Hensarling subbed in the quarter I took the class and was extremely open-minded and appreciated all-in challenges, which is what our biz is all about. This gave me tremendous confidence at the time.

What keeps me going?

I love the “buzz” of doing a ton of covers—to this day working the expo wheel is fun … and then talking to guests about their experience and making them feel significant in the face of all those covers; that’s the thing! Watching staff grow and succeed—even leaving for their own thing is really satisfying. Watching team members grow with us is great, and hearing them talk to new people and seeing in their dialogue that they get it, get our mission, which is so much more than lunch and dinner.

What inspires you?

When I was younger it was the excitement of the shift, the camaraderie of my team. Now it is all about my family, watching my kids care very little about the working world but also—by osmosis it seems— appreciate good food and restaurants. My biggest inspiration is my wife, Caree. She is a teacher and draws excellence and wonderful relationships from college-age kids, probably the hardest age to relate to. Her energy and devotion to them is tremendous.

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Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management 2044 E. Evans Ave. Denver, CO 80208-8921

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