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For Randy, he did not choose the restaurant hospitality business, he was born into it. His parents had a small family owned resort in northern Minnesota and Randy was raised serving regular guests that returned every summer.
Randy graduated from the University of Denver and earned a Hotel & Restaurant Management degree in 1989. He joined Stouffer Hotels & Resorts after graduation, and learned the operations of multiple departments while staying with one company for over eight years. Randy worked in amazing places, such as Hawaii, Los Angeles, St. Thomas and Atlanta, experiencing the summer Olympics in Atlanta and resort destinations in Hawaii and the Caribbean. By working with different cultures, Randy was able to develop his employee skills to the fullest and really understand people.
In 1997, Randy took a turn in his career to focus on restaurants. He had the opportunity to open a restaurant in San Francisco with an independent owner and could not pass up the chance to work in a great restaurant city. After a couple of years and the birth of his first child, Randy and his wife, Heidi, were looking to move out of San Francisco. Randy liked what he saw of the LEYE restaurants when he visited the National Restaurant Show.
In 1999, Randy moved to Chicago to work for Lettuce Entertain You at Nacional 27 with Ed Culleeney and Howard Katz. Ed and Howard were the perfect introduction to the Lettuce culture and systems. Randy was impressed with their standards and commitment to training. He also helped out at Ben Pao to further his experience with the Lettuce kitchen and opening systems.
Randy was asked to supervise Petterino’s shortly after it opened in 2001, and there he got to know Rich and started to learn his beliefs and ideals. Rich inspired him to manage the restaurant while staying true to the employees and high standards.
In 2002, Randy was asked to supervise Papagus Chicago in addition to Petterino’s. Randy and Kevin Brown focused on the menu direction and food quality. Rich’s quote it’s about the food, never rang more true in Randy’s mind.
With Osteria Via Stato’s opening in November of 2004 in the Papagus Chicago space, Randy joined forces with Scott Barton. Randy was inspired by the people around him who had such passion towards a focused concept. He was reminded that hard work while having fun is why he joined the restaurant business.
His goals are to constantly work on the food, because it’s about the food, and to develop his staff. This enables Osteria Via Stato and Tru to have depth in the management team so they can continue to develop those concepts and to open new restaurants.
Randy enjoys spending time with his wife and three children. Randy and Heidi often remark on what a wonderful journey it has been to get to their final destination. | 