Richard is the Chief Development Officer of Union Square Hospitality Group, and oversees the Department of Business Development, the division of USHG created to innovate, incubate, and develop a fresh generation of award-winning restaurants and other groundbreaking ventures for the USHG family of businesses.

A few of his most notable innovations and openings have been Eleven Madison Park (which earned 4 stars in the New York Times), Blue Smoke, Shake Shack, Maialino, Untitled at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and most recently, North End Grill in Battery Park City. Additionally in 2009, Richard worked with Susan Salgado to launch Hospitality Quotient, a learning and consulting business designed to help clients in diverse industries integrate hospitality into their technical service.

Before becoming Chief Development Officer, Richard was Chief Operations Officer, in which capacity he was responsible for the performance of all USHG operations, directly supervised the executive chefs, general managers, and directors, and trained the restaurants’ management teams to provide guests with USHG’s renowned cuisine and hospitality.

Richard joined USHG as a partner in 1996, following a decade of leadership with Wolfgang Puck Group, and the launch of his own restaurant, Hawthorne Lane, which he opened in San Francisco in 1995. Richard is a Boston native, a graduate of the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics, and holds an AOS in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America.

Business, Business Leadership, Hospitality, Business Growth, Innovation, Consulting, Business Services / Consulting Restaurants & Dining,