Entrepreneur, business owner and operator with over two decades of experience in specialty foods, fine dining and the food & beverage industries in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.In 1993, I co-founded Avanti Ristorante offering an Italian-Mediterranean style cuisine in the up-and-coming Uptown Dallas district. Avanti developed around the idea of what the French call “bistro convivialité”. The cozy neighborhood restaurant became the rendez-vous for Southern European cuisine lovers, with live music atmosphere and "moonlight breakfast". 1995 marked the opening of the second venue, Avanti Fountain Place, in Downtown Dallas, in a building designed by Pritzker Prize winner I.M. Pei. In 2016, the Avanti brand expanded to the West with the opening of a new restaurant in the heart of Downtown Fort Worth.In 1999, I founded Culinary Imports, a specialty line food distributor servicing retailers and restaurants with the mission of bringing unique and finest products and ingredients from around the world to food professionals. Culinary Imports' catalogue grew to feature nearly 5,000 imported products including over 110 artisan cheeses, olive oils from 25 regions, and 32 varieties of olives as claims to fame. Soon the company became the largest distributor of Prosciutto and Jamón Serrano in Texas. I created our own private label "L’Unica Stella". In 7 years, the facility expanded from 12,000 to 25,000 sq ft, and the inventory from 200 to 5,000 products, gracing the tables of gourmets in Texas, California, and major U.S. cities. Flawless logistics with same day delivery and competitive pricing, allowed the continuous growth of Culinary Imports until its acquisition in 2007. Since 2008, I have assisted professionals with managing their complex operating environment and maximizing business performance by implement analytical systems specifically designed for the food and beverage industry, including menu development, planning, logistics, cost efficiency and profit optimization.