“For me, food is an expression of gratitude.” An evolution of how an ingredient was harvested from a certain pasture, body of water, or farmer, to get to my cutting board. Ending a result of a pleasant experience or memory for one another, brings contentment to my everyday life.

Born and raised in Minnesota, Thomas began developing an appreciation for food at a young age, growing up with a mother and father who privileged hunting & fishing. Also being able to and still to this day cherishing memories with his grandmother from Italian descent whose food is next to great, as the best restaurant in the world.

After graduating culinary school in 2012, Thomas worked his way through the kitchen at Story, while still trailing in some of Kansas City’s best restaurants. Thomas made a move to NYC after submitting a cover letter & resume to some of the countries / world’s best restaurants. Having worked in NYC for 3 months he spent time in the Michelin star kitchens of Le Bernardin, Per Se, Nomad, & Marea. After returning to Kansas City in 2013 he accepted the sous chef position back at Story & during that year the restaurant was nominated for its first James Beard award. Seven years of gaining a great deal of knowledge from mentor chef Carl Thorne Thomsen, Thomas made a positive career choice to join W. Vinzant Restaurants.

Thomas began working at Louie’s Wine Dive in 2017 gaining his first executive chef position. Upon Joining the restaurants of Vinzant, Thomas has worked his way up the realms, developing dishes and menus for other sister restaurants of Vinzant & gaining the title of Regional Chef for his KC market restaurants. After the purchase of Gram & Dun in 2020 Thomas had found a new home with the company, becoming executive chef for the iconic Kansas City restaurant.

Outside of the restaurants, Thomas enjoys spending most time with his wife and three children.Teaching his 3 boy’s sports, how to hunt and fish, just as his folks taught him. If he is not spending time with his family, he finds peace in his blind duck hunting, scouting for new hunting grounds, casting a fishing line, or just simply reading a book.

After 25 years in the restaurant industry, Phil has operated everything from pizza establishments to fine dining restaurants. His passion for developing his team aligns with his approach to every restaurant he’s been a part of: prioritizing product and team quality above all else. He believes that with these two elements, anything is achievable.

Phil was originally part of the Vinzant Restaurant Group from 2012 to 2017 and recently returned to the W. Vinzant Restaurant Group as the Regional Director of Operations for Waldo Pizza. He is excited to continue preserving the Waldo Pizza brand and ensuring its amazing pizza is enjoyed by generations to come. In his downtime, Phil enjoys spending time with his family and can often be found on a golf cart or a boat.

 Cory was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa and has over 15 years of restaurant experience in the greater Des Moines area. Cory enjoys his family and friends and specifically time spent together over homemade dinners and drinks. His love for hosting family and friends carries over to his career and passion for providing guests with a great dining experience centered on delicious food, cocktails and wine.

Kristene has enjoyed a decades long career in hospitality holding every position in a restaurant. From designing cocktail menus as Bar Director to helping to create the pastry menu while being a Pastry Chef, she has become an expert in systems and operations. Kristene excels at improving costs and educating teams on sales success. She has led 100+ students to accreditation with the Court of Master Sommeliers and currently spearheads all training programs, HR and pop up concepts.