Pat Weber - President and Founder
“Our approach to every single project is to make sure the concept has the absolute best chance of success while maintaining the vision and passion of the client.”
The original founder of Mise en Place Consulting, Pat and his team have been serving the needs of the food and beverage industry since 2007. Since then, Mise en Place Consulting has worked with over 150 industry operators and has launched more than 75 restaurants across the US.
Pat is a graduate of both the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and Florida International University College of Hotel and Restaurant Management in Miami.
Over the last 3 decades, Pat has worked beside many of the world’s most renowned chefs in some of the finest dining establishments across the industry, including a long list of award-winning hotels and restaurants in New York, Atlanta, Miami, Kansas City, Charleston, and Minneapolis.
In addition to being a 35-year foodservice veteran, Pat is also a Certified Hospitality Educator, having spent 10 years teaching at the International Culinary School at the Arts Institutes International. It was in the classroom that Pat developed his knack for developing and implementing staff training programs and strategies that are effective in meeting the challenges of today's workforce.
Pat also founded the annual Cookie Cart Chefs Dinner in 2008, an annual celebrity chef dinner that consistently raises over $200,000 each year for the Twin Cities nonprofit youth bakery. www.cookiecart.org.
In his spare time, Pat spends as much of his time as his schedule allows traveling and at his homestead in Northern Wisconsin.
Sara Phelps - Director of Development
“If it isn't awesome, we're not doing it.”
Granddaughter of a restauranteur, Sara Phelps has refined her love of hospitality growing up in some of the Twin Cities’ most noteworthy restaurants including Linguini & Bob, Fhima’s, Mojito and Café Havana.
Sara graduated from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, earning a degree in Journalism and Political Science.
Sara’s professional career began at a National Market Research firm where she served as a Senior Operations Manager and implemented and designed measurement tools for customer service for Coca Cola, Harrah’s Entertainment and General Motors.
Her love of hospitality and restaurant operations brought her back to the industry in 2010 where she served as the Assistant General Manager of Smack Shack in Minneapolis, to turn the once famous food truck into one of Minneapolis’ most popular brick and mortar restaurants.
Her strong attention to detail and commanding leadership style led to her role as Project Manager for The Lexington Restaurant Group where she was charged with completion of a long awaited 3 year renovation project. After achieving a restaurant opening, Sara moved to the role of General Manager and then Events Director for the property and served there until 2021.
Sara’s commitment to exceptional guest service and her love of hospitality have led her to create her consultancy as skphelps Consulting LLC. Her work at Mise en Place allows her to share her love of front of house operations with clients at all levels of dining.
Dave Buxton - Director of Culinary Operations
“The best food comes from great ingredients, cooked simply, with passion and curiosity”
In 2023, Mise en Place Consulting welcomed Chef Dave Buxton to our team as Director of Culinary Operations.
With over two decades of culinary expertise and a dynamic career journey, Dave has evolved from beginnings as a dishwasher and line cook to leading culinary teams as an Executive Chef and beyond. The son of a service industry professional mother, Dave grew up crawling around prep tables in her bakery in rural Colorado. He started his own journey in the industry washing dishes through high school and cooking through college while earning degrees in History and Political Science. While exploring academia, Dave kept cooking and never stopped.
Dave’s culinary journey began traveling the country, learning the industry from a diverse array of talented chefs, from Cape Cod to San Diego. He moved into executive management training in Chicago at Birchwood Kitchen, Rodan Lounge, and the Chicago Art Institute, before moving his family to the Twin Cities. His most recent post was as Executive Chef of Smack Shack in Minneapolis from 2013-2021. After his time at Smack Shack, Dave transitioned to the role of Seafood Buyer at Fortune Fish and Gourmet. As Seafood Buyer, Dave brought skills in seafood industry market trends and data analysis to contribute to the company's success. Dave’s academic interest in international relations has been mirrored by his passion for global cultures and flavors, as is shown on many of his menus.
In 2023, Dave embraced a new chapter as a Restaurant Operations Consultant working with Mis en Place. His expertise spans culinary innovation, industry trends, back of house training, systems implementation, cost analysis, data programming, and effective business operations. Dave’s ultimate goal is to help Mise En Place Consulting partner with restaurateurs and operators in the Midwest and throughout the country, offering tailored solutions to address the hospitality challenges of today.
