Cayuga Hospitality Advisors provides a full range of consulting and management services for forward thinking restaurant owners and operators. As experienced operators and consultants, our counsel is both practical and innovative. We help to identify and assess new markets and opportunities within existing operations and competitive environments. We are also fully capable of stepping into management or oversight roles to implement solutions and make necessary adjustments to improve operations and profitability.

F&B Advisory Members

The following members are available through Cayuga to provide a full range of consulting services.

Sean Callnin, FCSI (Denver, CO)
Principal, Vice President of Foodservice Operations with Ricca Newmark Design (RND), an international hospitality design and consulting firm specializing in foodservice, interior and laundry design. Over 19 years of experience in foodservice, laundry, and back-of-house planning & design. His vast array of projects cover all markets within the hospitality industry, with major emphasis in luxury hotels & resorts, signature restaurants, public assembly, and ski resorts. As Principal: responsible for all aspects of programming, conceptualiza-tion, facility design, and inter-disciplinary coordination to assure project success. As Vice President: responsible for managing all aspects of Ricca Newmark’s foodservice division, including staffing, scheduling of resources, quality control, and internal peer reviews for every project.

Bill Caruso, FCSI (Denver, CO)
President, William Caruso Associates, offering food facilities planning and design; master planning, operational/design space planning and programming; development and negotiation of catering contracts; and market and economic feasibility analyses.

Bill Fisher, Ph.D., FMP (Orlando, FL)
The Darden Eminent Scholar in Restaurant Management at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen School of Hospitality Management, developing and instructing courses in restaurant management, contributing research specifically for the restaurant industry, and maintaining relationships with restaurant trade and professional groups. Former President & CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. Served numerous years as EVP and Chief Staff Officer of the National Restaurant Association.

Charles Ilvento, CHE, CHA (Miami, FL)
CPA, CHA, CHAE, third-generation restaurateur, owner, operator, consultant, court-qualified expert, Founding Professor of Florida International University’s Hotel & Restaurant School, real estate broker offering broad expertise, individually or as part of a team, including business valuations, operations analysis, training seminars, cost control, bottom line profit and cash flow analysis.

Chris LeSourd, CPA (Seattle, WA)
President, LeSourd Associates, Inc., offering 35 years experience as a manager and executive in foodservice and restaurants, chains and independents. Consulting services include feasibility and financial evaluations, market and operational analyses, valuations, concept and project development or strategic repositioning, litigation support and expert witness testimony.

Walker Lunn – (Washington, DC)
Founder of EnviRelation, LLC, a leading company providing food and organic composting services to hospitality and food service businesses. International experience in consulting and project management. Areas of expertise include in hospitality greening and sustainability issues, project planning, business development and operations, regulatory compliance, new markets development, sales and marketing, negotiations, and feasibility. Frequent speaker, panelist, and expert witness.

Jim Macaulay (Nova Scotia, Canada)
Associate Professor in the Department of Business Administration and Tourism and Hospitality Management at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, teaching HR management, strategic management and F&B management. Over 20 years consulting experience for clients in Canada, the U.S., the Caribbean and Asia; extensive experience with the Cuban Hospitality Industry. Offering 35 years of F&B management experience in virtually every hands-on position, from Chief Steward, Bartender, F&B Director to owning an off-site catering business and a flight kitchen for Air Canada. Specializing in: HR training and development; the development of learning management systems (LMS); F&B training (controls, HR, wines); and, competency based training.

Maurice Minno (Palm Springs, CA)
President of MPM Consulting Group, and a subject matter expert in the food service business. Provides hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail and contract food service businesses expertise in: innovating food and specialty beverage retail concepts, including concept design and brand imagery development, using architecture, retail design and graphics; ‘bringing to life’ creative new menus, products and entire fresh food and beverage programs; diagnosing food and beverage operations, followed by implementing comprehensive improvement go-forward action plans; fresh approaches to marketing, operations processes and efficiency improvement solutions; strategic vendor sourcing, vendor management and supply chain logistics planning; creating business strategy, brand sense, vision and forward planning; and identification, analysis and opportunistic development of new customer and market opportunities. Extensive 30 year background in hospitality food service consulting and senior management of the food and beverage, marketing and brand development functions of leading, large, multi-unit food service companies.

Stacy Moore, CHE (Portsmouth, NH)
President of Stacy Moore & Associates, a consulting firm offering business planning, project management, operations analysis, market research services and strategic counsel to food and foodservice related companies. Twenty-eight years of industry experience including seven years with The Hale Group, a leading food industry strategic planning firm. Project work includes brand development in QSR and non-traditional venues - from concept through operations development and into strategic partnerships, licensing, franchising, or other growth strategies. Stacy and her associates also work extensively with food, beverage and packaging manufacturers in developing products and strategies to meet the needs of specific customers (national accounts) or for the marketplace in general.

Elizabeth Ngonzi, CHE (South Orange, NJ)
Offering consulting services in: computer systems design and implementation project management; hospitality training/educational programs planning and operations; food and beverage operations analysis and improvement; caterer RFP and contract documentation formation; and, speeches and seminars. Founder and President of Amazing Taste, LLC, a meeting and event planning consulting firm.

Giuseppe Pezzotti (Ithaca, NY)
A Senior Lecturer at the Cornell Hotel School since 1984, teaching courses in foodservice management, etiquette and protocol. Regularly conducts executive education seminars around the world. After being awarded first prize at the Italian Hotel School, held foodservice positions on luxury liners of the Italian Line and the Swedish American Line, and at hotels and restaurants in Europe and the US.

Kathleen Seelye, FSCI, LEED (New York City)
Partner and President of Foodservice Design for Ricca Newmark Design (RND), an international hospitality design and consulting firm specializing in foodservice, interior and laundry design. Kathleen presides over the seven RND international design studios and acts as design principal on many active projects and is the first LEED accredited Foodservice Consultant member of the US Green Building Council. As such, she also oversees the firm’s Green Technologies Studio, which provides services in energy modeling of foodservice equipment, planning for waste management and recycling programs, conducting green foodservice equipment audits and life cycle analysis, capital equipment replacement planning and green foodservice operations’ educational programming.

Dennis Sweeney, FCSI (New York, NY)
Retired Partner, Joseph Baum & Michael Whitman Co., offering consulting services in master planning for large multi-unit F&B projects, facilities design for upscale restaurants, and F&B operations analysis and improvement.

Derek Sylvester (Philadelphia, PA)
President, Sylvester Consulting Group, assisting restaurant owners and investors in assessing development opportunities and implementing cost-effective improvements. Services include: hotel F&B utilization, expansion and profitability studies; F&B marketing plans and promotions; F&B staff training and management initiatives; management company selection, contract review and negotiation; restaurant brokerage; and, litigation and lending institution support. Prior to forming Sylvester Consulting Group, acted as a principal of Restaurant Advisory Services, the foremost restaurant consulting firm in the nation and a senior consultant with Pannell, Kerr, Forster, one of the largest hospitality consulting firms in the world.