The Giving Kitchen Archives - Business RadioX ®

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Culinary Atlanta Series Featuring Skye Estroff with Taste of Atlanta, Jackson Smith and Wes Jones with Honeysuckle Gelato and Naomi Green with The Giving Kitchen

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Skye Estroff / Taste of Atlanta
Marketing and Media Manager

Skye Estroff is the marketing and media manager for Atlanta’s largest food festival, Taste of Atlanta. Skye manages all TV, radio and print media relationships, as well as strategizing and planning all social media. She is an Atlanta native, a University of Georgia graduate and an expert in Atlanta’s best food.

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Wes Jones and Jackson Smith / Honeysuckle Gelato
Co-Founder

Founded in 2011 by Jackson Smith, Wes Jones, and Khatera Ballard, Honeysuckle Gelato is a craft gelato manufacturer headquartered in Atlanta. Today, the company has 18 employees and its products can be found in retail locations across the Southeast. Additionally, Honeysuckle Gelato is served in restaurants throughout Atlanta and the company recently opened its first retail location in Ponce City Market. Since launching the Honeysuckle Gelato, the three founders have created more than 250 flavor combinations, their top seller being Sea-Salted Caramel.

Honeysuckle Gelato combines the rich and smooth texture of gelato with the decadent flavors and desserts of the South. All of the company’s gelatos and sorbets are made from scratch in Atlanta and use the finest and freshest local ingredients.

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Naomi Green / The Giving Kitchen
Director of Partnerships

As a life-long Atlanta native, Naomi Green is thrilled to join The Giving Kitchen team as Director of Partnerships and Strategic Events. Naomi brings extensive experience and knowledge of the restaurant industry which she’s gained over the past fifteen years. She has engaged in all dimensions of the restaurant business, rising from a server and bartender to senior management and event planning. Most recently, she was the Director of Events & Marketing at Fox Bros Bar-B-Q, where she signficantly contributed to the restaurant’s expansion initiatives. Previously, she was Event & Marketing Manager at the Palm Restaurant in Atlanta. Naomi also worked as a Corporate Trainer around the country and then as Banquet Sales Manager for Maggiano’s Little Italy in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Nashville.

Naomi has seen first hand the devastating impact of unanticipated hardship on Atlanta’s restaurant community. These experiences have motivated her to take on a leadership role in many industry related fundraisers, including launching Charlotte’s Web, The Pinky and the Team Hidi annual benefit events. Additionally, with the International Women’s House, Naomi works to serve immigrant and refugee women and their children who have been victim of domestic violence. She was also the chief organizer of the Palm’s sponsorship of the PGA’s TOUR Championship fundraiser, supporting the athletic engagement in golfing for children from low income families. Throughout these endeavors, Naomi has combined her pratical career experience with the skills obtained through her her studies at Boston University’s College of Communication and Journalism.

Naomi is excited to be able to blend her love for the restaurant community with her commitment to improving the lives of Georgians. She grew up in East Atlanta Village and Little 5 Points, attended the Atlanta Public Schools, and has remained a beloved fan of all things Atlanta. She currently resides near Decatur, and when she’s not out exploring some of Atlanta’s finest culinary hotspots and hidden dives, Naomi enjoys group running, spending time with her friends and family, and playing soccer regularly.

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Growth Matters

Ryan Turner - CEO of Unsukay Community of Businesses and Mike Gallagher - Restaurateur/Entrepreneur

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Ryan Turner – Unsukay Community of Businesses

Ryan’s business card title reads “business dude,” but that doesn’t really tell the whole story. Since college he has worked in every role in a restaurant. He is not a chef, but is mistaken for one in the media sometimes. He cut his “business teeth” by opening Muss & Turner’s in February of 2005. It has been a series of real-time stop, drop and roll moments while drinking from a fire hose, adjusting and adapting on the fly and facing financial disaster multiple times. Baptism by fire perhaps? Many of the hard lessons learned were amidst the not-so-gentle cupping of the Great Recession. Luckily he has been able to figure some stuff out but remains eager to grow and understand how ignorant he still stands today.

His primary role is that of providing organizational context with a compelling vision and strategic business map in addition to financial & legal analysis. He is obsessed with understanding and effectively implementing the best practices of world class leaders and organizations. He invests a ton of his time and energy into coaching the operating partners, managers and front line staff within the Life & Leadership Program called The Table.

Ryan is a Founding Board member and Chairman of The Giving Kitchen Initiative and also currently on the Executive Board for the Georgia Restaurant Association and will serve as Chair of the GRA in 2015.

If he’s not working or plotting the companies’ next moves, he’s on the golf course, seeking wisdom and always doing his best to be a great husband and father.

http://unsukaycommunity.com

https://twitter.com/mussandturners

https://www.facebook.com/unsukaycommunity

http://www.thegivingkitchen.org/

Mike Gallagher – Restaurateur/Entrepreneur (Brick Store Pub, Leon’s Full Service, Kimball House)

Mike began his career in the restaurant business at 15 as a server assistant at a restaurant outside of Philadelphia where his two older brothers worked.

While at UGA Mike took a position waiting tables at a restaurant where he would meet his future business partners Tom Moore and Dave Blanchard. He left his position as General Manager in the Fall of 1996 to begin work on a Pub in Decatur, GA. After living on his brother’s couch for a few months and even donating his car to the cause the fellas signed a loan for what would become Brick Store Pub. The three went on to open up JAVAMONKEY in 2001 and subsequently sold it to search for their next venture. The building at the corner of Church St. and Ponce became available and LEON s Full Service was born. It opened in February of 2009. Beer and Wine would eventually take a back seat to cocktails and the food has received much acclaim under the hands of Eric and Robert Lupo as Chef and Sous Chef.

In the fall of 2013 Kimball House opened. Mike, Dave and Tom partnered with longtime employees and friends Bryan Rackley, Miles Macquarrie, Matt Christison and Jesse Smith. Kimball House would have Miles at the helm of the bar, Chefs Jeff Wall and Philip Meeker in the kitchen, Bryan tending to the Oyster/Raw Bar and Matt and Jesse leading the dining room. A great sense of pride for the original BSP guys as they helped achieve this dream while assisting with all the pitfalls that can plague a young start up.

Brick Store Pub has consistently been rated top 10 Beer Bars in the country and even the world. LEONs Full Service has been named top 50 Bars in the country by Food and Wine magazine. The path to provide a high level of hospitality and be a positive force in their chosen community of Decatur through great food and drink has been fruitful and Mike will tell you it’s just the beginning of the journey.

http://www.brickstorepub.com

http://www.leonsfullservice.com

http://kimball-house.com/#info