A Passion For Helping the Hospitality Industry Succeed.

DAVID ABES

David has lived in Atlanta since he was 5 years old. After attending Arizona State University, he moved back to Atlanta in 1991.  Starting his restaurant career at the age of 16, he went on to work for Morrison’s Corporation in their casual dining division with L & N Seafood & Silver Spoon.  David was the General Manager of the Atlanta Fish Market during the Olympics.  David moved on to become the Director of Operations for Here To Serve Restaurants for 14 years, growing the company from 3 to 14 restaurants.

Following Here To Serve, David became the Regional Director of Operations for LDV Hospitality.  Before starting DASH Hospitality Group, David held the role of COO for the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group overseeing 9 restaurants in Georgia and 4 in South Florida for three years.  In his free time, he helps his wife Julie with her edible cookie dough concept, called Batter Cookie Dough Counter. David is on the board for the Atlanta Community Food Bank and JDRF.  David’s son Mitchell was diagnosed with Type one diabetes when he was 2 and works for Eagle Rock Distributors as their Customer Success Coordinator. David's daughter Amanda works at Emory St. Joseph's hospital with her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy

Phil Handley

As a hospitality professional with over 37 years of experience, there isn’t much Phil hasn’t done in restaurants. He started in hospitality working for a caterer at age 13 in Jacksonville, FL. His first job was at a Naval Air Station for a Change of Command.

Phil graduated from New England Culinary Institute. In addition to being a certified sommelier, Phil’s career has progressed in to becoming a beverage, bar, and operations expert throughout Greater Atlanta. Phil has successfully opened restaurants ranging from neighborhood taquerias and luxurious FrenchBrasseries to scratch cooking concession stands in major Athletic stadiums.

Phil maintains his passion for the industry by mentoring and coaching all levels of hospitality employee. His infectious love of food and beverage comes through as soon as he speaks to employee or guest alike.   For fun, Phil likes to host guerilla wine dinners, play poker, enjoy live music, garden and hike. Phil volunteers with TrulyLiving Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture.

Cyndi Sterne

Cyndi Sterne made Atlanta her home in 1992. With degrees in Costume Design and Retail Management from Indiana University, she was the Director of Youth and Family programs at the Marcus Jewish Community Center. While there, she created interactive displays for their children’s museum, and developed plans for a future culinary program. In 2010, she left to follow her dream to connect people through food opened Hal’s Kitchen Cooking School.

After moving the business to North Buckhead in 2017, she rebranded to Yes, Chef! Culinary Events to reflect the multitude of activities: pop ups, wine dinners, guest chefs, classes, and corporate team building. Yes, Chef! Culinary Events was lauded for its Pay it Forward program where corporate clients cooked for the food insecure. Through her business,
she has cooked alongside chefs from across the globe. She prides herself on her stellar reviews from an A list of corporate clients and her secret sourdough rye bread recipe. Cyndi is thrilled to bring her experience as an entrepreneur, instructional chef, and customer engagement expert to the DASH team.

JEFF GOLDT

Jeff was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and moved to Atlanta during his high school years. By 16 years old, he was working at a local steak house and the neighborhood hot dog stand. He took time off from the restaurant industry to head off to Tuscaloosa where he earned a B.A. in Political Science Government from the University of Alabama.
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After graduation, at just 22 years old, he signed a franchise agreement with The Krystal Company. Over the next 30 years he became a multi-unit owner operator. As a Krystal franchisee, he won several awards, including franchisee of the year. He also served many years on the Franchise Advisory Council. Over the years, he added Carvel and Mama Fu’s Asian House to his portfolio.
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Jeff lives in Atlanta with his wife, Andrea, and three children. He enjoys his time playing Golf, Tennis, Traveling and watching Alabama football and basketball. He also can be found spending quality time volunteering with Creating Connecting Communities, Jump Spark and Swim Across America.

Eric Alsandor

A 23-year industry professional, Eric has worked in every area of the hospitality field from nightclubs, venues, brew pubs, fine dining to neighborhood bars and eateries. 13 of those years were spent in overarching executive management roles. Hailing from New Orleans, Eric specializes in high-volume, high-pressure restaurants and sophisticated urban environments. He has worked as a food and beverage director for such places as the Fabulous Fox Theatre and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

In addition to his culinary background Eric, also has a degree in Graphic Design & Information Design from Ringling School of Art and Design and often lends those talents to the hospitality field as it pertains to menu design, marketing and internal visual presentation. In tandem with a career in hospitality, Eric commands a rich and diverse background in private security consulting.

DEBBIE & STEVE HORN

From Atlanta by way of Austin, Texas and back to Atlanta, Debbie and Steve Horn started GoFigure, Inc
over 30 years ago. Debbie and Steve are a “TEAM”. They specialize in the needs for hospitality and
other businesses with regards to all financial systems including bookkeeping, accounting, and back office
systems.

While working with many major restaurant groups, they have established themselves as gurus
when it comes to making sure all the financial systems are set up properly, they communicate constantly
to the team about wins and what red flags there are from the top to bottom of the P & L.