Nicolas Bernadi, CEO of La Boulangerie de San Francisco, announced that industry veteran Gabriel Moreno would join the team as Sr. Director of Retail.
Moreno brings nearly 20 years of experience building and growing businesses in quick-service, fast casual and full-service restaurants to his new role at La Boulangerie. He most recently served as Regional Director of Operations for Which Wich Superior Sandwiches, where he assisted the executive team in driving operational and financial results.
“La Boulangerie’s recent equity investment by James Park and Michael Staenberg [co-owners of Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh] has accelerated our plans to expand the La Boulangerie brand,” Bernadi says. “We have a truly unique commercial bakery and special culinary talent to support scale. I can confidently say that we have one of the deepest R&D teams in the industry to support our growth and now, with the addition of Gabriel, we have the operational talent to ensure consistent operational excellence. Gabriel’s track record in enhancing operations and customer service culture will be instrumental in building our bench strength, exceeding revenue targets and achieving operational excellence. We are excited to have Gabriel join our team.”
Founded by world-famous French baker Pascal Rigo, La Boulangerie strives to bring a little taste of France to every customer every day. Using only the freshest all-natural ingredients, everything is made daily from scratch, from the breads and the pastries to the sauces and the salad dressings. It’s a neighborhood staple that is warm and inviting and committed to being an important part of its communities by being socially and environmentally responsible neighbors.
“La Boulangerie has unparalleled food and coffee offerings with serious potential for growth,” Moreno says. “I couldn’t be more excited to join the brand at such an important time in the development process. The team knows how to deliver top quality food in abundance – after all, it transformed Starbucks’ food offerings. I’m eager to build off of this momentum to leverage my expertise to take La Boulangerie to a whole new level.”
Park recently announced that he and Staenberg made a substantial investment and acquired an equity interest in La Boulangerie. The team will initially focus on expanding the Garbanzo and La Boulangerie brands into new and existing geographic markets. In addition, they will be developing and proving-out internally generated concepts to address gaps in the dining landscape while exploring attractive acquisition opportunities.
La Boulangerie is an eight-unit chain – known as much for its authentic French atmosphere as its mouthwatering, scratch-made pastries, breads and sandwiches – that has been a neighborhood staple in the Bay Area since 1995. For more information, visit laboulangeriesf.com.
