Regulatory and Legal Affairs

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor at Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, has been reporting on food and beverage trends since 1999. Graduated magna cum laude with a BA in history from Tufts University in 1990, he is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Thorn studied French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and Chinese language/history at Nanjing and Beijing Universities in 1988-1989. He won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award and was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014. Thorn, who wrote for The New York Sun from 2005 to 2008 and has podcast "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn," resides in Brooklyn, NY.

🏦 Gencom acquired The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, and Courtyard by Marriott French Quarter Iberville totaling 758 rooms in New Orleans' French Quarter. The Ritz-Carlton boasts 528 rooms, 48,000 sq ft of event space, a city-largest 25,000 sq ft spa, and live jazz. The 230-room Courtyard is close to Bourbon Street and major city attractions. Extensive renovations include a $15 million upgrade to The Ritz-Carlton's Club Level and a complete modernization of the Courtyard. Financed by Monroe Capital, the deal emphasizes Gencom's strategy in high-demand tourism markets, marking its 10th Ritz-Carlton project.

🏦 On March 19, India's highest court ruled in favor of Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) led by Puneet Chhatwal, confirming IHCL's exclusive rights to the Taj brand and related brands under the Trade Marks Act of 1999. The court cited the brand's establishment in 1903 by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, which still operates and whose GM, Ritesh Sharma, won the Hospitality Award for Best Luxury Hotel Director in 2023. This prevents other hotels from using the Taj Hotels brand, particularly in major regional cities of the Indian subcontinent.

🍴 Florida lawmakers proposed a bill amendment to ban automatic restaurant gratuities for parties of five or fewer and allow service charge refusal for poor service. The original bill, HB 535, already passed multiple state committees. State Rep. Demi Busatta (R-Cape Coral) proposed the amendment after experiencing preset gratuities in Miami. The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association opposes the amendment, citing service charges as vital for success. If the amendment passes, it would take effect on July 1. Former President Joe Biden launched a strike force to eliminate nearly $20 billion in junk fees, while California and Illinois considered similar legislation, but California exempted restaurants.

👨‍🏫 Colleen Weiss-Hanen's hospitality career began after her accounting degree, initially as a controller at a Vail lodge. She credits her parents and professional mentors with shaping her leadership approach, emphasizing integrity, treating people equally, and the importance of creating memorable experiences in hospitality. Weiss-Hanen notes that while the executive committee has equal gender representation, women hold less than 20% of C-Suite roles in hospitality. She argues that increasing women's leadership roles is not only a matter of fairness but a business imperative for profitability and innovation.