Barry Jessurun – CEO/CFO
Barry has been working in the service and hospitality business since 1978 with experience in many areas of the business. His current focus is on customer service, staff development and education, food quality, emerging trends and back office accounting. Barry has also been involved in restaurant and kitchen design, along with work on overall organization and structure. Barry has played an active role as the project manager and designer of all our restaurants. He is the author of a book called The Drunkard’s Path that was published in 2021.

Brian Jessurun – CQO
Brian has been working in the service and hospitality business since 1976 with experience in many areas of the business with a focus on food quality, customer satisfaction and schmoozing. Brian is an accomplished cook and an avid and curious traveler in search of new food pairings.

Kayla Densmore –  GVH Operations Manager
Kayla began working at The Vanilla Bean in the early 2000’s. She progressed to a supervisor and then transferred to 85 Main where she eventually became the Bar Manager. She returned to The Vanilla Bean Café as the General Manager until 2020. During her time as GM she was instrumental in assisting with the opening of Dog Lane Café, and Fenton River Grill. After working in a different career field, she returned to work with Green Valley Hospitality as the Operations Manger for all locations. She currently works part-time and her work focuses on organization, structure, IT, and other aspects of business operations.

James Martin – Managing Partner and Executive Chef at 85 Main
James began his food career at The Vanilla Bean Café when he was in high school. He went on to work for Chris Schlesinger in Boston and helped him open the Back Eddy in Westport, MA where he was the Restaurant Manager. He has focused his cooking techniques on unique pairings of food, local and quality ingredients along with kitchen staff development.

Steve Smith – Managing Partner at Dog Lane Café and Fenton River Grill
Steve worked for the JTK Restaurant Group in Mystic for close to 20 years before joining us to operate Dog Lane Café in 2012, and is now the managing partner at Fenton River Grill. Steve has experience in all aspects of restaurant operation with a focus on cooking, quality food, hospitality and customer satisfaction. Steve’s previous work experience includes the Steak Loft, Go Fish, and Dock and Dine, where he served as the General Manager.

Nathan LaBossiere – General Manager at The Vanilla Bean Café & Regional Manager
Nathan began with us as an intern in 2018 and has learned all aspects of business operations, from customers service to cooking, from back-office management to kitchen management and ordering. Employee and customer satisfaction are his focus, from quality of food and its presentation to the proper service of customers and the continuing education of the staff. Nathan has also been working as a Regional Manager with Barry.

Donna Ayres Lapointe – Bookkeeper extraordinaire!

Erin Grist – Assistant Bookkeeper, Onboarding, Human Resources, etc.