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Speakers and Panels

Bob Luz
KEYNOTE

Bob Luz

President

Massachusetts Restaurant Association

Lori Moretti
Keynote Moderator

Lori Moretti

President

CM Communications

Lori Moretti

Keynote Moderator

CM Communications

As founder and President of CM Communications, one of Boston’s leading marketing/PR agencies, Lori Moretti is a seasoned marketing strategist with over 25 years of experience to her credit. Talented at pinpointing those qualities that make each client unique, she's adept at crafting and communicating brand messages to targeted consumer and business audiences through multiple marketing channels. During the course of her career, Lori has overseen brand development, grand openings, and ongoing marketing strategy for restaurants of every shape and size ranging from five-star to fast casual. Among her long list of clients are celebrated local and national brands to include Marriott International, Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, Wahlburgers, City Winery, Del Frisco’s, Ocean Prime, and Hard Rock Cafe, among others. Lori's uncanny insight, creative flair, and entrepreneurial work ethic make her a dynamic leader who consistently earns respect and admiration from clients and colleagues alike.

Fenway: Boston's Restaurant Capital

Nancy Cushman
o ya & Hojoko

Nancy Cushman

Co-Founder

Cushman Concepts

Patrick Renna

Patrick Renna

CFO

Wahlburgers Restaurant

Sabrina Sandberg

Sabrina Sandberg

VP, Retail & Marketing Strategy

Samuels & Associates

Paul Mancini

Paul Mancini

EVP of Business Operations

Trinity Building & Construction Management Corp

Kenneth Feyl

Kenneth Feyl

AIA, NCARB

JD LaGrasse & Associates

Michael Rosen
Moderator

Michael Rosen

Shareholder

Ruberto, Israel & Weiner

Patrick Renna

CFO

Wahlburgers Restaurant

Patrick is the CFO of Wahlburgers, a Boston based burger restaurant founded by Executive Chef Paul Wahlberg, and celebrity brothers Mark and Donnie Walhberg. Patrick was most recently CEO at Boloco, a fast casual globally inspired burrito chain, where he also served as CFO for four years. Prior to that Patrick was CFO at Sebastian’s Café and Catering, where he spent four years overseeing all financial and administrative policies and procedures for the company; this included leadership during the company’s most profitable growth period.

Previously, he held CFO positions at Fresh Concepts, which operates fast casual restaurants under the name Fresh City and Souper Salad, as well as FiRE+iCE, where he also served as President. Patrick began his career with New England Restaurant Company, a Chili’s franchisee and owner of Bertucci’s Brick Oven Pizzeria, a 90 unit casual dining chain.

Patrick received his Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Franklin Pierce College, and went on to earn his MBA and Master’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. In 2004 he was named to “Boston’s 40 Under 40”.

Patrick has served on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association since 2010 and serves on the Board of Advisors for the The Works Bakery Café based in Keene, NH.

Sabrina Sandberg

VP, Retail & Marketing Strategy

Samuels & Associates

Sabrina is the VP of Marketing and Merchandising at Samuels & Associates, leading the firm’s marketing and PR efforts and its retail leasing and merchandising strategy. She brings a wealth of experience in marketing and strategy for global brands including PUMA, Tretorn and Carlsberg Brewery, both in the States and abroad. This multifaceted insight into the world of consumer trend-spotting uniquely positions her to advance Samuels & Associates’ proactive, holistic approach to community-building and large-scale development. Sabrina has a passion for understanding and aligning community wants and needs with development opportunities to achieve a larger neighborhood vision with long-lasting impact.

A native New Englander, Sabrina grew up in Boston and attended Stonehill College. She is a member of CREW Boston, and serves on NAIOP’s Marketing Committee and the United Way’s Executive Real Estate Committee. Sabrina previously served on Mayor Martin Walsh's Onein3 Council (Spark). She lives in Somerville with her husband and their dog, Prince Harry.

Paul Mancini

EVP of Business Operations

Trinity Building & Construction Management Corp

Executive VP Business Operations Paul Mancini is instrumental to Trinity’s day to day

operations through his leadership of our pre-construction, estimating and business development

efforts. Paul is responsible for cultivating and maintaining client relationships in the restaurant

and retail markets, all the while maintaining focus on developing the company’s preconstruction

activities to continually provide increased value to our clients. Paul has more than twenty years

of experience ranging from luxury retail flagships to restaurants to corporate rollouts. With past

roles of Project Executive, Superintendent and Estimator, Paul has supported clients in just

about every capacity, giving him deep insight into the client experience from multiple angles.

Paul ensures that every project is planned for properly and that Trinity acts as a true partner

with the client and the design team. He strives to gain a thorough understanding of each client’s

needs and goals, ensuring that Trinity’s approach is carefully crafted to meet their objectives

and to ensure the project’s success. Paul’s direction throughout the pre-construction phase

enables Trinity to deliver valuable, comprehensive services, allowing clients to reap the many

benefits preconstruction has to offer.

Kenneth Feyl

AIA, NCARB

JD LaGrasse & Associates

Kenneth Feyl, AIA, NCARB of JD LaGrasse & Associates has over 30 years of corporate, multifamily residential, retail and restaurant architectural experience. With a portfolio that includes projects ranging geographically from NH to LA, Ken has developed a reputation for a uniquely skilled leadership approach which drives value for clients. Ken’s deep domain expertise, business savvy, strategic and creative thinking, and direct professional style together forge effective team building. Strong project teams combined with Ken’s personal, hands-on problem solving result in successful outcomes for clients.

Ken has an exceptional track record of outstanding results in diverse settings throughout his long architectural career. In 2009, Ken was individually awarded the Gilbane Construction Company’s Excellence Award for demonstrating the core values of: Integrity, Tough-mindedness, Teamwork, Dedication to Excellence, Loyalty and Discipline. Ken worked at ADD Inc for 10 years, was a founding partner of CUBE 3 Studio and is now a Senior Architect at JD LaGrasse & Associates in Andover, MA. He is also a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Boston Society of Architects and a Cum Laude Masters of Architecture graduate of Clemson University.

Michael Rosen

Moderator

Ruberto, Israel & Weiner

Michael Dana Rosen is a shareholder of the firm and Chair of the firm’s Commercial Real Estate Group. He represents companies and individuals in the acquisition, development, sale, leasing and financing of complex commercial and residential real estate projects. Mr. Rosen represents borrowers and lenders in sophisticated commercial, real estate, and franchise related financing transactions.

Mr. Rosen's commercial real estate practice also includes advocacy before zoning and planning boards and other municipal agencies in a wide range of land use and regulatory matters. His experience includes representing telecommunications carriers before local boards in connection with the siting of wireless facilities and cellular towers. He also frequently assists real estate holding entities and family businesses on entity structure and formation, succession and estate planning and implementation.

Mr. Rosen's practice includes the representation of closely held business, providing contract, general corporate and business advice. He is also available to provide guidance to creditors, vendors and landlords in complex bankruptcy cases and commercial workouts. Mr. Rosen's business and educational background, as well as his work experience in the banking industry, provides clients with important insight and expertise into a wide range of financial and real estate issues. Michael Rosen was interviewed by Radio Entrepreneur on December 19, 2014 and recently presented at the National Retail Tenants Association (NRTA) on September 27-30, 2015 on the topic of SNDAs and Tenants Estoppels.

Concept to Creation

Executing a Vision

Jack Huang

Jack Huang

CEO

Douzo Modern Japanese Restaurant, Basho Japanese Brasserie, Basho Sushi Wholesale & Catering, Shabumaru Japanese Hot Pot

Jeremy Sewall

Jeremy Sewall

Chef & Partner

Island Creek Oyster Bar, Row 34 & Row 34 Portsmouth

Jonathan Martin

Jonathan Martin

Managing Director

Newmark

Ray Chung

Ray Chung

Director of Design

The Johnson Studio at Cooper Carry

Adam Barnosky
Moderator

Adam Barnosky

Real Estate and Hospitality Licensing Attorney

RIW

Jonathan Martin

Managing Director

Newmark

Jon Martin serves as a managing director in Newmark Knight Frank’s

Boston office, where he specializes in urban retail agency leasing and

tenant representation, particularly site selection strategy, repositioning

and curation of downtown mixed-use properties.

Jon has 15 years of retail and restaurant leasing experience. He is

currently spearheading the leasing of more than 30 assets in downtown

Boston, on behalf of landlords that include Boston Properties, Clarion,

EQ Office, Gazit Horizons, Gerding Edlen, ICONIQ, Invesco, Lincoln

Property Co., McWhinney, Nuveen, Oxford Properties, Pembroke,

Related Beal, Rockwood, Synergy Investments and UDR.

Jon’s clients also include prominent retail brands. Most recently, he

successfully represented Patagonia in a lease for their Harvard Square

flagship location, which opened in January 2020. Other retail clients

include digitally native brands such as Serena & Lily, Brideside and

Rudsak, which opened their first Boston-area stores in 2019. Jon also

represents well-known restaurant brands Barcelona Wine Bar, Bartaco,

Cameron Mitchell Restaurant Group, Dig Inn, Intelligentsia, Peet’s

Coffee and Quality Branded.

Over the past five years, Jon has completed some of the largest

flagship retail and restaurant transactions in the Boston area, including

Patina Restaurant Group’s 21,000-square-foot food hall and 14,000-

square-foot Banner’s Kitchen & Tap restaurant at the Hub on

Causeway; the restructuring of Niketown’s 30,000-square-foot lease at

200 Newbury Street; Capital Grille’s 13,000-square-foot restaurant at

the Hynes Convention Center; Ocean Prime’s 12,000-square-foot

restaurant in the Seaport District; AT&T’s 10,000-square-foot Back Bay

location on Boylston Street; TD Ameritrade’s downtown flagship at 50

Post Office Square; and E*Trade’s flagship branch in Downtown

Crossing.

Currently, Jon is finishing up the leasing of more than 25,000 square

feet of retail space to By Chloe, Coldwell Banker, Core Power Yoga

and Tatte Bakery on three levels at 399 Boylston Street in the Back

Bay. In the Seaport, Jon is responsible for the lease-up of Thomson

Place’s retail, a 60,000-square-foot brick-and-beam historic rehab

project, highlighted by the recent opening of New England’s first One

King’s Lane location and the district’s first supermarket, Trader Joe’s. In

the Ink Block neighborhood of the South End, Jon represents UDR’s

600-unit luxury apartment project, where he has leased more than

35,000 square feet of retail to CVS, JPMorgan Chase, Loyal

Companion, Shore Leave, and Tatte Bakery.

Jon is also responsible for the Boston office’s restaurant leasing

platform. In this capacity, he currently represents some of the premier

local restaurant groups in the region, highlighted by COJE Management

Group, owners of Yvonne’s (Downtown Crossing); Mariel (Post Office

Square); Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar (Back Bay, Seaport, Washington

DC); and Ruka (Downtown Crossing). Recently, he secured Seaport

production and tap room space for two of New England’s leading craft

beer brands, Trillium Brewing Company (16,000 square feet) and Lord

Hobo Brewing Co. (10,000 square feet). With respect to entertainment,

he secured the Bowery Group’s first Boston-area location, a 15,000-

square-foot, 500-plus-person capacity music venue in Harvard Square

called The Sinclair and last year, he secured more than 21,000 square

feet for Six String Grill & Stage, a venue with 1,000-person capacity

and is located at the entrance of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough,

Massachusetts.

Ray Chung

Director of Design

The Johnson Studio at Cooper Carry

Ray joined The Johnson Studio at Cooper Carry as Director of Design,where he leads the restaurant, hospitality interiors and club design studio. He has a broad range of design experience, from restaurants, hotels and casinos, to cruise ships, museums and children’s hospitals. He has worked on projects across the country, as well as in South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Building memorable, immersive destinations has been the focus of Ray’s career. He believes in storytelling as an organizing principle in design, and through unique stories he brings out each project’s own sense of place and character.

Ray received his B.A. cum laude from Yale University and Master of Architecture from The Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.

Adam Barnosky

Moderator

RIW

Adam Barnosky is an associate and member of the firm's Commercial Real Estate and Hospitality &

Retail Services practice groups. His practice is concentrated in representation of restaurateurs,

hotels, real estate developers, and hospitality industry clients in Boston, Greater-Boston & New

England. Adam represents clients in all phases of operations including: acquisitions, dispositions,

financing, negotiating leases, land use and zoning matters, licensing and negotiation of

management contracts.

Adam has appeared before numerous state and local boards, commissions, and regulatory

authorities and regularly represents clients before the Boston Licensing Board and Massachusetts

Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission

During law school, Adam clerked for the Honorable Virginia M. Morgan of the United States District

Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Professional Memberships and Associations:

TRANSACTIONS:

•State & Federal Bar Admissions (Massachusetts)

• Former Vice-President, Student Bar Association (New England Law)

•Associate counsel for corporate developer of proposed $1 Billion resort/casino in Massachusetts.

Represented hotel and developer in licensing and commission approvals for creation of new

performing arts venue in Boston’s Seaport District.

Assisted country club operator in compliance with M.G.L.c. 138 in anticipation of the 2013 U.S. Golf

Amateur Championship. Representation included analysis of existing licensing legislation, filings

with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, and appearances before local licensing

authorities.

Served as corporate and licensing counsel to dozens of new and existing hotels, restaurants,

breweries, and bars in Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Cohasset, Duxbury, Lowell, Newton,

Norwood, Salem, Sharon, and Randolph.

Represented an association of hotels and restaurants before the Town of Brookline’s Special

Licensing Review Committee. Successfully advanced clients’ goals through negotiating draft

legislation with Town Counsel and the Brookline Board of Selectmen.

Summary

In a city known for both real estate and hospitality, it takes a mastery of both to keep a restaurant successful.  Hear from experts in each industry as they cover everything from regulatory issues to the creation of new restaurant concepts at this Bisnow afternoon event.  Come early for panels featuring established pros and up and coming restauranteurs and stay for a cocktail reception after the event!

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Venue

District Hall
75 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210

Ballroom: Pod 1, Assembly Space and Lounge


Limited off street parking available. Nearest facilities are:

1. Pilgrim Parking - One Marina Park Drive Garage
One Marina Park Drive
Boston, MA 02210

2. LAZ Parking - Pier 4
120 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210

3. LAZ Parking – (By Rosa Mexicano)
390 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210 

Agenda

Time Activity
12:30 PM
1:30 PM
Breakfast & Networking
1:30 PM
1:45 PM
Opening Keynote
1:45 PM
2:20 PM
Fenway: Boston's Restaurant Capital
2:20 PM
3:00 PM
Idea to Execution: Conceptualizing a Dream
3:00 PM
3:30 PM
Post Panel Networking