Restaurant Expert Witnesses

This expert is currently the Founder/Co-Owner of a privately held restaurant development company which employs more than 3000 people in the state of New York. The fast food component includes 21 fast food restaurants and 46 casual dining restaurants. It is one of the largest franchise groups in the casual dining franchise chain and overall the 81st largest restaurants franchise company in the United States.

This expert has over 30 years of experience in the hospitality and restaurant industry. His experience includes positions at convention hotels in Los Angeles and Washington D.C., as well as management with fortune 500 restaurant companies in major cities throughout the country. He specializes in restaurant and hotel openings and consulting, as well as restaurant operations including safety and management. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Hospitality Management at a mid-Atlantic/northeast regional college.

This expert is recognized as one of the country's top food safety trainers and has 25+ years experience as a food safety consultant in the food industry. Currently, he has recently retired as president and founder of an independent food service practice which provides consulting and training to food service and lodging companies throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. The expert was involved in the creation of the ServSafe instructional series which is endorsed by the National Restaurant Association. This expert is a member several professional organizations including the Central Atlantic States Association of Food and Drug Official and Florida Association for Food Protection. Former positions have included Chair and Professor of Hospitality Management at Essex Community College, President and Chairman of the Board of the Council on Hotel. This expert earned a BS from Kent State University, a MS from The Johns Hopkins University, and an honorary Doctorate of Food Service from the National Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers.

This highly qualified expert has extensive experience in Food Safety and Nutritional Management Services. He holds certifications including ServSafe Food Safety Instructor/Proctor; Certified Executive Chef; Certified Culinary Educator; Registered Dietician; as well as a New York State License from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This expert is nationally recognized as a food safety trainer operating certification classes and "Third-party Audits" throughout New York State approved by local Health Departments. Furthermore, he has traveled the United States as well as Canada inspecting food service operations and restaurants, and instructing food safety certification programs. Currently, he is a Professor of Hospitality instructing food-safety classes for various colleges within New York State; and President of a training and consulting company in the Greater New York City Area.

This expert trains on all phases of the food service operation. He is a certified ServSafe Instructor, Registered Examination Proctor, Certified SURE HACCP Food Safety Trainer, and Certified SURE HACCP Food Safety Manager. The SURE HACCP Food Safety Manager Certification is approved by the International HACCP Alliance. Prior to his food safety experience, he worked at a variety of hospitals in the Midwest as Director of Nutrition Service.

This expert in toxicology had a 22-year career in regulatory positions at the Food and Drug Administration. The expert joined the FDA in 1977 and served as the Special Assistant to the Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and as the Director of Division of Toxicological Research. Following retirement from Federal service, he was also the State Toxicologist, Chemical Terrorism Laboratory Director, and State Counterterrorism Coordinator working within the Alabama Department of Public Health. He has a B.S. in Biology from Wake Forest University, an M.S. in Physiology from West Virginia University, and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from West Virginia University. The expert also later earned an M.S. in Applied Human Behavior from Johns Hopkins University, where he completed a Fellowship in Organizational Development and Community Systems. He is a Member of the American College of Toxicology, the National Environmental Health Association, and the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. The expert left his FDA position at the end of 1999 and his Alabama Department of Health role in early 2010.

This expert has accumulated over 35 years of experience in the restaurant business and has spent the last seven years as a consultant for the restaurant and bar industries, having worked with over 100 different restaurant, bar and hotel establishments in south and central Texas. This expert has knowledge and is comfortable in all phases of the restaurant & bar industry and developed procedures that help guide ownership in their pursuit of improved operations.

This food service professional has a tremendous degree of expertise in multi-unit operations, cafe design and unit flow, having worked in establishments ranging from large multi-unit food operations to small boutique restaurants and beachside bars. For several years he served as the general manager of beach bars on Long Island and currently operates a 140 seat sports pub in the New York metro area.

Robert Marcarelli is a well-known and respected chef, manager and restaurant consultant known throughout the Connecticut area. He has over fifteen years of hands-on business experience in restaurants, retail, catering, and the hospitality industry and over 20 years in business management. Robert’s experiences of working in the front and back of the house are what give him the competitive edge in our consulting field. Those skills, and specifically, his passion for taking an individual’s vision and developing it into a business plan, design, and brand name, set Robert apart in the industry. That was the driving force behind his past endeavors, including starting Pi LLC. Restaurant Consulting in 2005. Robert has been personally involved in various complex and of-the-moment hospitality concepts. His experience ranges from quick serve to fine dining, such as: a High Volume Brick Oven Pizza Restaurant, Gourmet Markets, Night Clubs, Banquet Facilities, an award winning Italian Bistro and Wine Bar, Connecticut’s First Green Certified Restaurant, a national known Soda Manufacturing Company, a NY TIMES rated “Excellent” Seafood Restaurant and more. He brings with him a deep knowledge of current food trends, award winning hospitality and of course, the network of Connecticut’s business leaders, leading Restaurant Groups, and the Industry’s best: Chefs, Managers and Professional Staff he has built lasting relationships with during his years of practice.

This restaurant industry expert has 30+ years of experience in hospitality. He earned a B.S. in Restaurant Management from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and an M.B.A. in Hospitality from Lynn University. His experience ranges from corporate training to independent entrepreneurship. Presently he operates a thriving consulting buesiness and currently serves as the Lead Restaurant Instructor in Restaurant and Bar Management for Florida International University. Feigenheimer was recently awarded the NAC Eminent Scholar Chair at FIU. In addition, this expert is recognized as an expert restaurant witness with experience in cases ranging from Dram Shop, contract issues, landlord tenant issues to slip, trip and falls.

This expert is the owner of a premier Restaurant and Foodservice consultancy that provides Management Advisory Services. He has expansive industry knowledge and tight focus on restaurant fundamentals obtaining positive performance results for client’s, independents, regional and national chains and start-up concepts. Additionally, he is a Host and Co-Host for several popular food shows.

This expert restaurant consultant has a wealth of experience as a professional chef and restaurant manager with varied experience in both New York City and the Caribbean. For several years, she owned and operated a successful restaurant and bar on St John in the US Virgin Islands and later operated a number of high volume restaurants in New York, including Le Pain Quotidien. She currently works as a freelance consultant and SCORE Mentor

This expert has 37 years of experience in the field of Hospitality and Restaurants. He earned his BS at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his MA in Social Psychology at San Diego State University. He is a member of the New York State Restaurant Association and has written articles for several restaurant and hospitality publications. He currently holds academic appointments as a Faculty Instructor of Culinary Management at a Culinary School in New York, and as an Adjunct Professor of Hospitality Management at a University in New York. He also serves as Partner at a Food Startup, as well as the President of a Hospitality Consulting Group in New York.

This expert has over 35 years of owning and operating independent restaurants, now "coaching" restaurateurs in purchasing, planning, opening, and operations of the business. This includes restaurant turnarounds - that is, troubled restaurants needing a coach in troubled times in ALL aspects of the restaurant business. He has advised landlords, lenders, investors, and operator/owners of independent restaurants including: Vernick Food & Drink, Philadelphia; The Pop Shop, Collingswood & Medford, NJ; The Green Line Cafes in Philadelphia; Sang Kee in Philadelphia & Cherry Hill, NJ; 320 Market Cafe in Swarthmore, PA; The Silver Spoon in Wayne, PA; and many more

This qualified expert has over 40 years of experience in foodservice management. He received his BS in economics from Oregon State University. He is a certified speaking professional and is considered to be one of the top foodservice speakers in North America. He is a member of the Foodservice Consultants Society International and the Chaine de Rotisseurs, an international gastronomical society. He was the formerly the owner of a thriving restaurant, The Shore Bird, for 23 years and held the title of president of the California Restaurant Association. Additionally, he was the chairman of the CRA Education Foundation. He was also an adjunct professor of hospitality at the University of California San Francisco and an adjunct professor for the hotel and restaurant school at California State Polytechnic University. This expert is quite involved in his field, having authored several foodservice articles and guides as well as being a regular columnist for a few foodservice publications. Currently, he serves as the founder of a foodservice hospitality and retail consulting firm based in California.

This highly qualified expert has over 30 years of experience in security and premises liability, with experience in the following settings: hospitals & healthcare, hotels, corporate, churches & places of worship, offices & buildings, restaurants, retail, and colleges. He earned his BA in justice and law administration from Western Connecticut State University and later earned his JD from the University of Connecticut School of Law. This expert holds several certifications including being a certified protection professional and a certified healthcare professional associates. In addition, he holds a FEMA certification in hospital incident command systems. This expert holds several professional memberships including being a member of the Florida Bar Association, the Florida Defense Lawyers Association and the Defense Research Institute, the American Society for Industrial Security, and the International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety. Formerly, this expert has held several roles including a senior associate attorney at McIntosh, Sawran & Cartaya, PA, an administrative security supervisor/chief investigator at Danbury Health Systems, the director of security and emergency m management at Kootenai Health, and director of security and transportation at Spectrum Health. Currently, this expert is the executive director of safety at a major health system and president and chief consultant at a security management consulting firm in Florida.

This expert has nearly 20 years of experience in the epidemiology and behavioral science field, specializing in foodborne outbreaks, worksite health, workplace behaviors, consumer retail behavior, and, most recently, the impact of COVID-19 on human behavior. She earned a BA in math and psychology from Bradley University, an MS in epidemiology and biostatistics from the University of South Florida, and a PhD in public and community health from the University of Maryland. Formerly, this expert served as an adjunct professor in public health at Montgomery College. She then went on to serve as a program analyst for behavioral and social research programs at the National Institute of Aging and National Cancer Institute, along with serving as a deputy director of strategic and innovative programs at the National Institutes of Health. This expert was also the founder and director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health, as well as principal epidemiologist and global vice president of research and corporate services at Sodexo. Currently, she is the CEO of an epidemiology and behavioral science consulting firm in Maryland.