“Sully” – Owner/Chef

The whimsical owner of Utah Food Services (UFS), upon completing his bachelor degrees in Philosophy and Art from Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, headed west in search of fresh powder. He landed a job at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort where he trained for 12 years at a
variety of mountainside and fine dining restaurants. He eventually established himself as the Executive Chef for one of Snowbird’s premier restaurants. Robert joined the Utah Food Services team in 1989, which lead to a giant, highly leveraged leap of faith when he and his wife, Susan, purchased the company in 1994 during the Salt Palace rebuild.

Through Robert’s leadership, vision, and “gut-feel,” UFS blossomed into the multifaceted catering company it is today, which encompasses three locations, multiple state-of-the-art mobile kitchens, and most importantly hundreds of dedicated employees. Even though he
proclaims himself as being “professionally full-of-it,” Robert’s charitable nature, artistic flair and unique management style (which includes hiring friends and family) keeps the guests coming back for more and more.

Karie’s interest in the human experience materialized in the form of a degree in Communications from the University of Utah and then carried over into her career in Human Resources. Karie joined Utah Food Services team in 2017 and has made incredible changes since. Working as an advocate for all UFS employees, Karie has restructured recruiting practices, established programs ranging from maternity leave to tuition reimbursement, and actively works to make employment opportunities available to overlooked community members. Karie also helped standardize communication between all departments working on implementing Knack and 7Shifts.

When Karie isn’t working to improve the environment for UFS employees, she can be found waterskiing, snow skiing or spending time with her family

Dan’s hospitality experience spans across the country starting in New York where he earned his degree from the Culinary Institute of America. Some highlights include various chef positions at Snowbird Ski Resort including the esteemed inaugural chef position at The Aerie. From there he traveled down the canyon to the Red Lion in Salt Lake City as the executive sous chef. Eventually, Dan diversified his career to the “Front of House” where he was promoted to General Manager for Maxis and Club Max at the Red Lion, and later Panache hired Dan as the GM in Draper, Utah.

Dan joined UFS in 1998 and quickly moved up the ranks to General Manager at the Salt Palace Convention Center. Dan’s roots in the kitchen are always apparent as you will often find him in his chef coat experimenting with new pizza combinations or even making a batch of sausage from scratch. His natural talent in the kitchen, unique management style, bilingual ability, optimism, lighthearted sense of humor and even his love for the Mets and Giants adds great dimension to our team.

Diego spent his childhood in Ecuador’s capital city of Quito which exalts spectacular mountainous terrain, sophisticated culture, modern architecture as well as soccer fanatics. In 2002, Diego relocated from the Andes Mountains to the Wasatch Range and quickly acclimated to life in Salt Lake City where he continued his passion for food and futbol. Upon his arrival, Diego enrolled at Salt Lake Community College to pursue his degree in Computer Science and at the same time he supported himself as a banquet captain at Utah Food Services.

Diego’s diverse background includes extensive travel throughout North and South America, where he developed a unique perspective on the hospitality industry as he enjoyed various cultures and cuisine. As the Director of Catering, Diego’s work ethic exemplifies fairness, organization, and cultural sensitivity with exceptional customer service as the focus. This self-motivator created Utah Food Service’s Front of House Training program and built a computer program to maintain the data.

Tiffany’s career in the food and beverage industry began in the restaurant business as a young adult. Her dedication to customer service and appreciation for a fast paced working environment led to a position on a charter yacht in the Caribbean in 1998. This is where she developed her passion for food and event design.

Tiffany moved back to Salt Lake City in 2000 and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Science and Health at the University of Utah while continuing to work in the hospitality industry. In 2008, Tiffany joined UFS as an office manager but quickly earned a promotion to Sales Manager and now leads our sales team as the Director of Sales. In addition to her management responsibilities, she continues to ensure that each client’s vision comes to life while providing a stress-free and detail driven planning process.

Dave has a long history in the Events industry and has been a part of the Utah Food Services team since 2014. He works as a Catering Sales Manager for the Salt Palace Convention Center, and thrives in the high-paced environment.

Hailing from Long Beach, CA, Dave has since made Utah his home and is a passionate advocate for the community as well as a talented musician. Dave is an active supporter of his local Utah sports teams as well as local businesses.

Being raised and educated in Salt Lake City has afforded Elna the opportunity to engage with the mountains and close proximity of unique national parks as a part of daily living. With an intro into the hospitality industry working at the Grand Canyon, Elna joined UFS in 1996 as a banquet server and worked part-time in the office while raising her family. It wasn’t long before she was promoted to Office Manager and in 2017 joined our sales team as a Sales Manager.

From the front lines to the behind the scenes of daily operational functions, Elna has vast experience of 20+ years in the food and catering industry. She enjoys the fast pace and work it takes to put together the various components of large scales events and working to create just
the right food experience for each client.

A native of western New York, Kathy transplanted herself to Utah in the late 70s to enjoy the “Greatest Snow on Earth,” hiking, the many grand views and experiences of the West. She joined Utah Food Services in December 2001, as the personal assistant to the owner, Robert Sullivan, while Salt Lake hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. Kathy’s promotion to sales in March 2002 was a natural progression and a tribute to her ability to accommodate and customize events for a diverse customer base.

Her niche evolved into coordinating special meals, where she continually develops menus for the growing number of cliental with dietary issues such as: gluten-free, kosher, vegan, and vegetarian. UFS continues to make each person’s dietary circumstance a priority. She enjoys planning detailed menus, décor and special themed events while promoting the flavor of Salt Lake City’s unique natural recreational resources and local entertainment.

After spending 21 years in Los Angeles working in various aspects of the food and beverage industry in 1998, Kim pursued a dream by accepting an opportunity at The Grand Summit Resort Hotel in Park City, Utah as Food and Beverage Director. Kim oversaw all aspects of hiring, staff training, creating of job descriptions and payroll, to assisting the culinary team with menu production for the various restaurants and banquet facilities at the resort. She later moved to the Salt Lake Valley as the Club House Manager for Willow Creek Country Club where she managed an elite team of staff, hosting member parties, creating holiday functions and for several years managing the catering services for the players and VIP guests of the PGA Tournament.

In 2006, Utah Food Services hired Kim as a Mobile Catering Sales Manager, as the company expanded their sales team from the Salt Palace Convention Center to their mobile catering operation in North Salt Lake. Kim exclusively works on offsite private events and ultimately specializes in weddings and large corporate galas.

After spending time organizing events at her college in Buffalo, NY, Heather was hooked on the events industry. She headed west with a degree in Social Sciences and joined the Utah Food Services team. She quickly moved through the ranks from a banquet server to office manager, followed by her most recent promotion to a Mobile Catering Sales Manager.

Heather is a people person who loves the satisfaction of organizing events for clients and seeing their faces when their dream materializes. In her free time, Heather can be found spending time with her family or letting loose at the karaoke bar.

Born in Switzerland and raised in the hospitality industry, Ben earned his Master’s Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management. He went on to work at several five star hotels before immigrating to the U.S. Ben joined the UFS team in 1996 and was recently promoted to Executive Chef. Ben manages all aspects of the full service production kitchen including food preparation, meal distribution, purchasing, inventory management, quality control, staffing, training and menu development.

Under Ben’s supervision the Salt Palace kitchen typically prepares over 500,000 meals annually. His innovative ideas, presentation concepts and preparation techniques are always HACCP compliant (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point). Ben specializes in soups and sauces, and in fact he was the recipient of the CNS Art and Soup award for the “Most Unique Soup.”

Chef Bill joined Utah Food Services in 1994 and has risen through the ranks to the Corporate Chef at the South Towne Expo Center. Here he is often faced with managing meal preparation for 5,000+ guests, including purchasing the raw materials, scheduling and dishing up a hot delectable meal in a timely fashion. The ACF Beehive Chefs Association recognized Bill’s talent and named him “Chef Professional of the Year” in 2006. As a board member of the Beehive Chefs Association, Bill served as Treasurer for four years.

Bill has made guest appearances on local morning shows as well as tested various kitchen gadgets for Dick Gephardt’s investigations. He has also earned top dollar on the auction block at many Chef & Child annual galas. Bill’s passion for food goes beyond the convention center halls as he experiments with various recipes for friends and family, including his favorite roadside cuisine from Guy Fieri’s escapades on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

Zach remembers being glued to the screen when Julia Childs and Jacques Pepin were the original celebrity chefs. His passion for the culinary arts continued to grow in his teenage years and together with his determination to buy a car, the restaurant industry seemed like the perfect
place to start. Fast forward, his resume boasts a lengthy list of awards and accomplishments, attesting to his culinary expertise ranging from the top of his class to Chef of the Year.

In his spare time he volunteers on the Board of Directors for the Utah Beehive Chefs Association. This is where he takes the opportunity to fuse his culinary skills with his heart strings as he competes for top dollar at the annual Chef and the Child Fundraiser, raising one
million dollars to support the Boys and Girls Club of America.

Cameron joined the Utah Food Services team in 2012 as a line chef, which lead to his current role as Head Chef thanks to his culinary prowess, creativity, and leadership skills. This local foodie earned his culinary degree from Salt Lake Community College in 2013. As a true artisan, he devotes significant time and energy into perfecting each dish from the raw ingredients to the final presentation.

In his free time, he can be found researching or experimenting with methods to improve his craft. When Cameron isn’t in the kitchen or exploring local restaurants, he is likely to be busy working on a project or spending time with his friends and family.

Jewel’s experience in the bakery began in 1995, in Austin Texas. She was hooked and pursued advanced classes at CIA Greystone (in California’s Wine Country). Jewel believes in the school of hard knocks (on the job learning) and attributes many of the skills she has refined to her in-the-bakery-experience. Jewel is so passionate about her craft, she just can’t keep it to herself! She learned so much by actually getting in the kitchen and figuring it out, so she is an advocate for others to do the same. Through providing tips to readers in Utah Bride & Groom Magazine or contributing recipes to Utah Food Services blog, Jewel loves to share her knowledge with readers avid to learn.

California Wine Country has a special home in Jewel’s heart and she likes to consider herself a wine enthusiast. She makes it a point to go to wine country as much as she can with her sister. Jewel also keeps busy being a mom, a gardener, and a pet lover with her 2 dogs and 1 cat.

Nicole started working (professionally) with flowers in 2005 and currently spearheads our decor departments creative efforts on a wide scale. Nicole and her team don’t constrict themselves to florals, they consider themselves designers and build every event from scratch from the vision of their client. From fresh floral production for weddings to full facility decor sets at the Convention Center, her team seems to do it all.

Nicole officially joined the Utah Food Services team in 2011 as a banquet server where she quickly learned the ropes of our team’s operations and moved into the Floral and Decor Department. When she isn’t creating beautiful sets for our clients, Nicole can be found spending time with her family or attending live concerts.

Doug, a rescue ice diver from Minnesota, found his home in Utah and has been with Utah Food Services since 1995. As the Facilities Manager, Doug took lead in developing the 18,000 sq. ft mobile division production facility and warehouse.

He had a critical role in the operations of catering events for the 2002 Olympics; when he had the added experience of participating in the 2002 Olympic Torch Run. Doug implemented an aggressive and award winning recycling program and recently took charge of upgrading our fleet of vehicles to propane.