ATLANTA (October 1, 2019) – Davidson Hotels & Resorts, one of the nation’s premier hospitality management companies and its in-house hotel food and beverage operating division, Davidson Restaurant Group, announce the appointment of Marc Taft as Vice President, F&B Operations. In this role, Taft will be responsible for aligning food and beverage strategy interdepartmentally and working collaboratively with operations in each region to drive profitability.
A seasoned chef and hospitality executive with more than 32 years of experience, Taft is a recognized personality, most recently serving as the executive chef and owner of several highly acclaimed restaurants in the Atlanta area. The success of his restaurant led him to start his own hospitality company, Southern Fried Hospitality. Previously, Taft was the senior director of openings, acquisitions and transitions as well as director of west coast operations for The ONE Group, where he oversaw development, construction and openings of high profile restaurants for the company. Taft also worked with First Hospitality Group as corporate director of food & beverage, where he oversaw 74 properties and facilitated a complete overhaul of the company’s food and beverage infrastructure. Taft also held tenure at Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, where he worked his way up to the position of director of restaurant operations for the Southeast.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to create value for our owners and partners, we formed Davidson Restaurant Group with thoughtful curation led by the best-of-the-best industry experts,” said Senior Vice President of Food & Beverage Greg Griffie, Davidson Restaurant Group. “Marc has significant experience with developing and executing unique-yet-profitable restaurant concepts and he is a tremendous asset to our team. We are thrilled to tap into his ability to approach top line challenges with an ‘owner’ mindset, producing bottom line results.”
Launched in June 2019, Davidson Restaurant Group is guided by industry-leading insights and demonstrated expertise to create extraordinary food & beverage experiences while maintaining above-average profit margins. From start to finish, Davidson Restaurant Group provides partners with design and concepting consultation, technology implementation, staffing, and overall food & beverage program development. Davidson currently manages 93 open restaurant concepts, with 24 more in the pipeline.
