ABOUT YOUNG CHEF YOUNG WAITER USA

Tony Marcell

Partner & Operations Manager of LUNA and Wayfare Tavern

Tony Marcell is a renowned San Francisco restaurant veteran with over two decades of experience in the hospitality industry. He is widely recognized for the role he played in opening Wayfare Tavern and has been credited for much of the restaurant’s initial and ongoing success. read more A Washington native, Marcell grew up in the restaurant industry. His earliest memories include assisting his father in selling high-end meats to chefs in the Seattle area. He found beauty in the aroma and ingredients these chefs worked with and enjoyed the high energy intensity of the culinary teams he met. He recognized the creativity involved in curating a beautiful, delicious meal and eventually found pleasure and “an exhilarating and rewarding feeling” from learning to create them himself.

Throughout Marcell’s childhood, his mother and father worked in restaurants. His mother was a talented chef who took her skill home and taught Marcell professional cooking techniques in the home kitchen. Experiencing superior family meals and fabulous dinner parties, coupled with those early outings in various kitchens with his father, sparked Marcell’s passion for the industry.

In high school, Marcell began his own career in the restaurant business working at Triples, a downtown Seattle hotspot owned by Restaurants Unlimited, a food and beverage firm that operated 35 restaurants in six states. He stayed with the company through college, working his way through school by bartending and waiting tables.

After graduating from Washington State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing, Marcell continued his career with Restaurants Unlimited for another two years, moving to Hawaii and honing his skills in the kitchen as a sous chef. In 1995, he relocated to San Francisco and took his first job with The Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group on their front-of-house team learning operational and managerial skills and engaging with restaurant guests.

After five years with Kimpton, Marcell accepted a position as floor manager at famed restaurateur and Michelin-starred chef Laurent Manrique’s groundbreaking restaurant, Aqua. Under the mentorship of Jean Claude Persais at Aqua, Marcell learned the “art of fine dining” and worked as general manager of the establishment within two years where he achieved a Michelin Two Star rating in 2006.

In 2007, Marcell began consulting for San Francisco design firm, Puccini Group where he opened newly designed restaurants within hotels throughout the city of San Francisco and across the US. Three years later, in 2010, he opened Wayfare Tavern with celebrity chef Tyler Florence, which is now on it’s 13th year.

Marcell opened LUNA, in the Mission in 2021 to create a modern and timeless gathering place for good “Kitchen and Cocktails” with a casual and comfortable setting that is welcoming to a diverse clientele for all occasions

In his free time, Marcell enjoys spending time with his 9 yr old daughter, Que. Swimming and playing Golf.

Roger Huldi

General Manager at The St. Regis San Francisco

Roger Huldi, a highly accomplished hospitality operations leader known for developing progressive programming and initiatives, Roger is a seasoned industry veteran with nearly 30 years of experience working with Marriott International and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. read more In 1991, Roger began his career in the Food and Beverage Department at the Sheraton Mirage Resort in Port Douglas, Australia. Since that time, Roger has excelled and demonstrated his expertise with increasing responsibility as Director of Food and Beverage at the Westin Maui Resort & Spa in Lahaina and the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina, Director of Outlets at the Westin Maui Kaanapali and as Food and Beverage Manager at the Hilton Waikoloa Village.

During his tenure as General Manager of W San Francisco, in 20 l 5, Roger led the property to LEED Platinum Certification and introduced dynamic and now globally adapted practices. In recognition of his leadership, the American Hotel and Lodging Association named W San Francisco the 20 l 6 Hotel of the Year. W San Francisco was also one of the first hotels in the city to install rooftop beehives. Roger believes that green hospitality is about achieving the highest sustainable standards without sacrificing the guest experience.

Roger is an active board member of the San Francisco Travel Association, the California Hotel and Lodging Association's Hospitality Foundation, and the Hotel Council of San Francisco. In 2022, Roger assumed the position of General Manager at The St. Regis San Francisco. Under his leadership, the hotel has attained the highest Guest Satisfaction scores globally within the Marriott luxury brand portfolio. This year, The St. Regis San Francisco achieved the coveted Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating; the only Forbes Five-Star hotel in San Francisco. Less than four hundred hotels globally have earned this designation.

A thoughtful and innovative thinker, Roger fully immerses himself in the planning for all initiatives at The St. Regis San Francisco. To say that Roger is an asset to The St. Regis San Francisco would be an understatement. He is the consummate embodiment of hospitality and innovation, and the true definition of what a leader is.

Steven Lande

Steven Lande comes from Chicago, where meals were the time to share love, quarrels, and commiseration around the dinner table with family and friends. In other words, those experiences made him a natural for food and wine. read more He began his career at Charlie Trotter’s famed Relais & Chateau restaurant in Chicago, and for six years Steven grew under Trotter’s mentorship. Next, he managed The Dining Room at The Ritz Carlton, Chicago for five years (operated by Four Seasons Hotels at the time). Where he worked alongside James Beard winner, Chef Sarah Stegner and was responsible for their Grand Award-winning wine list, as well as, serving on the North American wine buying committee for Four Seasons.

Steven headed west for San Francisco, where he was the manager/maître’ d for more than 16 years at Restaurant Gary Danko. Steven considers this his most rewarding experience as it enabled him to become part of the San Francisco community.

During the pandemic, Steven transitioned to Lasseter Family Vineyards in Sonoma to hone new skills in wine production. It was during this time that he took the next step of working for himself and launched Lande Hospitality; where he advises local restaurateurs, guides wine collectors curating their cellars and consults on high-end event planning.

Steven and his wife, Jennifer, have been living in their adopted Bay Area home for more than 20 years.