Omni Louisville Hotel Announces Food & Beverage Leadership
Team Preparing for March 6 Opening
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Feb. 26, 2018) – With Louisville’s only “all-prime” steakhouse, a three-meal casual restaurant, a speakeasy that serves light bites from the prohibition era, a beautiful Library Bar and an urban market and food hall, Omni Louisville Hotel will become a favorite new dining spot for hotel guests and local residents alike.
With opening day on March 6, the food and beverage leadership team is in place and they’re working to ensure that all the food outlets of Omni Louisville are ready to welcome not only hotel guests, but locals as well, starting on day one.
“Our city already has some of the top culinary talent in the country, but we were able to put together a team of top-notch professionals – many with Louisville experience and all with fantastic resumes – to lead these new establishments into landmark status,” said General Manager Scott Stuckey. “Even for local residents who never spend a night in our hotel, these outlets will be the place they grab coffee or lunch with coworkers, meet friends for a drink after work or go to for first dates and anniversary dinners.”
The team will be joining Connie Paulikas, who was named Omni Louisville’s director of food and beverage late last year. With over 30 years of experience in hospitality, she will be responsible for banquet operations, culinary at the pool bar and lounges and Neighborhood Services. She will also work closely with the team at Falls City Market. She has held the director of food and beverage title at the Hyatt Regency Austin and others including Jacksonville, Carmel Highlands Inn and Monterey, and was the assistant director of food and beverage at the Hyatt Regency Chicago and Orlando.
“Louisville is a culinary destination in and of itself and Omni is honored to enhance the city’s food and beverage reputation,” Paulikas said. “Putting this team together meant finding the most qualified and knowledgeable talent in the industry – and in several cases that meant hiring individuals from right here in Louisville.”
Meet the rest of the Omni Louisville food and beverage leadership team:
Omni Louisville Hotel Executive Chef Steve Gustafson
Gustafson’s first professional job was at a hotel-based Chicago-style pizza and Italian joint in his hometown of Minneapolis. Because the restaurant handled banquets and weddings as well as nightly meals, he fell in love with the demands of hotel restaurants. For more than 15 years, he has worked as a chef with many hotel brands – most recently as Executive Sous Chef for Omni Nashville. “Being a hotel chef, I believe you really get the best of both worlds,” he said. “There’s always something going on.”
Bob’s Steak & Chop House General Manager Cory Givan
A Louisville native, Givan brings 25 years of restaurant and hospitality experience with him to Bob’s Steak & Chop House. A well-rounded, multi-faceted restaurant general manager with experience at Louisville institutions such as Le Relais and Corbett’s, Givan said Bob’s Steak & Chop House is a traditional house, but not at all stuffy. “We simply are the best at everything we do, without being pretentious about it.”
Bob’s Steak & Chop House Executive Chef Paul Sant
With a wealth of Louisville experience, most recently at Corbett’s, Sant is assuming the executive chef role at Bob’s, where he will bring local authenticity to a premier national brand. By crafting nightly specials and other signature menu items, he will be showing the world what a fine steak house tastes like in Louisville. “In a city like ours, you have to be perfect every time, because Louisville-diners have high standards and lots of great options,” he said. “That competition from other great chefs drives you to constantly exceed the expectations of your guests.”
Falls City Market General Manager Daniel Greet
With more than 25 years of hospitality and culinary experience, Greet believes engaging guest interaction is the best way to develop excellent customer relation skills. In his role of general manager, he will be leading the staff at Falls City Market, an urban market and food hall, which will feature – among other things – a pizza place, bakery and taco truck. With experience working both at hotels and for Dean & DeLuca, a high-end grocery chain, Greet is uniquely qualified to lead Omni’s first foray into a food hall and market establishment. “Falls City Market is going to be a unique experience in Louisville and bringing it to life is a great honor,” he said.
Falls City Market Executive Chef David Deegan
Deegan has extensive restaurant experience at other notable hotels and resorts including the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, South Seas Island Resort, The Homestead and Zermatt Hotels in Midway, Utah. To Deegan, food is the story of human survival through time and he feels both empowered to be true to the values that make food experiences wonderful, but also free enough to challenge tradition in ways that are approachable to the average diner. “Stopping into Falls City Market will soon be an integral experience for people in Louisville – whether they’re going to lunch with coworkers, picking up deli food for dinner on the way home or grabbing pizza before a downtown concert,” he said.
Neighborhood Services Chef Randall M. Pasch
A graduate of Sullivan University’s excellent culinary studies program, Pasch has a wealth of experience in both Louisville and Chicago. With experience planning hotel banquets for up to 800 at 21c Hotel and creating menus as chef de cuisine at Butchertown Grocery, Pasch loves to create seasonal dishes that feature local ingredients.
Omni Louisville Hotel Pastry Chef Jaclyn Joseph
Another graduate of Sullivan University, Joseph has more than 10 years of experience in the culinary industry. Her passion for creating modern desserts and presentations has led her to being the only student to work on the 2011 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. She also has staged desserts at some of the top restaurants in New York City – Gramercy Tavern and Lincoln Ristorante in the Lincoln Center. She continually pays homage to her favorite saying, “Be humble. Be hungry. And always be the hardest worker in the room.”
About Omni Louisville Hotel
Omni Louisville Hotel, located steps away from 4th Street Live, Kentucky International Convention Center and Whiskey Row is set to open March 6, 2018. The newest Omni property will feature 612 finely appointed guestrooms and suites designed with intersecting towers that represent the crossroads of the past, present and future of Louisville. The hotel will be a food and beverage epicenter featuring the renowned Bob’s Steak & Chop House and Neighborhood Services along with Falls City Market, an urban food market, offering grocery staples and hawker food stations, along with a flower shop and an El Toro food truck. The hotel will also house a speakeasy with four professional bowling lanes; a Mokara signature spa; an art gallery featuring local artists; a rooftop pool deck and bar; and a bourbon retail store. Considered the tallest hotel in town, and inspired by the city’s rich history and authentic character, the Omni Louisville Hotel will transform one of the city’s most significant urban blocks into a unique and vibrant mixed-use complex offering hotel guests, residents and locals the ability to connect and enjoy the best the city has to offer. For more information or to book accommodations, visit https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/louisville or call (888) 444-6664.
About Omni Hotels & Resorts
Omni Hotels & Resorts creates genuine, authentic guest experiences at 60 distinct luxury hotels and resorts in leading business and leisure destinations across North America. With more than 25 iconic golf courses and 16 award-winning spas featured in dynamic locales nationwide, every Omni proudly opens its doors to share the true spirit of its destination. Reflected through local color, personalized service, unique wellness options, signature restaurants and creative culinary offerings, Omni leaves a lasting impression with every guest and a heightened level of recognition and rewards delivered through its Select Guest loyalty program. As a founding member of the Global Hotel Alliance, Select Guest is further expanded through the DISCOVERY® loyalty program offering members additional global benefits. Omni is committed to reducing hunger and is on a mission through its Say Goodnight to Hunger initiative to provide millions of meals each year for food banks to feed children, families and seniors in communities in which it operates. For information or to book accommodations, visit omnihotels.com or call 1-800-The-Omni.