Restaurant Expert Witnesses

This expert is a recognized authority and consultant in the hotel industry. He operates his hotel, hospitality and consulting practice specializing in operational audits and the effectiveness of hotel franchising agreements and litigation support assignments. Prior to forming his hotel consulting firm, this expert was the Product Line Manager for Hotel/Motel Operations at the International Telephone & Telegraph Co. overseeing the Sheraton Corporation of America. His previous experience includes working as the General Manager of the Summit Hotel (762 Rooms), General Manager of the Drake Hotel (680 Rooms) and Resident Manager of the Americana Hotel (1842 Rooms), all in New York City. He serves on the Board of Advisors and lectures at the NYU Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management. He is a member of the prestigious International Society of Hospitality Consultants and is certified as a Master Hotel Supplier by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association. He served for eleven years as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the City Club of New York. He is one of the most widely published authors in the hospitality field. His insightful articles on various hotel subjects have been published in the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Lodging Hospitality, Hotel & Motel Management, AAHOA Lodging Business, and posted on the Hotel Interactive and Hotel Online websites.

This expert is currently the Founder/Co-Owner of a privately held restaurant development company which employs more than 3000 people in the state of New York. The fast food component includes 21 fast food restaurants and 46 casual dining restaurants. It is one of the largest franchise groups in the casual dining franchise chain and overall the 81st largest restaurants franchise company in the United States.

This highly qualified expert has over 25 years of experience in food service consulting with over 15 years of experience in foodservice distribution and operations management. He holds an A.A. in Foodservice Management from Iowa State University. A member of both the Foodservice Consultants Society International and the Construction Specifications Institute, he has published a book on food services operations and is a past President of the FCSI World-Wide Board. He also worked as Managing Director for a restaurant buying group that consisted of over 350 member restaurants. He currently works as President for a foodservice management consulting company.

This highly qualified expert has over 20 years of experience in the hotel industry. His hotel safety and maintenance experience includes 10 years with Marriott Hotels, Resorts, and Suites in various management positions. This expert was on the opening management team of the San Francisco Marriott, a 1500-room convention hotel. He was honored with the Director of Services of the Year award, Northwest Region. He later moved to the Marriott regional office in San Ramon, California as a Total Quality Management Facilitator where he worked with 17 hotel executive committees in the Northwest Region to develop strategic initiatives for each hotel. He has published 30+ articles on the hospitality industry and serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality and Tourism. He earned his Bachelor's from Indiana University and his Master's degree in Restaurant, Hotel, and Institutional Management and PhD in Education-Instructional Design from Purdue University. Currently, this expert is an Associate Professor in the School of Hospitality Business at a major university, where he teaches classes on Executive Housekeeping Management.

This highly qualified expert earned her BA in Government & International Relations from Clark University and has been serving in facilities management for approximately 8 years. She has held various facilities management positions, starting as a facilities representative and working her way up to management. She formerly served as a Facilities Representative with Starbucks, a Facilities Coordinator with Expedia, and currently serves as a Facilities Manager at a major retail corporation. She has had extensive experience with and understands the process in determining how products should be maintained and she has specifically maintained motorized shades as they have been used in the facilities that she has managed.

This experienced hospitality expert has spent 35+ years working in hotel, resort, food/beverage, and country club settings. He earned the Grand Diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and also completed additional hospitality coursework at Cornell University. The expert has held many different roles at hotels and resorts, including positions as the Director of Catering and the Director of Food and beverage for multiple facilities. Recently, he spent 6 years as the General Manager of Hunting Hills Country Club in Roanoke, Virginia, where he was responsible for overall management of a facility with an 18-hole golf course, 10 tennis courts, a pool, a snack bar, and three restaurants/lounges. He now serves as a consultant to the private club industry.

This expert has accumulated over 35 years of experience in the restaurant business and has spent the last seven years as a consultant for the restaurant and bar industries, having worked with over 100 different restaurant, bar and hotel establishments in south and central Texas. This expert has knowledge and is comfortable in all phases of the restaurant & bar industry and developed procedures that help guide ownership in their pursuit of improved operations.

This expert has 15 years experience in the food and beverage industry. He is a seasoned expert in all aspects of the hospitality world, including but not limited to management, acquisition, development, and financing. He has advanced and overseen the strategic business plans of numerous fine dine, high volume, quick service, and multi-unit food and beverage outlets across the Western United States. Prior to founding his hospitality consulting firm, he was with Paramount Pictures, where he served as the General Manager of Dining Services, overseeing and managing outlets servicing individuals ranging from the blue collar to Hollywood elites. Throughout his career, he has contributed to a wide variety of outlets such as quick service restaurants, full service bars and restaurants, hotel bars and lounges.

This food service professional has a tremendous degree of expertise in multi-unit operations, cafe design and unit flow, having worked in establishments ranging from large multi-unit food operations to small boutique restaurants and beachside bars. For several years he served as the general manager of beach bars on Long Island and currently operates a 140 seat sports pub in the New York metro area.

Robert Marcarelli is a well-known and respected chef, manager and restaurant consultant known throughout the Connecticut area. He has over fifteen years of hands-on business experience in restaurants, retail, catering, and the hospitality industry and over 20 years in business management. Robert’s experiences of working in the front and back of the house are what give him the competitive edge in our consulting field. Those skills, and specifically, his passion for taking an individual’s vision and developing it into a business plan, design, and brand name, set Robert apart in the industry. That was the driving force behind his past endeavors, including starting Pi LLC. Restaurant Consulting in 2005. Robert has been personally involved in various complex and of-the-moment hospitality concepts. His experience ranges from quick serve to fine dining, such as: a High Volume Brick Oven Pizza Restaurant, Gourmet Markets, Night Clubs, Banquet Facilities, an award winning Italian Bistro and Wine Bar, Connecticut’s First Green Certified Restaurant, a national known Soda Manufacturing Company, a NY TIMES rated “Excellent” Seafood Restaurant and more. He brings with him a deep knowledge of current food trends, award winning hospitality and of course, the network of Connecticut’s business leaders, leading Restaurant Groups, and the Industry’s best: Chefs, Managers and Professional Staff he has built lasting relationships with during his years of practice.

This expert on Resturant Operations has 34 years of experience in all segments of the hospitality industry. He obtained his BS in Hospitality from Florida International University and held various managerial positions as well as director positions for a Pizza Chains before moving on to more senior positions in the Food and Beverage Industry. He currently works as the Director of Operations at a seafood restaurant company.

This restaurant industry expert has 30+ years of experience in hospitality. He earned a B.S. in Restaurant Management from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and an M.B.A. in Hospitality from Lynn University. His experience ranges from corporate training to independent entrepreneurship. Presently he operates a thriving consulting buesiness and currently serves as the Lead Restaurant Instructor in Restaurant and Bar Management for Florida International University. Feigenheimer was recently awarded the NAC Eminent Scholar Chair at FIU. In addition, this expert is recognized as an expert restaurant witness with experience in cases ranging from Dram Shop, contract issues, landlord tenant issues to slip, trip and falls.

This expert is the owner of a premier Restaurant and Foodservice consultancy that provides Management Advisory Services. He has expansive industry knowledge and tight focus on restaurant fundamentals obtaining positive performance results for client’s, independents, regional and national chains and start-up concepts. Additionally, he is a Host and Co-Host for several popular food shows.

This expert restaurant consultant has a wealth of experience as a professional chef and restaurant manager with varied experience in both New York City and the Caribbean. For several years, she owned and operated a successful restaurant and bar on St John in the US Virgin Islands and later operated a number of high volume restaurants in New York, including Le Pain Quotidien. She currently works as a freelance consultant and SCORE Mentor

This expert has 37 years of experience in the field of Hospitality and Restaurants. He earned his BS at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his MA in Social Psychology at San Diego State University. He is a member of the New York State Restaurant Association and has written articles for several restaurant and hospitality publications. He currently holds academic appointments as a Faculty Instructor of Culinary Management at a Culinary School in New York, and as an Adjunct Professor of Hospitality Management at a University in New York. He also serves as Partner at a Food Startup, as well as the President of a Hospitality Consulting Group in New York.

This expert has over 35 years of owning and operating independent restaurants, now "coaching" restaurateurs in purchasing, planning, opening, and operations of the business. This includes restaurant turnarounds - that is, troubled restaurants needing a coach in troubled times in ALL aspects of the restaurant business. He has advised landlords, lenders, investors, and operator/owners of independent restaurants including: Vernick Food & Drink, Philadelphia; The Pop Shop, Collingswood & Medford, NJ; The Green Line Cafes in Philadelphia; Sang Kee in Philadelphia & Cherry Hill, NJ; 320 Market Cafe in Swarthmore, PA; The Silver Spoon in Wayne, PA; and many more

This expert is a Yale-trained and registered architect, LEED accredited, with over 35 years of experience in design and construction. He is the Founder/President of two firms: an architecture firm (1990-present) and a construction project management firm (2003-present). This expert offers multi-faceted expertise in the areas of architecture, design, and construction. He is the author of two books on architecture, as well as many articles on design and construction in trade publications. He has provided expert witness services on (21) cases, and is an intelligent, articulate, and well-spoken professional. His expert witness experience covers architecture, design, construction, premises liability, and standard of care. Project types include healthcare, hospitals, hotels, laboratories, offices, residential, and restaurants.

This highly qualified human resources professional has over 14 years of experience in his field. He earned a BA in business management with an emphasis on human resources with the University of Phoenix and an MA in organizational development from Chapman University. This expert is active in his field as a member of several professional associations including both the National Human Resources Association and the National Restaurant Association. Formerly, he served as the director of employee relations, talent acquisition, and management development at Marie Callender's and Commissary. He went on to become the senior director of human resources and government affairs at PMC, LLC./Foxtail Foods Commissaries, Perkins Restaurants, and Marie Callender's Restaurants. Currently, this expert is a human resources and compliance consultant at an HR consultancy in California.