Brian Richards joins the team at Virgin Hotels San Francisco as the Director of Food & Beverage. He will be responsible for building the new program from the ground up, and also helping his team to drive creative ideas and be at the forefront of the hotel dining industry in the city. 

At the heart of everything, Brian’s underlying hospitality motto is simple: take care of the guest. He learned this at a young age, watching his cousins who owned Italian restaurants delight their customers. The importance of combining delicious food and making their guests feel at home with warm and welcoming service always stood out to Brian. 

Though Brian’s original hospitality mentors were his family members, he also studied hospitality in college and put his skills to the test with his first job at The Broadmoor, the longest running Five Star / 5 Diamond Resort in the U.S. This ignited his passion and he went on to work on the opening team for The Summit restaurant where he worked with Jacques Pepin and his son in-law, Rollie Wessen. He also lent his talents to groups such as Kimpton, Destination Hotels, IHG, and the Morgans Hotel Group. 

Most recently, Brian was tapped to revamp the entire food and beverage program of MacArthur Place Hotel and Spa in Sonoma, where he worked with a team of over 50 to instill the highest service standards as well as building a successful pop-up restaurant during construction. 

Brian looks forward to building a passionate food and beverage team at Virgin Hotels San Francisco and empowering them to delight guests with each and every visit to the property’s many outlets: from the hotel’s flagship restaurant, Commons Club, to the more casual Funny Library Coffee Shop and to the 12th story rooftop bar, Brian’s longstanding hospitality experience will leave its touch on every element of the guest, diner, and imbiber’s visit.

When Brian isn’t working, you can find him traveling and exploring new food cultures for fresh inspiration.