TORONTO — Kostuch Media Ltd., publisher of industry magazines Foodservice and Hospitality and Hotelier, has announced the 2024 winners of its prestigious Pinnacle Awards, recognizing excellence in the hospitality industry.
The 11 awards will be presented at a gala luncheon on December 6 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, where KML will celebrate the 35th-anniversary edition of the awards program.
F&H’s Company of the Year honours are being presented to Redberry Restaurants, while InnVest Hotels has been named Hotelier’s Company of the Year.
Other category winners for Foodservice and Hospitality include Scale Hospitality for Regional Company of the Year; David Minicucci and Rob Rossi (owners of Giulietta & Osteria Giulia) for Independent Restaurateurs of the Year; Nuit Regular for Chef of the Year; and La Tablée des Chefs for Supplier of the Year.
On the hotel side, this year’s Regional Company of the Year is Opal Hospitality. Hotelier of the Year honours will be presented to Madone Pelan, GM of the Oak Bay Beach Hotel in Victoria, while the Supplier of the Year award for Hotelier magazine is being presented to DesignAgency.
Winner’s Circle
Over the past year, Company of the Year, Redberry Restaurants, has grown its portfolio by 16.2 per cent in terms of store units, increased revenue by 16.4 per cent and grew its EBITDA by 30 per cent. At the same time, Redberry continued to give back to the communities it operates in across Canada through varied donations to community events and charities.
Founded by industry veterans Hanif Harji and Terry Tsianos, Regional Company of the Year Scale Hospitality brings world-class restaurants, enduring hospitality brands and memorable experiences to Canada’s dining scene. Notable concepts include Toronto’s FIGO; AP, a Japanese and Pan Asian fine-dining collaboration atop the Manulife Centre (in collaboration with celebrity chef Antonio Park); King West’s hottest new steak, seafood & cocktails destination, Maxime’s; haute Caribbean-inspired Miss Likklemore’s; French bistro-bar, Lapinou; Toronto’s oldest bar and performance venue, The Wheatsheaf Tavern; the legendary Miller Tavern locations; Coastal Mediterranean-inspired Toronto Beach Club; GG’s Burgers; Parisian-style restaurant, Le Sélect Bistro, and many more.
For years, David Minicucci and Rob Rossi of Giulietta & Osteria Giulia — the duo receiving this year’s Independent Restaurateurs of the Year award — have been known for their high level of guest service, attention to detail, and commitment to staff training, retention and success. Its sales numbers have continued to grow year-over-year and Giulietta was recognized by Michelin Guide in both 2022 and 2023, while Osteria Giulia was awarded a One Star Michelin in both 2022 and 2023. The company is a leader in promoting and encouraging a positive work/life balance, offering paid vacation to its management employees, a flexible schedule and extra time off to all staff, and an employee health-benefits program.
Chef of the Year Nuit Regular is no stranger to the spotlight, having made a profound impact on the foodservice-and-hospitality industry through her innovative culinary contributions, commitment to employee development, and active participation in industry and community events. She’s celebrated for introducing authentic Northern Thai cuisine to a broader audience, elevating the culinary landscape with her unique and traditional dishes. What began in 2008 as a small restaurant called Sukhothai has now grown to five restaurant brands (PAI, Kiin, Chaiyo, Sukhothai, and Selva) and an events-and-catering company, with a total of 12 locations across the Greater Toronto Area.
La Tablée des Chefs, F&H’s Supplier of the Year, operates a food-recovery program that recovers surpluses from the industry and distributes them to community organizations to combat food insecurity. Through this program, established in 2003, La Tablée des Chefs, under the guidance of founder and general manager, Jean-François Archambault, works hand-in-hand with donors from the HRI sector (hotels, restaurants, institutions) to create a food-recovery process that is sustainable, safe, secure and organized, while helping to build relationships and positive impact in the community. Since its inception, La Tablée des Chefs has helped re-distribute more than 12.3 million meals to people in need.
On the hotel side, Company of the Year InnVest Hotels has had a banner year, growing its portfolio to more than 100 hotels representing 14 internationally recognized brands. Most notably, in January, the company acquired 10 Ontario and Halifax Hotels. The high-quality portfolio includes a mix of focus service, extended-stay and full-service hotels with 1,737 guestrooms and 40,000 sq. ft. of meeting and convention space. As its portfolio grows, so does InnVest’s commitment to giving back, supporting a number of causes including Habitat for Humanity Builds and Kits for a Cause. In 2024, the company launched its InnVest in Community initiative to co-ordinate and expand InnVest’s philanthropic efforts.
This year’s Regional Company of the Year, Opal Hospitality, has made a significant impact on the industry through its innovative approaches and impressive growth since its founding in 2018. It all began with the strategic acquisition and re-positioning of a hotel in St. John’s, Nfld., which now operates as a DoubleTree by Hilton. Over the years, Opal’s portfolio has expanded from just one property to a total of 14 operating and developing properties, reflecting its substantial growth and influence in the industry. The company takes great pride in its commitment to fostering a positive corporate culture and promoting diversity within its team, and its employee-training programs are designed to enhance service quality, manage costs effectively, and improve culinary skills.
Madone Pelan, GM of the Oak Bay Beach Hotel in Victoria, B.C., is this year’s Hotelier of the Year. Under her leadership, Oak Bay Beach Hotel was awarded the Air Canada Business of the Year award at the 2023 Canadian Tourism Awards and was named #7 Best Hotel in Western Canada by Condé Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards for 2023. Pelan and her team are extremely involved in giving back to the community, including partnering with the David Foster Foundation to provide financial support to Canadian families with children in need of life-saving organ transplants.
Founded by partners Allen Chan, Matt Davis and Anwar Mekhayech, our Supplier of the Year, for Hotelier magazine, DesignAgency, is a sought-after design firm for hotel operators around the world. Here at home, its recent projects include work on guestrooms and suites at Four Seasons Toronto (guestrooms and suites) as well as Hilton Toronto, where DesignAgency spearheaded the lobby re-design and were the creative force behind the design of Frenchy, the hotel’s new on-property restaurant. Underscoring the studio’s commitment to designing with purpose and inspiration, it recently launched the Good Design Is Good Business Award at Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Interior Design, which grants $5,000 to a graduating student at the School of Interior Design who demonstrates an innate understanding, and keen interest in, the integral relationship between good design and business acumen. DesignAgency was the first interior design firm to participate in the Design Research Internship Program, a six-week learning course with the University of Toronto’s Daniels School of Architecture and in January 2024, DesignAgency hosted students pursuing an Interior Design degree at Fanshaw College.
The Rosanna Caira Lifetime Achievement Awards
With an illustrious career spanning more than 60 years, this year’s Hotelier Lifetime Achievement Award winner is Josef Ebner, Regional VP, Canada & Managing Director at Langham Hospitality Group – Chelsea Hotel Toronto, Canada’s largest hotel property. Ebner has worked in 14 properties and seven countries, but the bulk of his career was spent leading the Chelsea Hotel for the past 32 years, where he oversaw the transition of the hotel brand from Delta to Chelsea (under Langham Hospitality Group) 11 years ago. The much-loved hotelier has received countless awards and accolades throughout the years from the Hotel Association of Canada, Canadian Hotel and Marketing Sales Executives, the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, as well as Hotelier magazine’s Hotelier of the Year honours, the Austrian Canadian Council, and a SKAL award. In 2011, Ebner received the Decoration of Honour in Gold (Goldenes Ehrenzeichen) from the Province of Styria, Austria, and the 2001 Decoration of Merit in Gold (Goldenes Verdienstzeichen) of the Republic of Austria.
To commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Pinnacle Awards, this year KML will be presenting two Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to Ebner, KML will also present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Franco Prevedello, Toronto restaurateur in the foodservice category. Prevedello started his renowned career in Canada working at the Ontario Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal. He later moved to Toronto where he had a hand in opening several restaurants, including Quo Vadis, Pronto, Bindi, Splendido, Nota Bene, Carbon Bar and the famed Centro. The legendary restaurateur was uniquely responsible for putting Italian restaurants on the map in Toronto and for mentoring several of Toronto’s most famed restaurateurs and chefs.
“As we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Pinnacle Awards, it’s so gratifying to see the continued growth and evolution of this respected program, which began in 1989 when Foodservice and Hospitality presented our first Man of the Year Award to George Cohon, founder and president of McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada,” says Rosanna Caira, editor/publisher of Foodservice and Hospitality and Hotelier magazines. (N.B. Pinnacle Awards were not presented in 2020 due to COVID).
“Since that inaugural award, the Pinnacle Awards program has grown and evolved to encompass 11 awards in various categories for both of Kostuch Media’s two magazine titles. During that time, and through this program, we have honoured the legacy of excellence and countless companies and individuals whose passion and commitment have shaped the foodservice and hospitality landscape, each of them inspiring us to reach new heights. This year, as we salute the 2024 crop of winners, we applaud their extraordinary achievements, their dedication, and their inspiring support of the community at large.”
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