VENUE

Venue was established in 2003 to redefine the lifestyle communications experience. No longer does today's exposed consumer respond to generic product, food and lifestyle concepts. Rather, the new consumer wants a reason to be, an idea to aspire to, a unique VENUE in which to experience leisure and life. To that end, VENUE offers relevant communications counsel that makes your product experience more meaningful to the customer - creating a resonant environment where your product can live – a positioning that your concept can own – a VENUE all of its own™.

Katie Callahan (Executive Chef)

Growing up in the New Orleans area, Katie is no novice when it comes to the hospitality business. With a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration, she has spent the last seventeen years in marketing for different aspects of the hospitality industry. Katie has lived in various southern areas that include Houston, Atlanta and Memphis and moved to Manhattan, the other "New" food capital of the world, in 1998. Her hospitality career began with the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans, and she completed an extensive hospitality training experience with Hyatt Hotels, Corporation in Houston, San Francisco, South Carolina and Atlanta. Prior to living in New York she was a hospitality consultant for the US Navy and upon her arrival, worked as the Director of Marketing and Catering for The Cornell Club–New York for several years. In addition to opening the New York restaurant, Orsay, and being a dedicated "foodie," she's well versed in understanding hospitality communications from a media and operational perspective. Katie is a founding committee member for the Young Associates of the Metropolitan Opera, a NYC Slow Food member, James Beard member, and has chaired numerous fundraisers to rebuild her hometown of New Orleans.

Kristen Spensieri (Counsulting Chef)

Kristen has spent the last ten years in the field of communications, canvassing the globe to design and execute public relations programs. Kristen's career in communications was an act of serendipity, with the random acts of travel, graduate school, and a flurry of interesting people indicating all roads should lead to a creative lifestyle, specifically PR. Kristen currently resides in New York City, where in addition to PR, she focuses on strategic planning, corporate positioning, and pre–launch and brand identity work. Extensive travel has resulted in many a night spent in planes, leading hotels, and various chateaus, providing Kristen with a first–hand view on the dos and don'ts of the luxury accommodations and restaurant industries. Kristen has an undergraduate degree from Wellesley and a graduate degree from Yale. Kristen is a committee member of the Young Associates of the Metropolitan Opera.