A dynamic and charismatic leader, Ed’s role at RealFood is to ensure his team is fully aligned with clients’ objectives and that every resource is singularly focused on helping clients achieve success.

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Ed has worked in some of the finest kitchens and foodservice operations across the industry, including a long list of award-winning hotels and restaurants. His culinary accomplishments have received equal attention with features in Food and Wine, Restaurant Business, and Food Arts magazines.

The original founder of the RealFood consultancy, Ed has been serving clients and partners in this capacity since 1996. Today, RealFood is positioned as a premier hospitality strategy and design firm, helping clients to define, design and deliver unique and memorable hospitality experiences. In 2019, RealFood joined the Troon family of brands, opening up new opportunities for Ed and the RealFood team to share their vast food and beverage expertise with the club industry.

Ed continues to dream big and help others to do the same.

Matt maintains a global perspective and approach to hospitality, incorporating his passion for the industry, his extensive experience, and his pursuit of success for his clients, partners, and team. Matt possesses an acute ability to understand and articulate a client's vision, and then aggregate what he learns into an output of business strategy, guest experience and design. Much of Matt's work at RealFood includes multi-unit operations and large-scale development projects, as well as ensuring the RealFood project team achieves at the highest levels on behalf of clients.

With more than 20 years in the hospitality industry, Matt's professional career includes hospitality management at Back Bay Restaurant Group; multiple restaurant openings, including abroad in Cork City, Ireland; food and beverage operations for boutique hotels; and directing US operations for Dining In Inc. (now Grubhub).

Chris drives RealFood's most exciting projects to successful openings and operational excellence. He is highly focused on the guest experience, and he excels at helping clients turn their operations around. He is experienced in developing systems for new operations, especially in full-service and workplace dining models. Front of house operations and beverage strategy, including wine programs, are Chris' most sought-after skills.

A 30-year foodservice veteran, Chris' extensive operational experience includes Legal Seafood, Rustic Kitchen, and The Olive Group, where he worked with Todd English overseeing thirteen restaurants in six states. Chris also joined Mario Batali as the opening General Manager of Restaurants and Beverage Director for the 45,000 sq. ft. Italian food emporium Eataly.

A former owner and operator of his own award-winning restaurants, Chris brings a realistic perspective to help clients create a plan and determine next steps for their foodservice operation.

Peter delivers on the vision, solving problems before they arise, creating best-in-class documents, and offering innovative technology solutions. With a keen attention to detail and efficient communication as a liaison between the client and construction teams, Peter ensures timely and efficient results on every design project. Through the execution of the complete foodservice design lifecycle, his focus is razor-sharp on client success.

During his tenure at the company, Peter has been instrumental in positioning RealFood as one of the premier foodservice facility design resources for the hospitality industry. His project work spans every foodservice segment, with extensive experience in workplace dining and zestful dedication in brewery and brewpub projects.

A graduate of Wentworth Institute of Technology's College of Architecture, Design & Construction Management, Peter's previous professional experience includes project management and design development at firms, Perini Management Services and Consigli Construction. His love for the food service industry started early in his life, growing up with parents who worked their entire careers in the industry.

A licensed architect in multiple states, Phil brings an in-depth understanding of the architectural and engineering elements of commercial design projects and the ability to effectively coordinate with all members of a design team, lending an incredible capacity to offer increased value to RealFood clients.

Phil was the original founder and principal of Foodservice Design Associates (FDA), which was aquired by RealFood in 2021. Since 1990, Phil’s work at FDA and now RealFood has encompassed many areas of foodservice, including new, prototype and renovation work in private and public schools; fellowship halls; assisted living and medical facilities; cafeterias and food courts for major corporations and government facilities; as well as hotels, restaurants, and theme parks.

Among other degrees and training, Phil holds a bachelor’s in architecture from Syracuse University, and he completed postgraduate studies in foodservice management and culinary arts at Cornell University’s Statler School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration.

A natural problem solver, Jess approaches design from a service perspective, always seeking out the best solution, technically and operationally. She leans on her past experiences in hospitality and architecture to inform her technical depth of design elements and best-in-class document development.

After earning a Bachelor of Design in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis, Jess pursued her love for events and worked in planning and executing private events in St. Louis, which gained her an advanced and informed viewpoint on design within the world of hospitality.

At RealFood, Jess manages client relationships, provides guidance and leadership to the entire design team, and executes drawings for hospitality design projects that span the spectrum of the industry.

Jess currently serves as the Language Training & Resources Chair on the Diversity & Inclusion Council for RealFood parent company, Troon.

Monica embraces creativity in her solutions-oriented approach to food and beverage performance and operational strategy. She meets challenges head-on by envisioning the possible outcomes, and then mobilizing the ideas, people, and resources to thoughtfully achieve desired results for RealFood clients.

A graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa and W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, Monica began her now 15-year career managing F&B operations for well-known hospitality brands including Starbucks, Starwood and Hilton Hotels Hawaii. She later joined Troon, the world’s largest golf-related hospitality management company, overseeing all facets of F&B at various golf resorts, as well as private and social clubs across the country. From multi-unit, quick-service cafés to high-end, high-volume destination hotel restaurants, Monica’s diverse experiences, paired with her visionary outlook, influence her astute ability to shepherd hospitality businesses of any size from conceptual vision to operational fruition.

A sensation with computer-aided design, like Revit and AutoCAD, Julie combines her visual design aptitude with her experience-centric approach to create custom foodservice spaces for RealFood clients. Communication is always a priority for Julie; she believes in listening first, and talking through various solutions with the goal of serving productivity and the end-user of the space, all while exceeding client expectations.

A graduate of the interior design program at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Julie worked on the planogramming team at Lowe’s, where she mapped out visual merchandising strategies; and at Dick’s Sporting Goods, where she relied on data to design floorplans to better serve the end-user athlete. Julie’s past experience also includes design production for The Westin hotel brand, as well as various positions in hotel and restaurant operations.

Alexis alighted from the world of restaurant management to her current role at RealFood Hospitality, Strategy & Design with an unshakeable passion for the hospitality industry. Her experience is vast and diverse, with more than 20 years in restaurant operations, a well-practiced genius in marketing and branding, and a wealth of hospitality management accomplishments. Prior to joining RealFood, she helmed the Bayberry Group, a multi-unit and creative beer hall and restaurant duo, in Providence, RI; served as the general manager for award-winning Momofuku Ssäm Bar in New York, NY; and held various consulting and marketing roles within the realm of hospitality.

A graduate of Ithaca College, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Alexis operates from the belief that everyone should work in a restaurant at least once, understanding the many life lessons articulated through the experience.

Anything and everything enterprise-related runs through Rachel’s capable hands. Her ability to prioritize, execute and marshal the team through decisions keeps RealFood systems running smoothly. While much of Rachel’s work is behind-the-scenes, she is front-and-center in the business engine that powers efficient processes, team synergy and successful client relationships. She oversees the logistics of various RealFood offices, ensuring each satellite location is in sync with the Northeast office as well as Troon’s flagship in Scottsdale.

In her prior roles in restaurant and medical office operations, Rachel sharpened her ability to quickly adapt to her environment, practiced the patience required to lead a team, and find-tuned her expert organizational skills. (Rachel’s knack for organization is way beyond normal standards.) Rachel is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

With a background in advertising, luxury product marketing, and private club management, Joëlle brings her love for branding and communications to the hospitality industry. Here, she is successful as a marketing strategist, helping RealFood clients to infuse brand storytelling into every possible element of their hospitality experiences.

Joëlle leads the branding, naming and logo development work for RealFood clients, as well as strategic marketing advisory. Her discerning eye and keen sense of what guests want allows her to weigh in on other phases of work as well, adding unique, brand-forward insight to many RealFood projects.

Prior to RealFood, Joëlle worked in various hospitality and private club settings, including a Distinguished Club in southern NH. She holds her Bachelor of Science in Communication from Boston University and her Master of Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore School of Business.

Earnest and experienced, John has been professionally rooted in the foodservice industry since 1988. As the founder and chief designer of JAX Design Group, Inc., a Florida-based foodservice design firm acquired by RealFood in 2023, John maintains design expertise in a range of specialties, from K-12 education and healthcare facilities to private clubs and marine projects.

He has worked in a variety of operational foodservice roles, as well as a dealer sales representative and manufacturer’s representative, rounding out his industry innerworkings IQ. John’s comprehensive background aids in his unique ability to contemplate operational requirements and fulfill the individual needs of clients.

A longtime member of Foodservice Consultants Society International, John holds the highest designation.