Dickie returned to Palace Café as Managing Partner in November 1997, and in 1998, opened Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse, and a few years later, Bourbon House Seafood & Oyster House. He is also the author of Palace Café: The Flavor of New Orleans. In addition to running successful restaurants, Dickie remains active in the hospitality industry, as well as in his community. He is a certified "Foodservice Management Professional," and has served as President of the New Orleans Restaurant Association, President of the Louisiana Restaurant Association (2001), Chairman of the Board of the Downtown Development District, and is currently Chairman of the New Orleans Tourism and Marketing Corporation. Dickie is also a member of the Board of Governors of Tulane University Medical Hospital and of the James Beard Foundation's Board of Trustees. Committed to rebuilding New Orleans and to keeping his team together, Dickie, Steve Pettus and Lauren Brennan Brower, re-opened Bourbon House just five weeks after Hurricane Katrina, Palace Café in December 2005, and Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse (which sustained the most damage) in April 28, 2006.

Paula teaches cooking classes throughout the US and in France. She frequently appears on local television and radio. She and the Mozzarella Company have also appeared on many nationally-broadcast television programs including Food Finds, Cooking with Sarah Moulton, and Mario Batali's Ciao America on TVFN and Stephan Pyle's Cuisine of the Southwest on PBS.

In 1998 Paula was elected to the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America and was the fourth Texan to join this prestigious list. In 2004, D Magazine named Paula one of 'Thirty People We Love," stating that she is 'Dallas' unofficial ambassador of good taste and things that taste good.' In 2006 she was awarded Award of Excellence by the International Association of Culinary Professionals as Entrepreneur of the Year. She served as President of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, a prestigious group of food industry professionals. She also served as chairman of the Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food for many years, as well as on the Boards of The American Cheese Society and Les Dames d'Escoffier International.

In 1998, teamed up with Chef Mario Batali to create the now-legendary Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca. The restaurant attracted a flood of critical praise, including an enthusiastic three stars from the New York Times and was honored as The Best New Restaurant in America from the prestigious James Beard Foundation. Continuing their partnership, Joseph and Mario opened the family-style, Roman-themed Lupa, the ground-breaking Esca, and the casual, raucous Otto Enoteca Pizzeria. Soon Joseph and Mario decided to explore Spanish cuisine, and created the taverna Casa Mono and Bar Jamón, a wine and tapas bar. The pair teamed up with Lidia Bastianich and opened Del Posto, a beacon of elegance and sophistication, in December of 2005.

Meanwhile, Joseph and Lidia have created a multi-unit Italian restaurant concept called Lidia's with locations in Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Never content to stand still, Joe again partnered with Batali and with Sergio Esposito to open Italian Wine Merchants, an upscale retail shop devoted to Italian wines. Recently, the native New Yorker headed West and opened a suite of restaurants: In Los Angeles, Pizzeria Mozza, Joe's collaboration with Mario and Chef Nancy Silverton opened to rave reviews, and is awaiting the arrival of its sister restaurant, Osteria Mozza.

Bastianich and Batali have forayed into Las Vegas with the eponymous B & B Ristorante and its more casual companion, Enoteca San Marco. Because great food should never be eaten without equally outstanding wine, Joseph ventured into his ancestral Friuli-Venezia Giulia to create the acclaimed wine estate, Azienda Agricola Bastianich, and into Maremma, Tuscany where he established the wine estate La Mozza s.r.l. He is also bottling a delicate olive oil from groves in Colli Orientali and Trieste.

Joseph has teamed with David Lynch to write Vino Italiano, a comprehensive look at Italian wines, and Vino Italiano Buying Guide, a companion to their award-winning book. In 2005 Joseph won the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional award, as well as the title of Bon Appétit's Wine and Spirits Professional at their annual American Food and Entertaining Awards.

In 1980, Kostroski teamed with Restaurant Resource Group, Inc. (RRG) and helped plan the 1981 opening of the Twin Cities' first Northern Italian restaurant, Pronto Ristorante. Kostroski also was co-creator of Figlio's, the Italian bistro that opened in 1984 in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. Kostroski and partner Robin Getman created InterACT Group, a management, consulting and training firm in 1986. Kostroski is a co-owner of Cuisine Concepts, which includes Bar Abilene in Uptown Minneapolis, Tejas at 50th and France in Edina, the Franklin Street Bakery in Minneapolis, and the consulting division of Cuisine Concepts. In addition to his extensive business experience, Kostroski is active in numerous trade and legislative organizations. He has chaired the Joint Legislative Committee for the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association, which sets legislative policy for the hospitality industry in Minnesota. He was a 14-year member of the board and past president of the Minnesota Restaurant Association (MRA), and has chaired the MRA's Communications, Joint Education and Membership Committees. Kostroski has served on the board of directors of the Upper Midwest Hospitality Association and is a key contact for the National Restaurant Association.

In 1992, Kostroski chaired the Restaurant Committee for the Super Bowl XXVI Task Force, as well as creating and producing the first Taste of the NFL, an annual event that brings top chefs and alumni players from each of the NFL cities to the Super Bowl host city for a fun-filled, food-sampling gala. To date, in excess of $6 million dollars has been raised for hunger relief through this event. His success, industry involvement and dedication to the community have brought Kostroski national recognition and countless awards over the years.

In 1992, he was named "Marketer of the Year" by Hospitality Management and "National Retailer of the Month" by Beverage Media. In 2002, he received the Pope John XXIII Humanitarian Award from Viterbo University, La Crosse, Wis. That same year, he received the Vanguard Award from Hospitality and the Minnesota Vikings Quarterback Club Award for outstanding community service. In 2004, he earned the "Cornerstone Humanitarian of the Year" award from the National Restaurant Association as a result of the success of TNFL. In March 2005, Kostroski was named Restaurateur of the Year in Minneapolis by Mpls. St. Paul Magazine.

Fourth Wall Restaurants was founded by acclaimed father-son restaurateurs Alan and Michael Stillman in 2007. The group is comprised of upscale restaurants in New York City, including the flagship Smith & Wollensky location, Maloney & Porcelli, Park Avenue (Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring), The Post House, and Quality Meats. Co-Founder Alan Stillman began his career as a restaurateur by founding and opening T.G.I. Friday's at 63rd Street and First Avenue with a $5,000 loan from his mother. As the Friday's concept grew and expanded, he sold the rights to Friday's outside of New York City in the mid-seventies, maintaining ownership of the Upper East Side flagship, which he sold by the end of the decade. He has never regretted selling the concept and is often credited with opening the first "singles" bar. Soon after, he opened Smith & Wollensky at 49th Street and Third Avenue in 1977, which has grown to nine locations around the country. At the same time, he developed a series of unique restaurant concepts in Manhattan that he refers to as "one-of-a's," such as Manhattan Ocean Club, Maloney & Porcelli, and The Post House. He took the company public in 2001. Alan and his son Michael partnered with some of the brightest young chefs in the business and award-winning design firm AvroKO to transform Manhattan Ocean Club into the acclaimed restaurant Quality Meats, while the team's latest project has been the transformation of Park Avenue Café into Park Avenue Autumn.

Alan is a master of marketing in the restaurant industry. He comes up with extremely creative ideas that promote the restaurants in a way that is fun and meaningful to his customers. He thought up National Wine Week, in which winemakers from all over the world pour their wines at lunch in his restaurants. During the early years of the program which is now celebrated twice a year, both Robert Mondavi and Count Antinori personally poured their wines at Smith & Wollensky. In 2003, he dreamt up The Great American Wine List, changing the Smith & Wollensky lists over to completely American wines, since it's an American steakhouse.

Drew Nieporent, one of America's most respected and celebrated restaurateurs, is the founder and inspiration behind the Myriad Restaurant Group, which operates Tribeca Grill, Rubicon, Nobu, Nobu Fifty Seven, Nobu London, Next Door Nobu, Mai House, Centrico, The Coach House, and Crush Wine & Spirits. Over the last 20 years, Myriad has also opened restaurants in Seattle, Louisville, Providence, Boca Raton and Moscow. A graduate of the Cornell Hotel School (1977), Nieporent worked on the world class cruise ships Vistafjord and Sagafjord while still a student. In 1978, he began his management career with Warner Le Roy at New York City's Maxwell's Plum and Tavern On The Green. He then worked at the prestigious French restaurants Le Périgord, La Grenouille and Plaza Athénée's Le Regence.

Numerous awards include Montrachet, Outstanding Service from the James Beard Foundation (1995); Nobu, Best New Restaurant from Beard (1995); Rubicon, Outstanding Wine Service from Beard (2000); Nobu, Nation's Restaurant News Hall of Fame (2005); and Restaurant & Institution's prestigious Ivy Award for four restaurants (Nobu, Tribeca Grill, Rubicon and Montrachet). Myriad's excellence in wine service is widely acknowledged as well. It is the only restaurant group to earn three coveted Grand Awards from Wine Spectator, for Rubicon, Montrachet and Tribeca Grill, while Food & Wine named Crush Wine & Spirits the best new wine shop of 2005.

Drew's many personal honors include induction into "Who's Who of Cooking in America" (1992) by the James Beard Foundation. He was named the Beard Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year (2000) and has been nominated for its Outstanding Restaurateur award for the last three years. Other recognition includes Bon Appetit's Restaurateur of the Year (2000), Man of the Year from The Food & Beverage Association (1993), DiRoNA's Humanitarian Award (2000) and Hall of Fame (2005). He is on the board of Citymeals on Wheels and DIFFA, an Honorary Chair of the City Harvest Food Council and Culinary Director of the Jackson Hole Wine Auction. He has co-chaired SOS's Taste of the Nation event in New York City since 1997. He has been honored by the American Heart Association (1999), the Tourette Syndrome Association (2000), the Food Allergy Initiative (2001), the American Liver Foundation (2003), the Cancer Research & Treatment Fund (2005) and the Kristen Ann Carr Fund (2006).