French chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud (Daniel, Bar Boulud), has appointed friend and longtime former Disruptive Restaurant Group chief operating officer Sebastien Silvestri as The Dinex Group’s first CEO. Silvestri will be in charge of expanding the company’s portfolio of 19 restaurants globally through “strategic acquisitions” and defining “the next era” of the The Dinex Group brand.

The news was announced one year ahead of the opening of chef Boulud’s upcoming concept at One Vanderbilt: the newest skyscraper being added to the New York City skyline and billed as the tallest office building in Midtown Manhattan.

“With the opening of our new dining concept as well as our fourth Épicerie Boulud both at One Vanderbilt this fall […] the time was right to engage the expertise of a veteran industry executive to help both fuel and manage our growth, as well as to ensure the level of excellence within our existing operation,” Boulud said in a statement. “Sebastien has a tremendous track record for assisting some of the most revered hospitality businesses’ experience remarkable growth, and I could not be more thrilled to have him by my side as we begin an exciting new era of Daniel Boulud restaurants.”

Disruptive Restaurant Group is a division of hospitality company SBE, known for the SLS, Mondrian and Delano hotel brands and restaurants such as The Bazaar by José André, Katsuya and Cleo. Prior to his tenure at SBE, Silvestri was the vice president of food and beverage at The Venetian and The Palazzo Casino Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas, and while he was there, worked with Thomas Keller, Wolfgang Puck, Charlie Trotter and Emeril Lagasse, along with Boulud.

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“As we look to the future for the group of brands that fall under The Dinex Group, and finalize our plans to move forward with several new hospitality projects with developers in Asia, the Middle East and on the West Coast, we are also looking closely at what’s most important to the new generation of gourmands today and determining how that will inform our approach to both our existing dining experiences and new concepts,” Silvestri said in a statement.

Chef Boulud’s upcoming concepts at One Vanderbilt are scheduled to open in fall 2020. 

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