San Francisco, Calif. (February 28, 2012) - Rob Black, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, is pleased to announce the election of Pete Sittnick to the position of President of the Board of Directors. In his role, Sittnick will lead the Board of Directors in setting the GGRA's educational and advocacy agenda on behalf of the Bay Area restaurant community. Sittnick is a longstanding operator in the San Francisco restaurant industry, who has opened, operated, and supervised more than 20 restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area including Martini House and Kuleto's Italian Restaurant. He has been the managing partner with Pat Kuleto at Waterbar and EPIC Roasthouse on the Embarcadero since their 2008 opening, and in 2011, Sittnick became the executive director of restaurant operations for Pat Kuleto Restaurants, which includes Boulevard, Farallon and Jardinere.

"We're very excited to welcome Pete as the GGRA's new President," said Black. "He is an extremely talented operator with an exceptional background. Pete brings decades of industry experience and a strong, collaborative leadership style that will serve the restaurant community and our members well."

Sittnick brings over 30 years of experience to his position as Board President. He first teamed with Pat Kuleto in 1988 when he was the General Manager of Kutelo's Italian Restaurant on Powell Street in Union Square. Under his direction and in partnership with Pat's design of the innovative Italian eatery, Kutelo's achieved sales revenue of over $9 million and won both local and international acclaim. During his 12 year career with the Kimpton Group, first as General Manager and then as Regional Director of Operations, Sittnick was responsible for opening and operating many highly successful Kimpton restaurants such as Splendido, Grand Cafe, Harry Denton's and Puccini & Pinetti. Based on the success of the first model, he opened a second Kuleto's in Burlingame and other distinctive restaurants in Portland, Seattle, Denver and Salt Lake City. His role as an integral part of the Kimpton management team helped grow their restaurant portfolio from four to 25 in less than a decade.

Sittnick grew up in Michigan and received his degree from the University of Michigan. He is involved with many charitable fundraisers in the Bay Area and teaches voluntarily at the hospitality programs at City College and the University of San Francisco.

About the Golden Gate Restaurant Association
The Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1936 to promote, extend and protect the interests of the broader restaurant industry, and to serve its members in the San Francisco Bay Area. Restaurants are a high-risk and generally low-profit-margin enterprise undertaken by people passionate about a wonderful cultural tradition: eating out. GGRA is a resource to help members keep the doors open and tables set.

The Association is governed by a Board of Directors elected annually by the membership at large. The work of the association is done by the staff and committees appointed by the Board of Directors. Standing committees include Executive, Membership, Finance, Public Affairs and Education. Ad hoc committees include SFChefs, Golf and Nomination. The GGRA Scholarship Foundation, is a 501 (c)(3) and provides annual scholarships to students seeking degrees in culinary or hospitality programs. For more information, please visit www.ggra.org.

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