Phil Suarez, Founder

Phil was born and raised in Manhattan. In 1966, he became a producer for Pappert, Koening, and Lois. In 1971, Phil formed a partnership with Bob Giraldi and Elbert Budin to create Ampersand Productions. Two years later, Phil and Bob created Giraldi Suarez Productions.

This partnership produced many classic commercials. As a result, Phil and Bob have gone on to win every award given by the advertising community in the field of television commercials. Some of their most famous achievements are the well-recognized Miller Lite Beer commercials featuring ex-athletes and screen personalities. Giraldi Suarez Productions also produced the Pepsi campaign starring The Jacksons and Lionel Richie.

Phil has been the driving force behind the company's expansion into the restaurant business. Recognizing that the worlds of entertainment and dining were merging, Phil and Bob developed a string of renowned restaurants.

After spending vacations in southern Italy, and missing the wonderful food of that region, Phil and Bob decided to open a restaurant near their office. They called it Positano and hired a chef, Luigi Celentano, from that same region. Here, they married the advertising business meeting with the pleasure of eating good food. Their restaurant was the first of its kind in that area. It set the tone and trend for the Flatiron district. The eatery was wildly successful for them. Little did they know how auspicious their beginning would be.

In April 1991, Phil and Bob, along with nationally renowned four-star chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, opened their second restaurant, JoJo. This French restaurant, notable for nouvelle French cuisine, earned a three-star rating from the New York Times as well as being named by Esquire Magazine as the 1992 Restaurant of the Year. In 1992, the three partners opened two more restaurants in New York City, the Lipstick Cafe and Vong. Vong, which serves a French-Thai menu, a fascinating Vongerichten invention, also earned three stars from The New York Times. The James Beard Foundation has just named Mr. Vongerichten Best Chef of New York City.

The next restaurant Phil and Bob opened was Patria. Acknowledging his Puerto Rican heritage, Phil wanted to create a place for fine dining that featured the unexplored territory of Latin American cooking. At the site of their previous restaurant Positano, Patria was created as the vehicle for a brash, young, Cuban-American chef, Douglas Rodriguez. The James Beard Foundation has just named Mr. Rodriguez Rising Star Chef of the Year. Using wildly exotic and imaginative combinations of classic Latin American foods and French techniques, Rodriguez created a whole new cuisine dubbed "nuevo Latino." This highly successful restaurant has given Phil great personal satisfaction. It has also served to cement his status as a serious and innovative restaurateur. A fifth restaurant, a casual Italian bistro, Gigino Trattoria, featuring Mr. Celentano of their Positano restaurant, opened in Tribeca in the fall of 1994.

In November 1995, Phil, with his partners Bob Giraldi and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, opened a Vong restaurant in London, in The Berkeley Hotel. Not only was it immediately awarded three stars (only three other restaurants have been honored) by the London Evening Standard, the highest accolade given to a restaurant in London, but Vong was also named Restaurant of the Year by that same newspaper. Another London critic also named Vong, Newcomer of the Year.

In March of this year, Phil, Bob and Jean-Georges opened their newest restaurant, Jean Georges, in the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York City. In June 1997 the New York Times gave Jean Georges a four-star rating. Only four other restaurants in New York City are so highly regarded. Phil and his wife, Lucy, reside in Manhattan.