Alex Gaudelet
Founder & Principal
Operating Partner
Partnership Creation
Business Development
Real Estate Programming
General Partner Operations
Alex oversees all aspects of Hospitality Firm and is the General Partner supporting day-to-day Resident Operating Partners and the overall team.
SHORT BIO
Alex has 27 years of hospitality experience in hotels and restaurants, including senior leadership positions as COO of BR Guest Restaurants and Vice President of Food and Beverage of the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Alex has held leadership positions and trained in unique properties around the world, such as Le Meurice, The Breakers, The Savoy, Le Gavroche, and La Tour D’Argent. Alex is a graduate from L’Ecole Supérieure de Cuisine Française Jean Ferrandi and L’Ecole Hôtelière de Paris, Jean Drouant.
Alex has been an entrepreneur for 7 years developing several partnerships, companies, and joint ventures. Prior to founding Hospitality Firm, Alex was the founder and CEO of INVEST HOSPITALITY, developing restaurants across the US including Joël Robuchon restaurants in NYC and Miami, Jonathan Benno in New York, and La Table in Houston.
Steve Hanson
Partner & Strategic Advisor
As a mentor to Alex and the rest of the team, Steve brings his years of experience, relationships, and a track record of success to the partnership. Beyond the overall strategy, Steve contributes to all aspects of the firm’s development and operations.
SHORT BIO
Steve is a New York entrepreneur, renowned Restaurateur and Founder of BR Guest Restaurants, which grew to generate over $200 million in annual sales and included such iconic restaurants as Blue Water Grill, Atlantic Grill, Isabella’s, Dos Caminos and Fiamma. Steve also founded The James Hotel brand with Equinox Founder, Danny Errico, and together they opened locations in Scottsdale and Chicago. In 2007 Steve sold 50% of BR Guest to Starwood Capital at a valuation of $150 million. Throughout his career Steve has designed, built, and managed over 50 Hotels and Restaurants.
Steve serves on the board of Chef’s Warehouse, a publicly traded company.
Jennifer Villemin
Partner
Head of Operations
Operations
Project Development
Operational Training
Jennifer collaborates with Hospitality Firm partners and food hall operators on strategic initiatives and oversees all new openings and project development from an operational and training, process perspective. In the day to day Jennifer manages the operations team|s) in al aspects of service, ongoing training & operational process development.
SHORT BIO
Jennifer has 16+ years of hospitality experience in hotels, restaurants, and events management.
Jennifer is a graduate from EHL - Hospitality Business and Hotel Management School, in Switzerland. She worked in fine dining restaurants, 5-star hotels, and in the luxury watch industry including Red Carnation Hotels, La Reserve Geneva, Beau Reage Palace and Swatch Group.
Prior to joining Hospitality Firm, Jennifer served as the corporate restaurant operations manager at Maison Kayser USA, and opened 10 locations in New York City.
Robert Israel
Director of Real Estate
Master Lease Administration
License Agreement Administration
Vendor Relationship
Robert oversees all aspects of real estate for food halls including the administration of the master leases with landlords, license agreements with sub-tenants, and real estate analytics. In his role Robert will be supporting the company in the business development and identification of future food halls and real estate opportunities.
SHORT BIO
Robert has over 12 years of Real Estate experience in NYC. Prior to joining Hospitality Firm, Robert was a Senior Associate for Beam Living, a Blackstone owned Real Estate Management company. He focused mainly on the commercial and retail assets within the NYC multifamily portfolio. His responsibilities included reporting, budgeting, analyzing new deals, negotiations, collections, and building relationships with the tenants. Before his role at Beam, Robert managed a portfolio of co-ops and condos in NYC for 7 years. Robert is a graduate of the University of Arizona where he majored in Urban & Regional Development and minored in Business Management.