who we are
Our team, made up of industry experts, brings decades of experience to the table. Together we have designed, owned, operated, and worked with some of the top award-winning restaurants, bars, and hotels in the world. We’ve been where our clients are and understand the steps it takes to build a successful project.
MEET THE TEAM
Bevan Bunch is a partner and the CEO of New Deal Hospitality where she brings over twenty five years of restaurant experience to the table. She has run a wide variety of concepts with an expertise in fine dining establishments. She has spent time both locally and abroad bringing new businesses online from conception to operation. Prior to joining New Deal Hospitality, she was the Director of Operations of the lauded restaurant group Saison Hospitality, from Chef Joshua Skenes. Under her leadership, three Michelin starred Saison was named the 27th best restaurant in the world by The World’s 50 Best. She led the development, construction, and operations for the launch of Angler San Francisco, which was named Best New Restaurant by Esquire Magazine, and simultaneously she led the opening of the highly anticipated sister restaurant, Angler Los Angeles. She has held various leadership roles within Chef José Andrés’ distinguished Think Food Group, including flagship restaurants Jaléo and minibar. Bevan is a native of Santa Barbara, California and studied Hospitality Management at The University of San Francisco.
Doug Hopkins started working in restaurants while growing up on Long Island. After college he realized that the hospitality industry was where his passion lied. He decided that to truly embrace restaurants as a career he needed to move to a larger stage. Upon moving into New York City, he started his career in fine-dining at Jean Georges Restaurant. After five years of managing top restaurants in Manhattan including Sushi Nakazawa and Bar Boulud, he decided again to test himself by joining the team at Eleven Madison Park. During his time there the team achieved #1 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant List, re-opened after a complete renovation, and built pop-up restaurants in both the Hamptons and Aspen. With the pop-up program complete, and wanting a change, Doug moved to California and join Saison as the General Manager. Doug went on run the Food & Beverage for Gravity Haus in Colorado, a start up adventure hotel concept. During his tenure, Gravity Haus grew from 2 restaurants to 7, ranging from fine dining to fast casual operations. Driven by his diverse experience and skill set, Doug returned to San Francisco to join the team at NDH as their VP of Food & Beverage.
Alison Van de Berghe began her career working in San Francisco in sustainability marketing at Ogilvy & Mather and later in food and wine at Wagstaff Marketing. She then followed her passion for both and moved to Chile in 2019 to run the marketing and tourism operation of a sustainable vineyard outside of Santiago, managing a binational team with a robust food program. Since beginning her career in hospitality, Alison has handled marketing and public relations for chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants on both coasts, luxury hotel brands, European and South American-focused wine importers, award-winning sommeliers and wine educators, and helped open restaurant concepts in San Francisco, New Orleans, Mexico City, Washington, D.C., and Hawaii. In addition to her home base of New York, Alison has lived and worked in Washington, D.C., Paris, San Francisco, Chile, and is now based between Mexico City and NYC. Alison is also an owner and partner at NIV, a restaurant and wine bar in Mexico City.
Brian Sheehy, named on the the Bay Area’s “Power 100”, is a founding partner at New Deal Hospitality. Brian has over 20 years of experience navigating and leading the varied paths of hospitality concepting, venue construction, operational management, licensing and code compliance with state and local municipal agencies. Along with his colleagues at New Deal Hospitality he has been instrumental in leading the processes required to update and create new California ABC license types to accommodate the changing world of hospitality service. As the Founder and CEO of the Future Bars Group, Brian launched a collection of premium cocktail bars and artisanal beverage retail stores known as "Cask" in the San Francisco Bay Area. The most notable bars include the much lauded Bourbon & Branch, Rickhouse, Local Edition, Devil's Acre, Pagan Idol, Zombie Village, as well as Tupper & Reed in Berkeley. Prior to founding Future Bars, Brian held management positions at the Sheraton Hotels in Germany in addition to Marriott International and Kimpton Hotels in the United States. He has also served as a bar design consultant for W Hotels, Marriott Hotels, and Ritz Carlton properties in Southern California and the Bay Area. Though his earliest years were spent in Boston, Brian grew up in Ireland, where he completed his degree in Hotel and Business Management at the Galway Institute of Technology, Ireland.
Chris Gruwell is the proprietor of New Deal Hospitality and New Deal Advisers. He brings a track record of successful lobbying in San Francisco since 2004. Chris has a 20 year record of successful advocacy in San Francisco. He has helped his clients secure over $25 billion in government contracts, helped entitle the Salesforce Tower and the Warriors Chase Center, and has worked on a range of local and state issues including complicated land use, procurement, new mobility, tech startups, hospitality and labor. Prior to his work in public affairs, Chris worked as California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Finance Director during his successful 2004 campaign for Mayor of San Francisco. He currently serves as a founding Trustee of the Laborers’ Community and Training Foundation and is a member of LIUNA 261. In addition, he represents San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 and serves on the Board of the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation. Chris is an Army Veteran and served as a Veterans’ Affairs Commissioner for the City and County of San Francisco. Chris is a graduate of UCLA.
Kerry Egan, a founding partner at New Deal Hospitality, began his career working in hospitality in Yountville, California. He formerly owned Napa Valley’s Villagio Inn & Spa, V Marketplace, and the Vintage Inn in Yountville Napa Valley. Kerry took lead responsibility in re-zoning, planning & building the 112 room Villagio Inn & Spa, consistently rated as one of the ‘Top Ten Resorts’ by Travel & Leisure. Branding, negotiating financing, overseeing the general contractor and navigating the in and outs of small town politics in bucolic Yountville was his focus for 22 years. Additionally he managed the development & placement of restaurants and specialty retail concepts including Bottega Napa Valley, V Wine Cellar and Kollar Chocolates. Kerry is currently an investor and developer in San Francisco and serves as the current President of the San Francisco Independent Business Alliance. Kerry graduated from St. Mary’s with a B.A.
Laura Hilgart knows how public affairs, government relations and San Francisco’s unique political environment intersect. She has served private sector clients and public officials across the country, including in Senator John Kerry’s Washington, DC office, at the French Consulate in Boston and at the Association de Igualdad y Justicia in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Prior to joining New Deal, Laura worked as a lobbyist at San Francisco Platinum Advisors and Boston’s O’Neill and Associates. Laura is currently a member of the Urban Land Institute, the SF Bike Coalition, SPUR, Leadership San Francisco, the Alliance Francaise de San Francisco, and the Associate Board of Generation Citizen. Laura graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in International Relations.
Dan Dillon joined New Deal Advisers in 2016. He has three decades of San Francisco lobbying experience including ten years at San Francisco Platinum Advisers where he specialized in issues related to permitting, building regulations, major events, and the hospitality industry. Dan has a proven track record of adapting his skills to the unique needs of clients. For the past decade, Dan has worked with the PGA Tour for the five professional tournaments and with the USGA on two U.S. Opens in San Francisco. He served as General Chairman for the 2015 WGC Cadillac Match Play Championship, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship (2011, 2013), and served on the Host Committee for the 2009 Presidents Cup. He was instrumental in bringing the 2020 PGA Championship to TPC Harding Park, and served as General Chairman for the event - one of the few Major Championships ever held at a municipal golf course.