ABOUT the team
Chris Dimmick, General Manager
A native of Ventura, CA, Christopher grew up in the restaurant business. Born of a family of restauranteurs, Chris grew up in his family's pizzerias and local restaurants, developing a passion for hospitality and entrepenuralism. After studying at USC's Marshall School of Business, Chris has since led operations in many LA concepts and now brings his enthusiasm and experience to CASA as General Manager.
Zoë Schor, Assistant General Manager
Originally from Boston, Zoë at an early age always knew she wanted to be in the restaurant business. She pursued her dream in New York at the Natural Gourmet Institute in Chelsea. Three years later, she was part of the opening crew at Craft in Century City. Then she had the opportunity to be part of opening Todd English's Beso, where she eventually held the title of Executive Sous Chef. Finally, taking an opportunity to work at Thomas Keller's Bouchon in Beverly Hills, Zoë knew that she wanted to lose her chef coat for a front of house management position. CASA recruited Zoë to play an integral role in supporting Chef Alex, while being the critical liason between FOH and the Kitchen.
Sean Krajewski, Partner
Sean Krajewski has worked in every capacity of the restaurant business by the time he graduated from Long Beach State. Krajewski has managed eight high-volume restaurants and started two restaurant related service support companies. Before coming to the Meat & Drink Hospitality family, Sean was considered one of the top General Managers in the Southern California region.
Krajewski is constantly redefining the expectation of what “hospitality” can mean. He is one of the creators defining the new concept of “casual chic.”
Ellen Chen, Partner
Ellen Chen graduated with a degree in Economics from UC San Diego, becoming a consultant for Accenture. There Ellen facilitated the growth initiatives and improvements for some top Fortune 500 companies. Even though Ellen was consulting big business, she was destined for entrepreneurial greatness.
She honed her business acumen at Suissa Miller, then at dot com start-up Target Marketing Interactive. After being part of the Internet success of the 1990s, Ellen invested in a start-up restaurant concept, Skews’s.
Leading the successful sale of Skew’s, Ellen has continued to be the principle investor and business manager of the Mendocino Farms restaurant concept. She continues to offer the restaurants she invests in a big business perspective with an entrepreneur’s passion.
Mario Del Pero, Partner
Mario Del Pero has been integral in developing a number of lifestyle restaurant concepts in the Southern California market. As Managing Partner of the Mendocino Farms restaurants, Del Pero continues to offer the CASA team the perspective of approachable cuisine and service that pushes the vanguard of its genre.