Food Chain removes friction from consulting engagements, letting our roster focus on solving complex food-and-beverage challenges and helping clients grow, optimize, and succeed. Whether advising on new concepts, expansions, or turnarounds, we ensure strategic guidance and seamless support are always at the forefront.
Vanessa Rimando and Greg Goldman have spent decades building, running, and elevating restaurants and bars, combining operational expertise with creative vision. Together, they founded Food Chain to serve as a centralized hub for the hospitality industry’s top F&B consulting talent, connecting exceptional operators, chefs, and beverage specialists with restauranteurs worldwide.
Food Chain offers deep experience in operations, leadership, and team development, hands-on ownership and management of thriving hospitality venues.
Who We Are:
Vanessa
Vanessa Rimando is the owner of Vanessa Rimando Consulting and Coaching (est. 2016), the trusted foundation that grew into Food Chain Hospitality Collective; an owner of Spirit (est. 2015 & named one of the Best in America in 2017 by Esquire Magazine) in Pittsburgh, PA; an owner of Mia Natural Inc. (est. 2019), a beverage development company.
She began her career in hospitality more than 20 years ago as a line cook then Sous Chef, mentored by some of the industry's most celebrated chefs and restaurateurs. Over time she moved from the back of house to the front, transitioning to FOH management, and later into multi-unit leadership. She eventually joined the Roberta’s restaurant group and earned the role of Director of Operations & HR, overseeing systems, training, culture, and compliance for a fast-growing, high profile business while it expanded into new concepts and markets. At Roberta’s, Vanessa worked side by side with Greg, and their shared approach to hospitality and operations began to take shape. Along with the wider team, they helped a casual neighborhood pizza restaurant evolve into a sprawling operation and global destination, recognized with glowing reviews from The New York Times and Michelin attention.
Outside of day-to-day operations, Vanessa has shared her experience through speaking and teaching, including serving as a speaker/instructor for DoorDash’s incubator program for 100 new hospitality businesses in five major U.S. food hubs. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a BS in Design and Environmental Analysis, and her certifications include Lead HACCP Instructor, Seafood HACCP, Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI), and Advanced Coaching Certification. Today, through Food Chain Hospitality Collective, she focuses on organizational development, compliance, coaching, and leadership development that actually works in the real world.
Greg
Greg Goldman is the owner and operator of multiple Brooklyn bars: Marco’s, opened in 2017 (here for a good time, not a long time), Paradise Lounge, opened in 2018 (you win some, you lose some), and Lise & Vito, opened in 2022 and already recognized by The Infatuation and Punch as one of the best wine bars in New York City.
Greg has been working in restaurants since the age of 14 and has spent his entire adult life in the industry. He gained valuable experience and lifelong friendships working for Stephen Starr and José Garces restaurants in Philadelphia, where he learned large scale operations, high volume service, and the importance of culture, mentorship, and team building. In 2009 he moved to New York City and joined Roberta’s, starting as a busser and moving through bar, floor, and management roles before becoming general manager in 2015.
At Roberta’s, Greg worked side by side with Vanessa, and their shared passion and bond for hospitality began to grow. Together they were vital in helping turn a casual neighborhood pizza restaurant into a sprawling operation that became a global destination, recognized with a glowing two star review from The New York Times and Michelin recognition. Today Greg brings that same mix of operator mindset and long term thinking to the consulting practice he co-leads with Vanessa, helping restaurants, bars, and hospitality groups build sustainable businesses, stronger teams, and guest experiences that actually last.
