Elite restaurant group has Rhody flavor

Advocacy, mentoring, social responsibility, giving back: These days, it is likely that your restaurant meal comes with a serving of at least one of these good works on the side.
And no group of individuals personifies the spirit of hospitality that is ingrained in the restaurant industry than the board of directors of the National Restaurant Association. Nearly 70 members sit on the governing organization that runs the industry trade association and lobbying group. They hail from 42 states. Two of the members are from Rhode Island.
This is a striking example of how our state’s restaurant industry is respected nationwide. The Ocean State has had at least one member on the national board for decades, predating the restaurant boom of the mid-1990s.
Brian Casey, owner of The Oak Hill Tavern and The Company Picnic Co. in North Kingstown, took the chair held for many years by the noted wine expert and personality Len Panaggio of Newport. Then at the beginning of this year, the board named Bahjat Shariff, senior vice president of operations of Howley Bread Group, the franchisee of Panera Bread in Rhode Island as well as parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Shariff is one of the driving forces behind the success of Howley and Panera. He opened the first Panera bakery/café in the state in 2000 in Cranston. Now the company operates 28 locations employing more than 1,300 in the three-state region. The newest Rhode Island café recently opened in Lincoln.
He first achieved national attention nearly two years ago when he was awarded the association’s Faces of Diversity award. Then Dale Venturini, president of the Rhode Island Hospitality Association, itself a longstanding member of the national restaurant group, tossed Shariff’s hat into the ring. He was named to the board in January and will serve two three-year terms.
Shariff says the opportunity to serve on the board is both exciting and humbling. “I am truly honored,” he said. “I started in the restaurant business as a cook at age 18 making biscuits in a KFC in Azusa, Calif. I am looking forward to sharing best practices and exchanging fresh, exciting ideas!”
Shariff is as eager to share the Rhode Island story of success in the restaurant industry with the national board as he is about swapping those ideas. “The [national] restaurant business understands the magnitude of dining in our state,” he said.
So what are the critical issues facing the board this year? Not unexpectedly, its focus is on personnel practices. The greatest challenge facing the industry, as well as its leading asset, is its employees.
In 2014, hiring, wages, job growth and health care benefits are all at the top of the agenda for the National Restaurant Association board. Personnel and human resources are universal issues facing restaurateurs at all levels. While the “bigs” are well-represented on the board, with large chains from McDonalds to Darden – parent of Olive Garden – to Wolfgang Puck and Starbucks, the backbone of the industry, the independent one, two or 10-location restaurant businesses are as well-represented and are considered important voices on these and other topics.
“I have already been named to the association’s Restaurant Advocacy committee,” Shariff said. “We take on issues such as food waste – that is, the millions of pounds of food that is prepared in restaurants but not sold and not able to be donated.” The group hopes to make an impact on reducing food waste.
Shariff is impressed with the high level and amount of industry data the National Restaurant Association mines and shares with its membership and with the public. Trends on consumer preferences, employment and economic impact the restaurant industry has on local communities are available to the board and the membership.
The new board member makes it clear that Rhode Island is home. “We have such a diverse variety of restaurants [throughout the state] with such a range of skill in hospitality and management,” he said.
Not to mention our love of dining out: As Bahjat Shariff described his fellow foodies, “Rhode Islanders [say], ‘Don’t mess with my food!’ ” •


Bruce Newbury’s “Dining Out” food and wine talk radio show is heard on WADK-AM 1540, WHJJ-AM 920, WBLQ-AM 1230, online and through mobile applications. He can be reached by email at Bruce@BruceNewbury.com.

No posts to display