Brendan McGill, Chef & Founder
Brendan McGill was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska. A youth steeped in wilderness and natural bounty, guided by a craftsman father and educator mother, turned out a curious cook with an appetite for discovery. He moved to Seattle to pursue his career as a chef.
Ten years later, Brendan opened Hitchcock, a Pacific Northwestern farm-to-table restaurant. The group grew to include two spin-off cafes and a bar, a pair of pizzerias, an organic farm, a kombucha line, an organic farm, a bakeshop and an award-wining seafood and vegetable concept, which occupies the original Hitchcock space.
Brendan continues to explore the region’s foods, perenially diving deeper into the sources and processes, while leading business and culinary development for the restaurant group.
ROSE PRIDE, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Raised on the river in southern Maryland, Rose spent her childhood sailing, fishing, gardening, and cooking with her family. She has lived and worked all over the US and abroad but is so happy to have found her second home in the PNW.
Rose has worked as both a chef and manager for HRG on and off since 2014, and now enjoys supporting our talented crews across multiple locations with an eye toward day-to-day operations.
In her spare time you can find her on a walk with her 3-legged pit bull Dottie, kayaking the waterways of the Puget sound, listening to country music, or reading in her backyard.
TONY LOMBARDI, BEVERAGE DIRECTOR
Tony grew up in Bellingham, Washington, crabbing, digging for clams, smoking salmon, and eating things off of bushes and trees. One of his first jobs was picking strawberries at Clark’s Berry Farm and his loyalty to the PNW wild mountain huckleberry is strong to this day. At fourteen, he got his first restaurant job washing dishes at the legendary Cascade Pizza.
Tony spent the next fifteen years cooking, bartending (and touring in heavy metal bands). In 2015, he opened his own restaurant, the North Star Diner and Shanghai Room in Seattle, bringing his passion for excellence and his insane work ethic to the 24-hour diner and karaoke lounge. The results were beloved by regulars and Anthony Bourdain alike (check the Seattle episode of CNN’s Parts Unknown). When he’s not busy exceeding people’s wildest expectations of a bar, Tony is making videos, snorkeling year-round in Puget Sound, and spending time with his wife and three daughters.
Chelsea Sahleen, Project Manager
Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Chelsea moved to Greenwich, Connecticut for high school. She then lived in Colorado graduating from Colorado University with a Bachelors in Communication working in restaurants on the weekends. At the farm-to-table Boulder Café, Chelsea was first exposed to the marriage of hospitality and agriculture by the owner Mr. Dave, who was lovingly known as “Farmer Jab,” who grew his own food and served it for 30 years in his downtown restaurant.
After living in Colorado for 4 years Chelsea fulfilled her lifelong dream of moving to NYC and attended the SAE Institute to study audio engineering, after graduating as class president, she worked in studios for a year recording audio, editing and mixing vocals. While working for Grammy-award winning producer Jerry Wonda at Platinum Sound Recording Studios, Chelsea also took on roles as an Executive Assistant and Social Media Director.
Lucky for us, Chelsea moved to Kitsap to be closer to her family and within four days of arriving joined our opening team at Bruciato. Chelsea joined the executive team as an Executive Assistant and quickly worked her way into her role managing Social Media and as a Swiss Army knife for our ever-changing operations. Chelsea is truly the glue that holds the team together, one of the few people who can (and does) do it all.
When she’s not making everything possible, Chelsea enjoys pretty food, photography, synthesizers, and audio recording.