In February, Detroit’s Shinola Hotel appointed Mary-Catherine Moore both executive director of food & beverage and managing partner. In this role, Moore leads culinary operations across the property’s Italian restaurant San Morello, urban speakeasy Evening Bar, beer hall The Brakeman and fried chicken spot Penny Red’s. Additionally, Moore oversees Shinola Hotel's in-room dining, banquets, programming and events.
A Nashville native, Moore joined NoHo Hospitality Group in New York City in 2013, working as private events coordinator for Robert DeNiro’s Greenwich Hotel and Locanda Verde. Over her years with the company, she helped launch and grow multiple venues within the NoHo Hospitality portfolio.
Moore relocated to Detroit in 2018 to lead events and catering for the opening of Shinola Hotel, helping the property earn Detroit’s first Michelin key.
1. What first got you into hospitality?
I was eager to start working as soon as I could as a teenager. As I was starting to realize I wanted to work in theater and the arts, I knew hospitality would afford a flexible schedule and many opportunities wherever I landed in the future. When a server job opened at a mom and pop BBQ restaurant in a Nashville mall food court, I jumped on it and worked my way on from there as a server to events coordination and eventually into restaurant and events management.
2. Who were some of your mentors when you were getting started?
I was fortunate to have several mentors throughout my career. My now dear friend Jana Kasperkevic gave me my first events coordination role at B Bar & Grill in the East Village (now closed). She helped me make the leap into a hospitality avenue that would become my passion for years to come. When I joined NoHo in 2013, Marie Lyons (director of events for NHG) helped guide and champion me through multiple leadership roles and openings within the company even after I left her team; she sets a formidable example of leadership, people development and guest service.
3. What were some of the most important lessons you learned early in your career?
Work for the job you want, not the job you have.
Reacting and responding are two very different things.
Don't forget to hydrate.
4. What is the biggest professional challenge you’ve faced in your career? How did you overcome it?
The COVID-19 pandemic was certainly the most challenging part of my hospitality career. To close down our property, our events department and lay off all the team members we had just worked so hard to bring on was heart breaking. I stayed on to cancel and postpone our existing events and to help run the operation when limited capacity was permitted. While it was scary to return back to in person service, I focused on our steadfast team members who were ready to get back to work and the gracious guests who joined us. They definitely helped me stay focused on the task of rebuilding and reopening.
5. Can you tell me about one of your proudest professional accomplishments? Why is it meaningful to you?
I'm truly proud of how many team members have stayed and grown with us within the Shinola Hotel since we opened in 2019. Seeing their development and trajectory of knowledge and achievement has brought me more joy than any other metric of success.
6. What brought you to your current position?
After opening The William Vale hotel in Brooklyn, I moved from NYC to Detroit in 2018 to lead the events & catering department of the soon-to-be-completed Shinola Hotel. I was ready for a new city and a new chapter after 13 years in NYC but was grateful to continue growing with NoHo Hospitality Group. In my role as Director of Events, I built and managed the events team, led the hotel's corporate, social, and wedding events sales and established the operational foundations for events across the hotel. Those experiences ultimately led to my current role overseeing all of our hospitality venues and operations.
7. What is the best part of your job?
Our team members and fellow leaders.
And that every day is a little different with new challenges, new joys and new guests.
8. What do you hope to be doing five years from now?
I hope I am in a role where I can make a difference to the team and local community, wherever that may be.