Founded in 1974 by the father and son team of Charley and Ron Woodsby, Talk of the Town Restaurants, Inc. now encompasses ten restaurants in the Central Florida area. The privately owned, Orlando based company has a long-standing history of success in the restaurant industry.
From 1963 to 1983, Charley Woodsby was a co-owner of Gary’s Duck Inn on Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando. In 1968 Charley, along with William Darden, opened the first Red Lobster in Lakeland. They expanded the restaurants to five in Florida with franchises in Georgia and South Carolina. In 1970 they sold Red Lobster to General Mills, Inc. Ron Woodsby worked alongside his father opening franchises for General Mills for three years after the sale. Red Lobster has become one of America’s favorite seafood restaurants with over 680 locations in the United States and Canada.
The Woodsby’s continued their entrepreneurship by opening a steakhouse in 1973 in Lakeland named Talk of the Town and later expanded to four other locations in Winter Haven, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, and Orlando. In 1984, the names of the restaurants were changed to Texas Cattle Company and the Orlando location was renamed Charley’s, after the family’s patriarch. The corporate office took on the name Talk of the Town Restaurants, Inc. and today has over 1000 employees with 64 million dollars in sales among ten restaurants.
The Woodsby’s restaurants have developed into nationally recognized establishments with awards ranging from the Golden Palm Restaurant Award to the Beef Backer Award to the “Award of Excellence” and “Best of Award of Excellence” in The Wine Spectator Magazine every year since 1995. Charley’s Steakhouse has been on America’s Top Ten Steakhouses list every year for the past twelve consecutive years, being named Number 1 in the country in 2007. All the Charley’s Steakhouses and Vito’s Chop House, the company’s entry into the Italian market, have received the prestigious DiRona Award of Excellence. In the seafood category the Woodsby’s have 2 concepts making a big splash. First FishBones, which has been named to the Top Ten Seafood list since the list’s inception in 2001and MoonFish, which was named to the Top Ten Seafood List in 2006 when FishBones was inducted into the Seafood Hall of Fame.
Charley Woodsby has semi-retired and Ron continues his father’s legacy of having the best restaurants in the business.
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CHARLEY WOODSBY – FOUNDER/CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Charley Woodsby has a long tradition in the restaurant industry with a career spanning over 50 years. He began his career by attending culinary school in New York City and in 1954 opened his first restaurant in Atlanta Ga. He then moved to Jacksonville in 1960 and formed a business partnership that would change the rest of his life. This partnership owned and operated numerous successful restaurants in Florida and in 1968 they opened the very first Red Lobster in Lakeland Florida. In two short years the partnership sold all 5 of their Red Lobsters to General Mills. Charley stayed on with the company to open 72 Red Lobster Restaurants across the country.
At the age of 42 Charley left the General Mills organization to retire, but anyone that knows Charley knew his career was far from over. In just one years time Charley was back in business with his son Ron. Together they opened the first Talk of the Town Restaurant in Lakeland, Florida. Over the next five years they would open 4 more Talk of the Town Restaurants in Winter Haven, Clearwater, St.Petersburg and Orlando.
In 1984 the Woodsby’s decided to take their restaurants in a new direction and open a high-end steakhouse using only the highest quality and standards. Talk of the Town Restaurant in Orlando became “Charley’s Steakhouse” and the rest is history. Charley Woodsby is the founder of one of America’s top Ten Steakhouses and although he is semi-retired now his legacy lives on. He was recently honored with the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to those individuals who have “ distinguished themselves in an extraordinary manner during their careers” not only in the industry but also in their community involvement.
Charley formed a charitable foundation in 1992 that supports a multitude of programs designed to help the needy in the United States and Honduras. In his free time
Charley enjoys playing golf and traveling around the world.
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RON WOODSBY – PRESIDENT/OWNER
Ron Woodsby started in the restaurant business while still in his playpen. His parents were in the restaurant business and he would play in the kitchen while they worked. So to say restaurants are in his blood is an understatement. Ron is a self-taught entrepreneur who has followed in his father’s footsteps and built Talk of the Town Restaurants Inc. into a multi-million dollar organization.
Ron is responsible for all aspects of his restaurant’s operations. He designs, builds and equips all his restaurants, focusing on everything from the menu and wine selection to tablecloths and dishes to artwork and the style of the doorknobs. He is totally immersed in the process whenever he builds a new restaurant even living in a motor home on the jobsite. This way he becomes a part of the community he will service and learns the market first hand.
Ron is a visionary with the business, contracting and culinary skills necessary to open successful restaurants in such diverse markets as Lakeland, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Orlando, Kissimmee and Lake Mary. Today Talk of the Town Restaurants encompasses 10 restaurants with 5 different concepts employing nearly 1500 people, making a sizable impact on the economy of Central Florida.
Ron is married and lives with his wife in Lakeland, Florida. They have two sons both involved in the family business. Ron enjoys spending his free time on hunting and fishing trips as well as traveling cross-country on his Harley.
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DENNIS DARMOC - VICE-PRESIDENT/ CFO
Dennis Darmoc joined Talk of the Town Restaurants (TOTT) in 1984 when he moved to Florida from his hometown in Hammond, Indiana. In the 12 years prior to joining TOTT, Dennis was a senior auditor (3yrs) for Coopers & Lybrand Public Accounting Firm (Peat Marwick & Cooper) in Chicago and Secretary / Treasurer (9 yrs.) at Agar Food Products, a pork processor in Chicago. Upon his arrival Dennis was presented with the task of organizing the corporate office for the Woodsbys’ business, bringing modern accounting practices and qualified personnel on board. His current responsibilities encompass all duties associated with being the CFO including overseeing the day-to-day financial operations of all the Woodsby holdings, legal issues involving leases & land deals, insurance matters and contract negotiations.
Dennis is a graduate of Indiana University with a B.S. degree in accounting. He and his wife live in Winter Park and they have 3 grown children. Dennis is an avid reader and an accomplished musician playing brass instruments. He also enjoys all things Chicago including “Da Bears”, “Da Bulls”, “Da Blackhawks”, “Da White Sox” and Chicago Style Polkas!
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DAN DRAYER – EXECUTIVE CHEF
Dan Drayer’s curiosity with food began as a young boy while making homemade ice cream in an old-fashioned ice cream parlor in Galveston, Texas. He filleted fish and helped unload shrimp boats that pulled up to the pier and at home he began spending time in his grandmother’s kitchen where she taught him the “love of food” and the rest is history!
After an extensive education in the sciences, Dan’s passion and creative drive led him through years of culinary education. Dan began his formal basic culinary training in Denver, then continued on at The Culinary Institute of America’s prestigious Greystone in California and finished in Paris at the World Famous Cordon Bleu.
Chef Drayer’s professional career began in a small Italian restaurant in Denver that leaned heavily toward Mediterranean – Italian country cuisine rather than the typical meatball and spaghetti fare. His efforts enabled him to be honored as one of the top three chefs in Colorado. He then moved to Houston where he refined his cooking techniques at Tony Vallone’s landmark restaurant. Club Corporation of America that owned and managed exclusive, high-end country clubs and city clubs throughout the world eventually recruited him. After receiving club of the year and special achievement awards Chef Drayer was drafted by Sfuzzi, a high end and high profile Tuscan eatery. He assisted Sfuzzi in creating their trend setting menus and his passionate contribution in teaching helped develop chefs and managers from California to New York. During this time Drayer headed up broad promotional affairs such as the American Airlines National Convention, the Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl reception, and the American Cancer Society’s Cattle Baron’s Ball. With the advent of their showcase store opening on the Las Vegas strip in 1995, the Sfuzzi owners transferred Drayer to preside over their largest venture. While in Vegas, Drayer won top placement in the Culinary Olympics and taped a cooking segment for the Food Networks “Cooking with the Stars”. He also assisted in the food creation and preparation for the “Jackie O” Leukemia Foundation Benefit serving VIPs from around the country.
After a short term independent venture, Drayer took a position with the Palm Restaurant at Caesar’s Palace. By now Chef Drayer was married and raising twin daughters and a son, which had him thinking in terms of where to raise a family. Potential opportunities in Florida kept popping up, so when The Palm offered to relocate him from Las Vegas to Orlando to open The Palm at the Hard Rock Hotel, he and his wife decided to make the move.
After several years with The Palm he joined Talk of the Town Restaurant Group. Talk of the Town was already operating several notable restaurants in the area when it began developing the idea for MoonFish Restaurant. All of a sudden Chef Drayer thought, “Well, now I know why we’re here.” With MoonFish Drayer’s job was to help execute the concept, it performed so well that it received awards as one of the Top 10 Seafood Restaurants in the country in its first several months of operation.
Chef Drayer is, without a doubt, a man driven and passionate about food. He is constantly searching for ways to improve the concepts company wide by evaluating the latest culinary trends in books and magazines and visiting other restaurants locally and around the world. In turn, he challenges the company’s Chefs to craft their menus and creativity to exceed customer’s expectations.
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W.D. "BILL DAN" BEAVER-
SENIOR OPERATING PARTER - STEAKHOUSE CONCEPTS
BILL DAN BEAVER is a real southern gentleman born in Covington, Tennessee. He moved to Florida in 1984 and currently resides in Winter Haven, Florida, with his wife and two children. Bill Dan attended Memphis State University where he received a double major in Business and Criminal Justice. After graduation Bill Dan decided to open his own business and developed “Handy Dan’s Fried Chicken & Convenience Stores”. After 4 years he sold his business and went to work for Shoney’s Famous Recipe Fried Chicken as Regional Franchise Representative for 8 years. He then moved on to the Golden Corral organization where he was Regional Supervisor for 3 years. Over the next 5 years Bill Dan worked as General Manager for the Olive Garden Restaurant, a division of the General Mills Corporation. With his vast amount of experience Bill Dan was a perfect choice for Talk of the Town Restaurants when they opened up Charley’s Steakhouse on International Drive in Orlando. Bill Dan became the Operating Partner of Charley’s in May of 1991. Bill Dan is credited with many accomplishments during his tenure with Charley’s, awards and accolades both national and international have been bestowed upon his restaurant. He was also named in “Who’s Who in America” in 2 categories: Significant Restaurant Operators and Outstanding Restaurant Managers.
Bill Dan has many interests and hobbies. Besides being a licensed single engine pilot he enjoys boating, fishing, hunting, golfing and riding motorcycles. He loves music and plays the guitar. He also participates in cooking and BBQ competitions. Bill Dan believes giving back to the community is very important, as evidenced by his involvement in many clubs and organizations. He is a member of the board of directors for the Citrus Center Boys and Girls Club, Meals on Wheels and Lake Region High School Booster Club. He is a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity, Rotary Club, Airplane Owners and Pilots Association, National Rifle Association, Ducks Unlimited, Wild Turkey Federation and a University of Florida Gator Booster. He also is a supporter of the Make a Wish Foundation, Partners in Education and the Edgewood Children’s Ranch.
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SETH MILLER -
SENIOR OPERATING PARTNER - SEAFOOD CONCEPTS
SETH MILLER was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. He attended Florida State University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and was a member of ATO fraternity. He currently lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife and their two “Canine Kids”.
Seth comes to Talk of the Town Restaurants with 17 years of experience in the restaurant industry, having worked for Bennigan’s, Grady’s American Grill and Morton’s of Chicago. Seth joined the Talk of the Town family in September of 2005, training at Moonfish Restaurant in Orlando. He was fast tracked to managing partner of Moonfish in March of 2006, where he currently continues his career.
When he has spare time Seth enjoys running and has run many charity marathons. He is the Co-Chair of Relay For Life, a member of the Florida State University Alumni Association and ATO Fraternity. He also enjoys great food and wine especially when he can combine that with spending time with his wife.
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TODD BOWLING -
DIRECTOR OF BEVERAGE & INFORMATION SYSTEMS
A second-generation native, Todd was born in Vero Beach, FL. After graduating with honors from John Carroll High School, Todd continued his education with a focus on Business Administration at The University of Central Florida. Todd joined the Delta Upsilon Fraternity during his second semester and also began, what would be referred to as his “career”, with the Talk of the Town Restaurant Group. This career began at The “Original” Charley’s in May of 1996. Todd quickly got involved with the wine and marketing aspect of the job. In the fall of 1997, construction of the Charley’s Aged Steaks & Market Fresh Fish in Tampa was nearing completion and Todd was transferred as part of the opening team. Upon his return to Orlando in early 1998, Todd began his formal kitchen training at FishBones. There he would learn the art of filleting fish. Construction soon started on Vito’s Chop House, a new concept for the Talk of the Town group – adding an Italian flair and filling a culinary market niche in the International Drive area.
Todd moved to Vito’s Chop House as the Beverage manager in July of 1998 and his love of wine was nurtured. Gaining recognition by Wine Spectator Magazine, Vito’s wine list was honored with the Award of Excellence in the first year and later recognized with the Best of Award of Excellence. Talk of the Town grew once again in 2002 with the development of MoonFish. Todd was part of the opening team at MoonFish and was named beverage manager when it opened. In June of 2006, Todd was moved into a global role with Talk of the Town as Director of Beverage and Information Systems. He has been involved in the redesign of the Corporate website and has developed a corporate wine buying program.
In Todd’s free time, he enjoys SCUBA, boating – preferable in Florida’s east intracoastal waterways, detailing his car, and traveling to the family’s vacation home in the mountains of North Carolina.
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DAVID SHOEMAKER -
DIRECTOR OF BEVERAGE EDUCATION & MARKETING
David grew up in a very small town in Northern Indiana. At a very young age he was being groomed for the family business of metal fabrication. While at the family business he spent a lot of time with his grandfather. David’s Grandfather was a special man always whistling, spending a lot of time in his garden. His grandfather grew some of the best raspberries, blackberries, cranberries and vegetables around. He made wine from a small portion of the fruit in his garden. David chuckles as he remembers stories of bottles blowing up in the basement because something just “wasn’t quite right” in the wine production. He smiles and admits not remembering how the wine tasted but states “It had to be special because my grandfather made it.” David was intrigued by the beverage world from that moment and maintains the curiosity and driving commitment that exists today. When in his teens he asked his mother if he could try a little bit of wine with his dinner. Not because he wanted to drink it but because he was curious about how it tasted. In those early years he discovered that knowing a lot about something doesn’t make you a good teacher. Being eternally curious David would always ask a lot of questions. He was surprised and stunned at times when the answers were given to him in words he had no chance of understanding without a beverage encyclopedia. This inspired him to commit he would never intimidate people with the wine world. He is very careful to guide people by using words, descriptions and analogies that are easy to remember and understand. He feels the most important part of helping people learn wine is to teach them how to communicate what they taste and sense. “Without out the words to describe what we are experiencing how can we share it?” He professes.
David moved to Florida in 1994 to pursue a career as a professional slalom water skier. During the day he ran a Water ski training center hosting students from all over the world coaching everyone from young children to 70 year old men how to ski, boating safety, and driving skills. In the evenings he worked at FishBones as a server/ wine geek to make extra money. During that entire adventure he was always trying to absorb as much as he could about different cultures and their eating and drinking habits. Being a beverage professional for 13 years has taught David the importance of wine as a beverage meant to be enjoyed and shared. His mantra seems to be quite catching. “Wine is a lot like everyday life, look around take it all in for what it is and simply enjoy it. The wine experience is as much about relaxing, friends, and curiosity as it is about the actual label. My responsibility is to help people discover that simple truth.”
David is involved in the Court of Master Sommeliers programs where he is currently studying for his advanced certificate with goals to obtain a Master Sommelier diploma. He is also a Certified Specialist of Wine with the Society of Wine Educators and currently has two certificates the International Sommelier Guild. David tastes wines blind everyday always trying to hone his skills. His personal beverage education is ongoing and he seems as if he is always eager to learn and reach the next level. He travels all over the ever changing wine world to experience the different cultures, meet with wine makers, and vineyard managers and to find wines that are special and maintain the integrity of our beverage program. The wine and spirit world is always changing. David feels it his responsibility to travel to different wine regions as often as possible to learn about trends, issues, differences so he can better share and guide people throughout the world of wine. David works the floor often to help mentor and coach our teams when it matters most. It also allows him to directly interact with each guest and discover and fulfill their beverage needs. David frequently volunteers to work at public and trade tastings to interact with people from a different perspective. He has served on tasting panels with Wine Quest a local charity which supports disabled people and also conducted free wine seminars at local wine events. He has developed and implemented ongoing interactive training programs for our restaurants, and guests. In the future David’s goals are to continue with his beverage education, travel the world, drink great wine, and to share and promote great experiences. Seems to be simple enough.
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