El Dorado Resorts appoints Gregg Carano '85 as Senior Vice President, General Manager of the Eldorado Resort Casino Reno, Silver Legacy Resort Casino and Circus Circus Reno (collectively the “Reno Tri-Properties”) Gregg Carano '85 most recently served as Senior Vice President of Food and Beverage for Eldorado Resorts, Inc. and General Manager of Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort in West Virginia. Gregg Carano assumes the role from current Senior Vice President, General Manager of the Reno Tri-Properties, Gene Carano, who will continue to serve as Senior Vice President of Regional Operations, Nevada and Colorado. Read full release.

The American Culinary Foundation 2018 Southeastern Region Educator of the Year award pays tribute to an active culinary educator whose knowledge, skills and expertise have enhanced the image of the professional chef, and who, by example, has given leadership, guidance and direction to students seeking a career in the culinary profession. Read more. American Culinary Federation

Regynald Washington is a 1974 hospitality alumnus. He gave the commencement speech at the Sunday, July 29, 2018 Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management graduation. Very Important Panther: Regynald G. Washington ’74 Chief Executive Officer, Hojeij Branded Foods Bachelor of Science in international hotel and restaurant administration, 1974 Member, Dean’s Advisory Council, Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Torch Award recipient, 2005 You’ve climbed from the lowest rung of the hospitality world — starting as a teenage busboy in the Florida Keys — to the very top — head of a company that operates the airport outlets of popular restaurant brands nationwide. How has that experience made you a better leader? Read the Regynald's answer to this and other questions.

David Foulquier graduated in 2013. The first-generation American owns and runs Fooq’s, a downtown Miami restaurant which sells “feel good food.” Its eclectic menu - featuring ghormeh sabzi alongside steak frites - draws from his... read more on Forbes.com Sourced from Forbes.com

After more than 30 years in the hotel 
industry, Maxine Taylor has a deep well of mind-boggling anecdotes, especially from her time as an asset manager. She recalls one incident a few years ago, when she noticed that a property in her portfolio was spending more than $700,000 a year on boiler watchmen. “These staff members were literally sitting in the basement, watching the boiler. I immediately asked... read complete story on lodging magazine.com Sourced from lodgingmagazine.com, Posted by: Kate Hughes, July 9, 2018

By Jeff Zbar  – Correspondent, South Florida Business Journal Jun 21, 2018 In the last 18 months, Bill Talbert and his team at the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau have endured a host of “headwinds” that might have created serious challenges for other travel spots. The Miami Beach Convention Center closed for a six-month “blackout” period during its $600 million renovation and expansion. Travel from Brazil, among Miami’s largest feeder markets, fell 26 percent. The Zika virus scared off travelers, and Hurricane... Watch video and read full article here

Hospitality Alumni Reception in Orlando, FL September 7, 2018, The Grove Resort & Spa, Orlando, FL 6:00-8:00 p.m. Sponsor: Humberto “Burt” Cabanas ’76, Chairman, Benchmark Hospitality International For more information or to RSVP, please contact dean Rocco Angelo at 305.919.4515 or angelor@fiu.edu Hospitality Alumni Reception in Miami October 22, 2018, Fontainebleau Miami Beach (Scarpetta Terrace) 6:00-8:00 p.m. Sponsor: Phil Goldfarb '79, President and COO, Fontainebleau Miami Beach For more information or to RSVP, please contact dean Rocco Angelo at 305.919.4515 or angelor@fiu.edu Hospitality Alumni Reception in NYC November 11, 2018, Royalton Park Avenue Hotel, New York City 6:00-8:00 p.m. Sponsor: Highgate Royalton Park Avenue Hotel Special thanks to: Mahmood Khimji, President, Highgate Holdings, Inc. With appreciation: Jan Rozenveld '90 MS '91, Sr VP Lifestyle Hotels at Highgate Jay Litt '73, The Litt Group For more information or to RSVP, please contact dean Rocco Angelo at 305.919.4515 or angelor@fiu.edu __ For additional information and events, visit the events calendar page.

The Career Closet at the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation Career Development Program was established in spring 2018, thanks to the generosity of Lani Kane-Hanan ’87 MS ’04. Lani is Executive Vice President, Resort Development, Revenue & Inventory Management and Product Innovation at Marriott Vacations Worldwide and currently serves as chairman of the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Chaplin School. FIU hospitality students are able to take one outfit per academic year free of charge. Hospitality senior Krystal Roman recently made use of the career closet as she prepared for an internship interview with Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits. Here is a Q&A with Krystal. Why did you use the career closet? I used the career closet because I did not have anything to wear due to my pregnancy. Where is the internship, and what will you be assigned to do? The internship is at Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits in Miramar. I will be working with the sales team, visiting different clients or accounts. When will the internship take place and for how long? The internship began on May 21st until mid-August, about three months. What is your major?When do you expect to graduate? Major is Hospitality Management with a focus in Beverage Management. I expect to graduate December 2018. How did you get the internship? I heard about this internship from the Chaplin School’s Career Development Office. Lourdes Torres, one of the career advisors, guided me along the process. The office kept me up to date with postings and any new and upcoming internships opportunities in the Beverage Industry. Why did you choose this internship? I chose this internship because it is the internship of my dreams! I have always hoped and aspired [...]

Scholarship Endowment Created in Memory of George Minutaglio Jr. Carrabba's Italian Grill® and FIU Partner to provide assistance to first-generation students TAMPA, Fla., May 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Carrabba's Italian Grill announced a scholarship endowment in honor of George Minutaglio, Jr., former Vice President of Operations who passed away at the age of 48 in January. The George Minutaglio Jr. Carrabba's Italian Grill First Generation Scholarship Endowment will help cover tuition for students who are the first in their families to attend college. "During his 25-year career in the restaurant industry... Read full release. To learn more about George, the scholarship, and to donate in his memory, click here.

How an FIU Alum became a wine seller in China By Elizabeth Wesner, Assistant Dean, Marriott Tianjin China Program At a busy, crowded booth in the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Hongqiao Shanghai, Emilio Guerra negotiates with potential distributors and retailers using English and a Chinese translator, while conversing with his work colleagues in Spanish. As he stands ready to raise the bar for the wine industry in China, he recounts the path that lead him to this moment. “I would not be here today, if it weren’t for FIU.” When Emilio Guerra finished his MBA through FIU’s College of Business in 1985, he had no idea he would someday end up as CEO of his own wine import business in China.  “After graduating, I became the director of sales and marketing for a major banana producer for about fifteen years,” he said, “but my passion has always been wine.  My wife said, ‘Why don’t you make your hobby your job?’”  Having kept wine as a hobby since he was twenty-one, Emilio finally began taking wine classes in 2001 at FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management to do just that.  It was through Professor Chip Cassidy’s Mastery of Wine class that Emilio was introduced to Southern Wine and Spirits, where he began working in the fine wines division in April 2002. So, how did Emilio find himself standing at a booth this week in the 2018 SuperWine Shanghai International Food and Spirits Exhibition representing his new enterprise, Noble House Trading Co.?  Emilio points behind him to another man, “Fernando.”  Fernando Taboada, Emilio’s best friend and now President of Noble House Trading, had travelled to China about twenty times over the course of fifteen [...]