Hospitality Powerhouse Reflects on Twenty Years of Developing Original Restaurant Concepts for Some of The Biggest Names in the Industry

February 18, 2016, Greenwich, CT: cb5 Hospitality is celebrating 20 years of creating forward-looking, handcrafted restaurant and bar concepts specifically for leading hotel conglomerates and high profile venues throughout the world. With 300+ concepts globally, cb5 is the established leader in the hospitality industry and the go-to firm when a formulaic approach to hotel dining just won’t do. Spearheaded by fearless visionary Jody Pennette, cb5’s ability to create spirited, “freestanding” restaurant and bar destinations within their established hotel persona is what sets this firm apart from other development groups.

 
“Being able to distill the essence of why specific restaurant ideas work is essential perhaps second only to the ability to blueprint and scale this ‘alchemy’ into a tangible concept and playbook, “says Pennette, “The unique ensemble effort at cb5 is celebrated in the fable of our namesake (Five Chinese Brothers).”
 
Their concepts, whether they be full scale food and beverage destinations, lobby bars, roof top lounges, in -room dining, grab-n-go lobby markets, or cb5’s hallmark, the quintessential three-meal-a-day heart of the house fully integrated restaurant, all begin with their signature market survey to determine relevance to market and brand viability and then integrate the study strategically to address space -planning, design and financials. Referred to as the “script”, Pennette and his 18 member team, which includes a robust crew of seasoned chefs and front and back of the house talent who share in cb5’s zero boundaries approach, work closely with a hotel’s leadership team and staff to instill the new culture required to embrace this exciting unique direction in hotel dining.  The campaign includes properly pollenating a strong culinary stance and smartly functioning kitchen, recipe standardization, and service nuance training.  The script, which contains multiple acts, also includes such outward elements as uniform design, lighting, music, and the art of room ambience. Marketing and public relations support tie into cb5’s overall mission of communicating a restaurant’s overall message and reinforcing its brand.   State of the art video training platforms are included in their launch program and cb5 still maintains the largest industry task force for field deployment and is available on an assignment basis for finesses driven instillations.
 
cb5’s 20^th anniversary is an opportune time to reflect on the impact the company has made on the hospitality industry. A Greenwich, Connecticut based firm, Pennette first began making his mark on the restaurant world in 1995 with such [then] cutting edge concepts as the area’s first Asian fusion restaurant Baang Café and Greenwich Avenue’s popular and whimsical Parisian Bleu Café, hailed by The New York Times (2001) writer Patricia Brooks as “The pinnacle of stagecraft”, illustrating Pennette’s innate ability to evoke playfulness, while never at the expense of the food.
 
With offices in Greenwich and London, and recently recruited as a member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants and the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association, cb5’s most celebrated projects include; Michelin star chef driven  Cassis Kitchen in Jakarta, Indonesia; Beachhouse at the Moana Surfside Westin Resort & Spa in Honolulu, HI; and  OAK Long Bar + Kitchen at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston. The group’s concepts are meticulously crafted, often shaped from their research, traveling around the globe for inspiration, as with WUJI, their organic Chinese food concept found them in the street side kitchens and markets of Beijing China.
 
Having worked with some of the most distinguished names in the business, including; Ian Schrager Hotel

s, Starwood Hotels International, David Rockwell Design, InterContinental Hotels, Cirque Du Soleil, Fairmont Hotels, Waterford Hotel Group; and Holiday Inn Hotels, cb5 continues to push the envelope of what a food service operation should embody. To that end, Pennette and his crew have developed 20 Select Service food concepts that are available to license and answer the call for turnkey dining solutions for small to mid-level hotel properties.  These models are bold, creative and relevant, and are easy to implement, cost effective, sustainable and simple to operate. A state of the art groundbreaking video training program by department is included.
 
Pennette marked cb5’s 20^th anniversary with the publishing of the Idiot’s Guides: Starting and Running a Restaurant (Alpha, September 1, 2015), taking readers through the process of getting a restaurant off the ground and maintaining its relevance within an always evolving industry.