We often celebrate individuals who have achieved singular or periodic extraordinary results. Other times we recognize individuals who have been consistent and longstanding stalwarts of the Biaggi’s culture. Troy Tomlinson is both of these and more. A few of Troy’s notables:

· By every metric you could think of, Troy runs the busiest, most complicated kitchen in the company. Highest food sales, highest banquet sales, highest ToGo & Pronto, most catering/offsite, highest wine dinner sales. The list goes on.
· He is the literal definition of a local celebrity chef. He is recognized as THE Top Chef in Bloomington/Normal, both anecdotally (he is a face that many in the community recognize and know) and through years’ worth of community based accolades and awards.
· His charitable involvement and contribution to the Bloomington/Normal community is simply too broad in scope give an adequate accounting of. It would be an understatement to say that he is very active in community support and fundraising.
· He’s trained many.
· He’s field tested much.
· He’s facilitated or supported a ton of menu development and ideation.

In the interest of brevity (though not for lack of content), I’ll stop the list here.

Troy is simultaneously a General and a Soldier. He’s led Bloomington’s kitchen into battle for 11 years (in Eden Prairie as a Sous and Omaha & Maple Grove as CP before that). But he’s also a guy who never shies away from the trench work; providing an exceptional example of the behaviors and skills he expects and holds accountable.

Troy celebrated his 15th Biaggi’s anniversary this month, as he does most of his incredible accomplishments; quietly, with dignity and restrained fanfare. I suggest we make some noise and toot some horns that he would never do himself.

-Kevin Reed

I am very excited to announce John Leiendecker and Matt Mickle as our Partner Team for the 2^nd Quarter. They took over as Partners of the West Des Moines location in January of 2016 after almost six years working together in the BOH.  Together they have worked hard as Partners to figure out the intricacies of our day to day operations and to continue to improve on their standards period by period.  I look forward to watching them earn this award on a regular basis for many years to come!  Please join me in congratulating John and Matt as our 2^nd Quarter Partner Team.

-Mark Evoy

As you all know, we closed the Rochester restaurant during the first part of Quarter 2.   I can personally tell you this was the hardest thing from an emotional stand point that I have ever been a part of in my restaurant career.  I cannot even begin to imagine how hard it was on those who worked side by side with the managers, chefs, staff and guests every day.  With that in mind, I believe that Lorelei McGee is truly deserving of this Quarters Spirit Award. 

I made Lorelei aware of the Rochester closing decision shortly before the actual date and well before we were ready to announce it to the local staff.  After her initial surprise , she looked at me and said “I understand the decision, what do we need to do to make this as smooth as possible for everyone.”  She had to carry that knowledge with her for over a week while still staying positive and keeping her focus on the day to day responsibilities of the job.  When the day came to shut down, Lorelei was the one who made the calls to our long time employees to break the news and she was the one who greeted all of he staff as they met at the restaurant to get the final information we had to share with them.   She was able to put together a solid group of managers and staff to help with the cleaning, emptying and turnover of the restaurant to the landlord and had 95% of the this accomplished in the first 4 days of being shut down.  The attitude these people brought into the building throughout the whole experience was a direct reflection on Lorelei and would have made any member of Biaggi’s proud.   I know in her heart Lorelei will not think of this as a great experience but to me her attitude and actions during this difficult time really showed how much she cares about her people and how well she represents Biaggi’s.

-Mark Evoy