Feast - For the Fun of It
Feast - For the Fun of It
Propelled by one of the globe’s top hospitality schools, MSU alumni pepper the food-and-beverage landscape. Spartans command kitchens, lead award-winning restaurants, challenge convention with entrepreneurial concepts and have established themselves as innovators and leaders in a vibrant, colorful world. But the food-and-beverage industry has long been known as an inviting field open to the masses. Have passion? A daring idea? A willingness to hustle? Well, it doesn’t matter much if you studied communications or chemistry—come on in and try your hand. Some Spartans have walked in that door and found a home, contributing to the ever-expanding number of MSU alumni eager to please with a hearty meal, a sweet treat or a cold beverage.
April 1, 2020
JEFF SINELLI
Founder and CEO, Which Wich Superior Sandwiches
Unapologetically enterprising and unflinchingly bold, Sinelli launched Which Wich Superior Sandwiches in downtown Dallas in 2003 with $12.23—he swears he still has the ATM receipt—and hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit card debt. Today, Sinelli’s Dallas-based concept boasts more than 400 locations around the globe and a conscious capitalism edge with its buy-one, give-two Project PB&J program that donates peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches to those in need. Though Sinelli has grown Which Wich into a robust international restaurant brand, the former Spartan lacrosse player rejects the traditional trappings of the corner office. He ditches suits in favor of Which Wich-branded gear and calls himself the company’s “chief vibe officer.” Alongside his wife, Courtney, an attorney, Sinelli has developed additional restaurant concepts as well, including Burguesa Burger, Paciugo Gelato Caffè and Supernova Coffee.
MORE: whichwich.com
TOM RYAN
Co-founder and CEO, Smashburger
You know Ryan’s handiwork. Stuffed Crust Pizza at Pizza Hut. The McFlurry and McGriddles at McDonald’s. The Prime Rib Sub at Quiznos. The Grand Rapids native played a prominent role in bringing those fast-food favorites—and many others, it’s worth noting—to life. A culinary vanguard once labeled a “mad scientist” by one industry publication, a clear nod to his industry accomplishments but perhaps just as much to his flowing, Einstein-like white locks, Ryan co-founded Smashburger in 2007 and now steers the better-burger concept that boasts more than 300 locations across 36 states and eight countries.
MORE: smashburger.com
ALEXANDRA CLARK
Founder and President, Bon Bon Bon
Since opening Bon Bon Bon in the Detroit-surrounded city of Hamtramck in 2014, Clark and her little-chocolate-shop-that-could have earned national acclaim, expanded into a 5,000-square-foot factory, added two additional Detroit retail shops, crafted partnerships with the likes of Shake Shack and launched nationwide shipping. Clark, meanwhile, garnered a spot on the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 Food & Drink list. Blending cocoa imported from hotbeds like Peru and Ecuador with ingredients from Michigan farmers, Bon Bon Bon’s artisan chocolates range from Detroit comfortable (Bumpy) to whimsical (Coffee & Donuts, PB & Jam)—a definitive nod to Clark’s audacious spirit in the kitchen, global travels and work with celebrated chocolatiers like Max Brenner.
MORE: bonbonbon.com
JASON PRATT
Director, Beverage Innovation–North America, Molson Coors
Few in the world know beer quite like Jason Pratt. When the Traverse City native earned his Mater Cicerone certificate in 2015, beer’s equivalent to the wine world’s Master Sommelier program, only 10 others in the world held the lauded credential. Throughout his career, Pratt, who joined Miller Brewing as a research microbiologist in 2007 despite not being much of a beer nerd, has shared his ever-swelling encyclopedic knowledge of IPAs, pilsners, stouts and other beer types with hundreds, helped develop now ubiquitous products such as Redd’s Apple Ale and Henry’s Hard Soda and concocted clever recipes for beer-based cocktails.
MORE: molsoncoors.com
ZACHARY BERG
Co-owner, Mongers’ Provisions
A popular T-shirt says it all: Zach Berg Is My Cheesemonger. In less than three years, Berg’s specialty-cheese-peddling operation has established itself as Detroit’s go-to destination for cheese connoisseurs and others seeking some intense dairy-product education. After some formative years at Ann Arbor’s famed Zingerman’s Deli, Berg ventured west, where he attended the Culinary Institute of America and worked the cheese counter at San Francisco’s heralded Bi-Rite Market. In 2017, Berg returned to metro Detroit and teamed up with childhood pal William Werner to launch Mongers’ in Ferndale. A second unit in Midtown serves up daily grilled cheese sandwiches alongside a curated collection of specialty cheeses, meats and chocolates.
MORE: mongersprovisions.com
DAVE GEORGE
COO, Darden Restaurants
As an MSU pre-veterinary medicine major on summer break, George washed dishes at the Grand Hotel on Michigan’s Mackinac Island before graduating into cooking roles. Those early endeavors cultivated a passionate understanding of the restaurant industry that has consistently informed George’s work, including his current role leading operations for Darden, the world’s largest casual-dining restaurant company. The New Jersey native’s energetic, people-first leadership style, which includes connecting with busboys, dishwashers and cooks, sparked impressive turnarounds at LongHorn Steakhouse and Olive Garden, two of Darden’s eight concepts, and prompted Darden CEO Gene Lee to say at a 2018 industry event honoring his work, “I’m up here because of Dave George.”
MORE: darden.com
BILLY DOWNS
Owner, Ford’s Garage
After earning his MSU degree, Downs ventured to London to manage a Mongolian barbecue restaurant. That adventure set the stage for Downs, a high school pal of Which Wich founder Jeff Sinelli, to launch bd’s Mongolian Grill in 1992. Over the next 16 years, the suburban Detroit native and seasoned Ironman competitor developed bd’s from a single unit in Royal Oak, Michigan, into an 11-state, 33-unit chain that also featured a restaurant in Mongolia—the Asian nation’s first franchised unit from a U.S.-based company—tied to nonprofit youth programming. While Downs sold bd’s in 2008 and entered the consulting arena, he returned to the restaurant game in 2016 with the opening of Ford’s Garage in Dearborn, the first Michigan location of the Ford Motor Company-themed eatery.
MORE: fordsgarageusa.com
SUMI GHOSH
Senior Vice President, Starbucks Siren Retail
Following professional stops at Little Caesars, Aramark and Yum! Brands, the parent of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, Ghosh joined Starbucks in 2008—and he’s been slinging coffee ever since. Initially charged to oversee nearly 600 Starbucks units in the Midwest, Ghosh left in 2016 to direct Starbucks’ business in India, one of the company’s fastest-growing global markets. Over the next two years, Ghosh spearheaded explosive unit- count growth across India and instituted progressive labor programs, including a first-of-its-kind five-day workweek schedule and initiatives to boost female employment. Ghosh recently returned to the U.S. to lead Siren Retail, the coffee chain’s specialty business unit responsible for all of Starbucks Reserve Roastery, and Princi operations.
MORE: starbucks.com
GEORGE AZAR
Chef and Owner, Flowers of Vietnam
If you’re not growing, you’re dying. I never want to be boxed into a certain genre or way of doing things. There’s only ever going to be one Flowers of Vietnam, but … I just want to make the things that I crave and that I hope other people will crave.
After working in the kitchens of some of the world’s most celebrated restaurants, including Chicago’s Alinea and Bouchon in Las Vegas, Azar brought his love of hip-hop, Air Jordan sneakers and culinary creativity back to Detroit in 2015. One year later, he opened Flowers of Vietnam in the southwest Detroit neighborhood of his youth. The Catholic son of Palestinian immigrants, Azar’s unpretentious, flavorful and—importantly—accessible Vietnamese-inspired cuisine has earned plaudits from the likes of Bon Appetit, Zagat and GQ, which named Flowers to its Best New Restaurants list in 2017. Azar has contributed mightily to Detroit’s ongoing culinary renaissance and even served as Anthony Bourdain’s tour guide when the late celebrity chef spent 10 days in Detroit taping his “Parts Unknown” travel and food show.
MORE: flowersofvietnam.com
KELLY BOYER
Founder and CEO, Paleta
After surviving late-stage terminal cancer as a 20-something, Boyer now champions health with a determined, single-minded edge. The Detroit-born and bred entrepreneur started Paleta in her southern California kitchen in 2005 after a corporate career that included stops at Yahoo!, Disney and EMI-Capitol Records. Today, the Venice, California-based company’s farm-to-table delivery service provides healthy, seasonably inspired meals with ingredients sourced from local farms, cruelty-free ranches and responsible fisheries. Boyer’s next step? To take her wellness mission well beyond metro Los Angeles with a health- and nutrition-based cookbook.
MORE: paleta.com
SABRINA TINSLEY
Chef and Co-founder, Osteria la Spiga
Before she battled Bobby Flay on “Iron Chef,” Tinsley first had to embrace her inner foodie and shun that time-honored advice to avoid talk with strangers. Despite growing up in an Alaskan household passionate about farm-to-table cooking, Tinsley didn’t begin experimenting with cooking until her apartment-living undergraduate years. A swelling passion for food sparked a postgraduate tour of Europe, where Tinsley devoured local cuisines and met her husband, Pietro. In 1998, the couple opened Osteria la Spiga in Seattle. More than two decades later, la Spiga remains a celebrated staple of Seattle’s energetic and competitive dining scene, while Tinsley, a mother of two and Maya Angelou fan, stands as its resident expert on northern Italian cuisine.
MORE: laspiga.com
TODD PENEGOR
President and CEO, The Wendy’s Co.
As a kid in Iron Mountain, Michigan, Penegor watched his father run the local Wendy’s as one of the company’s franchisees. These days, Penegor directs Wendy’s entire global enterprise, a multibillion-dollar behemoth with more than 6,700 worldwide restaurants. Appointed Wendy’s CEO in 2016, Penegor, who favors a Dave’s Single Combo with a Coke Zero, has helped reenergize the 51-year-old chain after years of declining performance. He’s captained aggressive efforts to remodel restaurants, increase speed of service, improve food quality and enhance the menu, which included a headline-grabbing entry into the breakfast category earlier this year.
MORE: wendys.com
Contributing Writer(s): Daniel P. Smith
