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Join us Friday as our own Bob O'Brien hosts a panel discussion among local restauranteurs Billy Kramer, Greg Gordon and Geoff Melkonian - with a focus on customer service and innovation. You can join in person at Le Meridien or via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86202979419.

Founder & Owner of NFA Burger, Billy Kramer has been a Dunwoody resident since 1998. Before opening NFA in December of 2019, Billy spent 20+ years in advertising working for various local and national companies with some entrepreneurial ventures sprinkled in between. Billy's wife is a local school teacher. His daughter is on her way to UGA and his son is about to begin his 2nd year at Dunwoody High School. If you've been to NFA, you've probably met the entire family at some point.

Greg Gordon is the new general manager of Porter Brew & Que, the only brewery native to Dunwoody.   Porter BBQ opened in early 2019 and is locally owned by Win Porter and his son Allen Porter. Allen has created the recipes for numerous craft beers, which are brewed in-house at Porter Brew & Que. Alongside in-house brewing, the restaurant serves Texas style BBQ that is smoked in house daily. To contribute to the delicacies of craft beer and smoked BBQ, Chef Greg Gordon will be pushing a chef-crafted menu that will take Porter Brew & Que to the next level. Starting as a line cook at the age of 16, Gordon has been passionate about the food and beverage industry for many years. He has worked in the Dunwoody food and beverage market for 20 years, where his career started as a manager of the Dunwoody Country Club, where he oversaw all facets of their food and beverage program for 10 years. During this time Gordon’s passion for Craft Beer, Wine and Mixology blossomed. After his extended time managing at Dunwoody Country Club, Greg started his own catering company, Gordon’s Gourmet, to expand on his passion for culinary and serving others. Greg’s goal for his catering company was to focus on the important celebrations in the Dunwoody area with creative and “over the top” food and presentation. Eventually, his catering endeavor led to starting a Food Truck company with two other Dunwoody Locals, The Food Movement. As the COO and Head Chef, Gordon was over a commissary kitchen that housed 12 independent food truck operators. Two of the company trucks were Hail Caesar and Pressed for Time. He was also one of the founders of Team Building with Taste, a culinary team building program that hosted companies such as Google and Cars.com. Since the beginning of his career, Gordon has been working hard to share good food and a happy smile with all his customers.

Co-founder of Breadwinner Inc., Atlanta native Geoff Melkonian earned a double bachelor’s degree in music (viola performance and recording production) from Northwestern University. Upon returning to Atlanta, Geoff worked under renowned chef Michael Touhy during his reign at Murphy’s, a beloved Virginia Highlands staple, for three years as both a line cook and deli manager. While honing his culinary skills at Murphy’s, Geoff still indulged his passion for music. He made five albums and spent 10 years playing upright and electric bass and viola and singing backing vocals in the Josh Joplin Group. He appeared as a musical guest on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and the “Late Show with David Letterman” and toured the states and Europe. In 2005, Geoff and his wife, Katie, founded Breadwinner Inc. Starting off baking every single loaf of bread, Geoff quickly turned the company into a success, taking it from a bread baking company founded in the couple’s home kitchen to a thriving Sandy Springs lunch destination that serves over 250 customers a day. In 2015 and 2016, Breadwinner, Inc. opened two off-shoot fast casual restaurants called Farm To Ladle at Ponce City Market and Avalon respectively. In August of 2020, Breadwinner Dunwoody opened against all odds due to the pandemic. Through strong perseverance and tremendous community support, they were able to make it work. Geoff oversees all food production and distribution, catering, finance, online presence, and personnel for the company. When he’s not cooking up new ideas for Breadwinner Café and Bakery, he performs in his popular local REM tribute band, The REMakes as well as an original group out of Athens called The Bad Ends. Geoff is actively involved in his hometown Sandy Springs community and has served on the board of the Sandy Springs Farmers Market, Heritage Sandy Springs as well as the governance board at Riverwood High School, his alma mater.