Hospitality search across Maryland, DC and the Eastern Shore — chefs, sommeliers, general managers, beverage directors, concierges, and the private chefs who cook for families at home. Twenty years of relationships, not a résumé database.
The search is the same either way: I already know who's good, who's available, and who's quietly ready to move. That's the whole service.
Private and estate chefs, full-time, part-time or seasonal — plus the household staff who manage the table, the cellar and the entertaining around them.
Back of house, front of house and beverage: executive chefs, chefs de cuisine, pastry chefs, general managers, beverage directors, sommeliers, maîtres d' and lead concierges.
Most searches close in eight to twelve weeks. You hear from me weekly whether or not there's news.
An hour together defining the role honestly — hours, pay, personalities, the parts nobody puts in the posting.
I call people directly. Most of the best candidates are working somewhere right now and are not looking.
Three to five people I would personally vouch for, with references already checked and pay expectations already tested.
I stay in it through the offer, the start date, and the first ninety days — which is when placements actually fail.
Twenty years of introductions turn out to be useful for more than hiring. When two businesses should be working together and neither one has the time to make it happen, I run it — on a flat project fee, paid by whoever the marketing budget belongs to.
A steakhouse and an ice cream maker on a bacon jam flavor for one month. A distillery and a restaurant on a barrel. I broker it, paper it, and manage the logistics so neither kitchen has to.
Guest chef nights, winemaker dinners, ticketed collaborations. Sourcing the talent, setting the terms, and filling the room — the part that usually kills these before they happen.
Getting a brand into the right rooms in this market: placements, launches, and chef relationships that outlast the campaign. Including West Coast producers who want an East Coast presence.
Flat fee per project, agreed up front — not a cut of sales. Optional bonus tied to something both sides can count: covers booked, tickets sold, placements landed.
Search fees in this industry are usually a mystery until you're already in a conversation. Mine aren't. Nothing is owed until someone you hired starts work.
Percentage of the hire's first-year base salary, payable on their start date.
A database can tell you who applied. It can't tell you who's unhappy.
I founded CITYPEEK in 2002 and spent twenty years covering the restaurants, hotels and wineries of this region — which mostly meant standing in kitchens and at the bar after service, getting to know the people who run them. Eight years in Napa and Sonoma added a WSET Level 2 and a wine-country network that doesn't otherwise exist here.
National firms work from résumé databases. I work from a phone full of people who pick up. Based in downtown Baltimore, working across Maryland, DC, Northern Virginia and the Eastern Shore.
No fee to start a conversation, and no obligation until someone you hired accepts an offer.