Who We Are

Pat Weber - President and Founder

Headshot_Pat

“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

Sara Phelps Wine glasses

“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.

 

Michaelann Gillis- Bar and Beverage Specialist

michaelann

"Excellence begins with the mastery of basics"

 

In 2024,  Mise en Place Consulting welcomed Michaelann to our team as Bar & Beverage Specialist.

With over 25 years in the bar and restaurant business, MA grew up frequenting her parents and grandparents taverns in Wisconsin.

Holding a degree in hospitality management, MA has an unmatched love of the bar business and mixology, and has made her mark on some of the most popular and trendy bars around the Twin Cities, including Smack Shack, Bucks Pub, Russells, and Burger Dive.
Full of knowledge, and dedicated to the guest experience, MA is a natural trainer, with a love of people and hospitality that is beyond contagious.   With her help, we're looking forward to helping take your bar program to the next level!