The California Restaurant Association San Diego Country Chapter consisted of restaurant owners, brand managers, chefs and event sales managers from different restaurants around the San Diego. They are an organization that discusses issues, organize banquets and awards. They each spent some time discussing who they are and what role they take part in there jobs and in the industry in general. Andrew Mosblech is the Director of Service Operations at Urban Kitchen Group, CUCINA Urbana, and CUCINA Enoteca which are catering services. He became a sommelier due to his interest in wine. Andrew Wild is a the Brand Manager for Karl Strauss Brewing Company and is also a cicerone which is the sommelier for beer. He takes part in a lot the marketing/business side of the company. Jason Nicholas is the owner of Eastbound Bar and Grill and he discusses his experience with opening up a new restaurant. Jeff Rossman the Executive Chef and Owner of Terra America Bistro, Terra Catering, and Shalom Kosher Catering and Bunz. Stephanie Phenny is the Event sales Manager at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse.
Andrew M. introduced the panel and let the others do most of the talking and they went down the line and kind of explained who they are, how they got into the business and what they’re currently doing in the business. Andrew W works for the Karl Strauss Brewing Company and deals with the marketing side of the business. He started by getting an internship with them and it eventually turned into a career for Andrew. He said that internships don’t always lead to jobs right about but it leads to an experience that you can learn from. Jason is the Owner of Eastbound Bar and Grill and has opened a few other restaurants as well. He tried out different aspects of hospitality such as hotels and was not a fan. He stayed in the restaurant business because he felt that he was able to connect with people more and facilitate growth. His tip to running a successful business is having a staff that wants to grow and get better because that is the only way you can work as a team. Jeff who is the executive chef is an iconic chef in SD. He is all for a farm to table experience and wrote a cookbook about the love between famers and artisans. Just like other chefs, he does a lot of philanthropy such as writing cookbooks or chef cook-offs. He is starting to create a garden to table movement at local schools providing them with fresh food. Being a good owner to him is having management skills, leadership and communication skills. Stephanie Phenny is the event sales manager at Tom Han’s Light house which is a large event venue. She did a lot of volunteer work such as MESA (an SDSU student association), Galas, Parades, Fashion Shows. Stephanie is a fan of Tom Han’s since its a family own venue and she enjoys working for a smaller company. She learns a lot of background informations from working with managers, caterers, chefs and bartenders.
I enjoyed listening to the CRA San Diego Chapter talk about their experience and how they got to be where they are in the industry today. It awesome to see the the panel are all affiliated with San Diego State University in someway or another whether they be alum or have family who went to SDSU. Each speaker talked about how they wear many “hats” and other speakers have discussed this before. Each person did not just have one specific role. They all work in multiple ares of their business and it’s crazy to see how they juggle so much and have it run successfully. I hope to be able to do that one day as well. In the past, I have thought about becoming a pastry chef and hearing what an executive chef has to do reassure me that I am not going to go into the restaurant business in that sense. I was intriguing to what he had to say about how got there and what he does to help out his community. He is extremely passionate in his career and is defiantly something he has put a lot of thought into. Jason was part of a family restaurant business he started Eastbound Bar and Grill and although it may be scary to open your own business, it was worth it for him. It isa learning experience and that type of passion to believe in his business is beyond what I can imagine. I took away from his tips about how if we want to be successful, we have to work together as a team with our staff and it’s what we make it out to be. Even if I decide to not go the restaurant side of hospitality, what he said is applicable to many things in life. I have never thought of working for a brewing company but I thought it was a really cool job. His job is very interesting because he is able to combine what he loves to drink…Beer, and use his marketing skills. If I found something similar to that and was able to combine what I love and my job that would be a dream job. Stephanie is more in the lines of what I want to do after I graduate. She works with more planning on renting out the space to weddings or parties and I am more along the lines of planning those events. Being and event sales manager is an option that does interest me for my career later in life.
Andrew M. introduced the panel and let the others do most of the talking and they went down the line and kind of explained who they are, how they got into the business and what they’re currently doing in the business. Andrew W works for the Karl Strauss Brewing Company and deals with the marketing side of the business. He started by getting an internship with them and it eventually turned into a career for Andrew. He said that internships don’t always lead to jobs right about but it leads to an experience that you can learn from. Jason is the Owner of Eastbound Bar and Grill and has opened a few other restaurants as well. He tried out different aspects of hospitality such as hotels and was not a fan. He stayed in the restaurant business because he felt that he was able to connect with people more and facilitate growth. His tip to running a successful business is having a staff that wants to grow and get better because that is the only way you can work as a team. Jeff who is the executive chef is an iconic chef in SD. He is all for a farm to table experience and wrote a cookbook about the love between famers and artisans. Just like other chefs, he does a lot of philanthropy such as writing cookbooks or chef cook-offs. He is starting to create a garden to table movement at local schools providing them with fresh food. Being a good owner to him is having management skills, leadership and communication skills. Stephanie Phenny is the event sales manager at Tom Han’s Light house which is a large event venue. She did a lot of volunteer work such as MESA (an SDSU student association), Galas, Parades, Fashion Shows. Stephanie is a fan of Tom Han’s since its a family own venue and she enjoys working for a smaller company. She learns a lot of background informations from working with managers, caterers, chefs and bartenders.
I enjoyed listening to the CRA San Diego Chapter talk about their experience and how they got to be where they are in the industry today. It awesome to see the the panel are all affiliated with San Diego State University in someway or another whether they be alum or have family who went to SDSU. Each speaker talked about how they wear many “hats” and other speakers have discussed this before. Each person did not just have one specific role. They all work in multiple ares of their business and it’s crazy to see how they juggle so much and have it run successfully. I hope to be able to do that one day as well. In the past, I have thought about becoming a pastry chef and hearing what an executive chef has to do reassure me that I am not going to go into the restaurant business in that sense. I was intriguing to what he had to say about how got there and what he does to help out his community. He is extremely passionate in his career and is defiantly something he has put a lot of thought into. Jason was part of a family restaurant business he started Eastbound Bar and Grill and although it may be scary to open your own business, it was worth it for him. It isa learning experience and that type of passion to believe in his business is beyond what I can imagine. I took away from his tips about how if we want to be successful, we have to work together as a team with our staff and it’s what we make it out to be. Even if I decide to not go the restaurant side of hospitality, what he said is applicable to many things in life. I have never thought of working for a brewing company but I thought it was a really cool job. His job is very interesting because he is able to combine what he loves to drink…Beer, and use his marketing skills. If I found something similar to that and was able to combine what I love and my job that would be a dream job. Stephanie is more in the lines of what I want to do after I graduate. She works with more planning on renting out the space to weddings or parties and I am more along the lines of planning those events. Being and event sales manager is an option that does interest me for my career later in life.
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