Nightclub & Bar 2016

Kenneth Knief
Director of Operations
Pelican Restaurants


Kenneth has spent more than 30 years in the restaurant industry, stemming from his passion for cooking as a child. A native New Yorker, he humbly began his restaurant career in the cafeteria at Fordham University, until he was quickly lured away by the Steak and Ale Corporation, and here his culinary career truly began. After establishing himself as a Professional Chef in a number of restaurants in the New York, San Diego and Washington DC areas, he found himself in the Annapolis, MD market and took the daring opportunity to open his own tropical themed restaurant. This is where Kenneth made the leap to operations and enjoyed developing this concept for more than 10 years. Eventually he could not forsake his love of the ocean, so in 2005 he sold his business and moved with his family to Naples, FL. Kenneth’s leadership and operational abilities were quickly recognized and he continued to build his career as Director of Operations for two multi-million dollar, multi-unit organizations while continuing a successful management consulting business. Over the years, Kenneth’s expertise has been tapped to conceive, develop and build numerous award-winning concepts and platforms. Through 30-plus years of restaurant experience and more than a dozen restaurant openings, Kenneth has honed his ability and talent to lead and develop people, delivering results and moving companies forward with cohesiveness, determination, and comity. He has created and branded numerous successful local concepts with meticulous planning, realizing this is a key part to creating coherent, fully detailed concepts from the parking lot to the kitchen. He has executed operational performance in multi-unit, mid-scale, and fine dining restaurant models and has extensive knowledge in organizing and overseeing multi-concept companies with units averaging from $2 - $8 million in revenue.

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