Concrete Hospitality Group’s founder on lessons from hotel F&B

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Jonathan Knudsen, founder and CEO of Concrete Hospitality Group, a New York City based hospitality management group that develops and operates restaurants for hotel brands like Marriott, Hyatt, and more. Jonathan got his start at Starwood Hotels and Resorts after graduating from Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island, and he’s worked in the hotel space ever since. As you’ll hear from this conversation, there’s been an incredible evolution in hotel F&B over the past 20 years, and today many hotel brands are looking to their foodservice as opportunities to differentiate from competitors. Jonathan joined the podcast to talk about that opportunity and about how Concrete is building unique experiences to capture hotel guests.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• More people today choose hotels for how they make them feel — and that’s usually achieved through F&B
• A great guest experience is a foundation upon which to innovate
• Hotels and restaurants offer each other mutual credibility
• To create a great experience, know your limitations
• Think beyond your F&B to capture local guests
• Restaurants and hotels can be the meeting spaces people need in the age of AI

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at sam.oches@informa.com.