MEET THE TEAM

Richard N. Gussoni
Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Richard Gussoni is the founder of Culinaire, and steers the dynamic growth and development of his company while maintaining a scrupulous eye on the finer points of food and beverage management. He is passionate about his family, his company, all things Italian, and the Dallas Mavericks, pretty much in that order.

His vocation in the industry was almost predestined, as he was born into a family with both hospitality and culinary branches on its tree. His father was Maitre D' at the famed Berkshire Place Hotel in Manhattan and his grandfather was chef for Pope Pius XI. From the time he was a little boy he knew that food tastes better when it looks good. This precocious grasp of merchandising was a precursor to his early success in food merchandising for upscale retail concerns such as Bloomingdales and Burdines, which propelled him to executive level management positions very early in his career, and ultimately leading to his invitation to join the Young Presidents Organization when he was in his early thirties. He founded Culinaire in 1993 and has been both proud and gratified by its continued success.


Bill Thompson
President and Chief Operating Officer

Bill Thompson oversees the daily operations of Culinaire. His insistence that managers follow rigorous standard operating procedures yet develop creative approaches to food service has resulted in a management team whose feet are on the ground but whose hands reach for the stars. A masterful problem solver, Thompson has spearheaded the company's quest for quality, efficiency and profitability with astonishing results.

Armed with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the University of New Hampshire, Thompson began his career in the hotel industry where he mastered operations in both rooms and food and beverage while honing his strategic thinking skills. His gifted intelligence is obvious upon meeting him, which scares competitors and instills pride in his management team. Our president is a visionary and a natural born leader and we are fortunate to have Bill Thompson at the helm.

Buz LaFrano
Chief Financial Officer

Buz LaFrano's position with Culinaire is one of significant strategic importance. As CFO, LaFrano is the division head for Finance and Accounting. Additionally, long range financial planning, insurance coverage, management information services, taxes, banking, and contract negotiations fall within his realm.

His BBA in Accounting from the University of Texas at El Paso and subsequent CPA achievement launched his career as an audit manager with a Big Eight accounting firm and later propelled him to manager of financial reporting for a Texas oil & gas corporation before joining a national casino company, where he progressed up the ladder for fifteen years. This wide variety of experience in multi-unit, public, private, large, and small companies serves us well.

David Wood
Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing

David Wood oversees all of the company's sales, marketing, and public relations activities. His astute understanding of demand sources, innovative approach to the sales process, and boundless creativity help put lots of sizzle on Culinaire's steak.

Although seemingly boastful since he is composing this bio himself, it would be overly modest not to mention his prodigious writing skills, keen sense of humor, and relentless energy, which are valuable assets any company would covet. But he is happily employed with Culinaire and not even remotely interested in hearing from wealthy ownership groups in desperate need of a marketing genius.


Kimberly Larsen
Vice President, Human Resources

Kimberly Larsen has over 20 years of human resource management experience comprised of a diverse background. She has worked in both the private and public sectors in the legal field, food service, electrical distributing, and transportation.

Upon joining our management team a few years ago, Kimberly initiated many new endeavors in the HR department, most of which she has finished. Our associates are Culinaire's most valuable resource, however, and we are lucky to have a professional with Kimberly's extensive background protecting and nurturing them.


William LeNoir
Vice President, Projects and Purchasing

William LeNoir brings an extensive background in high volume food service to his unique role in Culinaire's management team. Armed with blueprints, renderings, and equipment lists, he tackles new concepts and transforms them into efficiently operating businesses. He also leverages Culinaire's nationwide purchasing volumes for deeply discounted pricing schedules which benefits all of our units.

After receiving his bachelor's degree from the Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston, LeNoir toiled in the industry in various sexy destinations including Chicago's McCormick Place and the Las Vegas Convention Center. He landed in Dallas in 1986 and progressed ever upward in the company that eventually became Culinaire.


Scott Thompson
Regional Vice President

Scott Thompson utilizes all of his considerable organizational, planning, and detail management skills in his position as Regional Vice President of Operations. He is responsible for the success of operations in some of our most challenging venues, and oversees our off-premise catering company, Food Glorious Food, as well.

Thompson parlayed his Restaurant and Hotel Management Degree from Texas Tech University in Lubbock into a successful career that has been illuminated by progressive positions of responsibility. He seems like a tough guy until he talks about his wife, who was his high school sweetheart and is now the mother of his well-behaved kids.


Tom Valentin
Regional Vice President

Tom Valentin oversees Culinaire's interests and operations in our Florida region. Knighted by the American Culinary Federation and awarded the Antoine Careme Medal, his culinary training and background have served him well in his executive role with Culinaire overseeing multiple operations which are vastly diverse.

Detailed and organized, Valentin approaches standards and profitability with a laser focus. His administrative abilities are eclipsed only by his culinary prowess.


Noel Murphy
Regional Vice President

Noel Murphy, an Irishman educated in England, was formally schooled in the culinary arts, where he was fully trained in the French brigade style of kitchen management. After apprenticing in the famed Savoy Hotel in London, he progressed to leadership roles in the Westgate Hotel in Warwick and Carnival Cruise Lines in Miami.

His region spans from the East Coast to the Midwest, where he is known far and wide as a hail fellow well met. His easy smile and pleasant nature cloak a shrewd business mind and a killer instinct.


James Munoz
Vice President of Information Technology

James Munoz left a small town in Kansas 19 years ago to cut his computer baby teeth on IBM Mainframes and Rexx programming. Since then, he has supported and managed many technologies, among the local and wide-area networks, Intel and RISC based servers, and Oracle and MS-SQL databases.

James is responsible for keeping “all systems go” at Culinaire’s business units, including Point-of-Sale, Servers, Networks, Applications, and Data Security, to name a few. He speaks a language none of the rest of us understands and that we suspect he makes up to maintain his air of superiority.



Tana Toulmin
Corporate Controller

Tana Toulmin began her career with the public accounting firm of Deloitte Touche in Dallas, where she performed audit work for SEC and privately held clients.

Her entry into the wonderful world of restaurants began when she went to work for Steak & Ale and Bennigan's, comprised of over 1,000 restaurants and sales of over $1 billion. Taking aspirins by handful, Tana slaved away in various positions including Director of Financial Reporting until she came to her senses and joined Culinaire.

She holds a B.S from Texas A&M University - Commerce , an M.B.A from the University of North Texas and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Patricia "Pat" Lamano
National Director of Catering Sales

Pat Lamano is responsible for managing our nationwide brigade of sales professionals and developing revenues using best practices and proven procedures to ensure financial success. Boasting a degree in psychology and well over twenty years of East Coast catering sales management experience, Pat is a formidable mélange of shrewdness and charm.

A true blue American living in a state of red-alert, Pat is principled, environmentally responsible and liberally bent. Tear away the social causes and inside you'll find the beating heart of a card-carrying capitalist. She is the proud mother of two thriving daughters with whom she shares a passion for politics and shoes.

Brian Ferrel
Director of Business Development

Brian Ferrell is in charge of finding new clients who will benefit from Culinaire’s management and marketing expertise and then convincing them that this is so. His degree from Oklahoma State University’s Hotel and Restaurant School and an impressive resume comprising a variety of restaurant and hotel management positions provided him with the perfect background for this challenging position.  Quick witted, operationally astute, and relentlessly ambitious, Brian is a valued member of the team.  If you are reading this and are considering hiring Culinaire to manage your food service operations, just give him a call and he’ll talk you into it.