Kimberly Phillips

Vice President of Operations

Kimberly Phillips is a Chicago native. Introduced to hospitality at a very early age, some of her most memorable times were around a dinner table for “Sunday Suppers”. This was a special time each week that she had dinner with her French grandmother and Filipino grandfather. She would enjoy the food from each of their backgrounds, while listening to her grandfather’s stories of working as a restaurant host. He described it as “The best job I ever had. I got paid to do something I truly loved, taking care of guests”.

In 1998, Phillips enrolled into the University of Illinois at Chicago to obtain her bachelor’s degree. While attending school, Phillips needed to find a way to balance studies with finances. With her grandfather’s voice in her head, she decided to take a chance in restaurants.

Phillips first joined the restaurant group in 1999 as a hostess for Blackbird. She quickly fell in love with the hospitality business, and after graduating from the university, moved into restaurants full time. Bringing with her an already well-developed passion for the food and beverage industry and superior guest service, Phillips was soon promoted to Blackbird’s manager in 2002.

In 2003, after helping ownership open acclaimed avec restaurant, Phillips recognized an opportunity for growth with the Park Hyatt Chicago, and became the assistant manager at the esteemed NoMI Restaurant on Michigan Avenue. In her five years with Hyatt, Phillips filled several roles—from banquet director to group room sales to director of private events, each position was an opportunity to refine her innate sense of hospitality and genuine enthusiasm for service.

Phillips rejoined our restaurant group in 2008 as the General Manager of the Publican Restaurant, which opened in October of that year. Serving as the face of the Publican for its first three successful years of operation, Phillips continued to cultivate a level of service that surpassed guest expectations. In June of 2011, with the creation of One Off Hospitality as our management company, Phillips signed on as Director of Operations and shortly after was promoted to Vice President of Operations.