Montclair Hospitality Group (MHG), the chef-driven, global hospitality group focused on curating unique restaurant brands and experiences, announces the appointment of hospitality vet Joey Simons, joining to lead the group as chief executive officer. Simons was handpicked by MHG's Founder Luck Sarabhayvanija and brings decades of experience, having developed some of the world's leading elevated dining, food tech and hospitality brands.

With his new appointment, Joey Simons leads all of MHG's business units, overseeing business development and growth, as well as leading strategy on company operations. In a short span of time, he has orchestrated strategic wins for the company, adding top-line revenue and reducing operating costs. Preparing MHG for explosive growth, he has begun assembling a team that resembles a "who's who" of the culinary world. 

Commenting on Simons' new appointment, MHG's Founder Luck Sarabhayvanija said, "With our plans for business expansion I knew I needed to bring in the best. Joey embodies MHG's path to success and our lead to expand MHG and our suite of dining brands into 2023." Adding to this statement, Sarabhayvanija said, "Not only does Joey have the extensive experience and knowledge that will put MHG on top, but his passion for the industry is unrivaled." 

MHG currently boasts multiple restaurant brands including Ani Ramen House, Mochinut, pastaRAMEN, Sushi by Bou and Kai Yang, with more chef-driven restaurant concepts in development. Under Simons' leadership, MHG has recently inked new deals to bring MHG's popular pastaRAMEN restaurant to Seattle, as well as Montclair, New Jersey (January 2023), and there are exciting partnerships in the works in cities such as Las Vegas and New York City. This follows the recent success of the group's pastaRAMEN culinary pop-ups in Los Angeles and Miami, helmed by Chef Robbie Felice.

Commenting on his new role, Joey Simons said, "I am thrilled to join Luck and the MHG team to drive success through this exciting time for the company. The sky is the limit for our talented team and we are thrilled to begin announcing some of the exciting new partnerships and business expansion in the new year. We are looking forward and with great things to come[.]"

Prior to his work with MHG, Joey Simons served as chief operating officer and chief of staff for sbe, a lifestyle hospitality company. As part of sbe's leadership team, he worked to develop visionary chef-led concepts and led the operations team in delivering award-winning culinary experiences and digital restaurant brands such as Umami Burger, Krispy Rice, Sam's Crispy Chicken, Kumi and more. Additionally, Simons oversaw the group's elevated dining concepts, leading success for restaurants Katsuya and Casa Dani.

Prior to sbe, Joey Simons served as director of operations for Blue Ribbon Restaurant Group, steering business operations, finance and strategic initiatives for a $75 million restaurant portfolio. 

He worked to drive revenue, profits and property value, while heading business strategies, leading P&L, budgeting forecasting and overseeing large-scale restaurant build-outs.

Source: Montclair Hospitality Group