Entrepreneur Rick Doody to Speak at the School of Hotel Administration
Rick Doody, chairman and founder of Bravo Brio Restaurant Group (BBRG), will be the featured speaker in the Conversations with Entrepreneurs series presented next Tuesday, November 9, 2010, by the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship at Cornell University.
Doody will speak from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. in 198 Statler Hall. He will dine with selected students after the event and meet with students, staff, and faculty the following day.
Doody, his brother Chris, and Executive Chef Phil Yandolino opened their first BRAVO! Cucina Italiana Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio in 1992. In 1998, the partners were operating eight BRAVO! units when a real estate developer asked if they would create an upscale Italian concept to be one of the centerpieces of Easton Town Center, a premier retail shopping center in Columbus. Thus, the BRIO Tuscan Grille concept was born.
BRIO was honored with the Nation's Restaurant News "Hot New Concept" award in 2002, paving the way for further development. Today, the restaurant group has 48 BRAVO! Cucina Italiana and 37 BRIO Tuscan Grille restaurants, with one BRIO under construction. BBRG, which recently became a publicly traded company, continues to seek opportunities for growth and development, and Doody is often quoted, saying "the best of BBRG is yet to come."
Doody holds a Masters of Professional Studies degree from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration.
The Conversations with Entrepreneurs series is sponsored by Hotelie Entrepreneurs, Cornell Hospitality Advisors, and eClips.
Doody, his brother Chris, and Executive Chef Phil Yandolino opened their first BRAVO! Cucina Italiana Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio in 1992. In 1998, the partners were operating eight BRAVO! units when a real estate developer asked if they would create an upscale Italian concept to be one of the centerpieces of Easton Town Center, a premier retail shopping center in Columbus. Thus, the BRIO Tuscan Grille concept was born.
BRIO was honored with the Nation's Restaurant News "Hot New Concept" award in 2002, paving the way for further development. Today, the restaurant group has 48 BRAVO! Cucina Italiana and 37 BRIO Tuscan Grille restaurants, with one BRIO under construction. BBRG, which recently became a publicly traded company, continues to seek opportunities for growth and development, and Doody is often quoted, saying "the best of BBRG is yet to come."
Doody holds a Masters of Professional Studies degree from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration.
The Conversations with Entrepreneurs series is sponsored by Hotelie Entrepreneurs, Cornell Hospitality Advisors, and eClips.
