Brian Palazzolo, President of Classé Catering, ltd.
At the age of 19, Brian began his entrepreneurial venture with Classé Catering. With an unparalleled dedication to growing the company and a vision of greatness, Brian began to eat, sleep, and breathe the industry. He has sustained a relentless commitment to excellence and exuded undying passion-driven leadership which has inspired his team to successfully produce thousands of weddings and special events and has earned Classé Catering numerous awards including:
Entrepreneurial Excellence from the Small Business Council
Small Business Excellence from the SBA
“Greatest Place to Work” from the Business Review
Two consecutive Gold Medals Salon Awards at the Culinary Cornucopia 2007 & 2008
Classé Catering Chef Jeremy Kane Gold Medal #1 Grand Award at the Culinary Cornucopia 2008 & 2009
Also notable during the years of evolution since inception in 1993 – Brian Palazzolo earned a Master of Service Certification, Instructed catering design classes at the Culinary Institute of America, Founded Event Producers, Inc - a Special Events Design & Production Firm, and was recognized by the Business Review as one of the most influential business leaders under 40 in the Capital Region in 2007.
Speaking at conferences, private consulting, and contributing to Catersource magazine was only the beginning – His incredible spirit to “give back” to the industry motivated Brian to develop a trademarked Guest Experience Management model. The GEM model is a strategic tool used to enable companies to deliver exceptionally memorable guest experiences and serves as the basis for the Academy of Service Arts, a specialized training school Brian founded in 2007 designed to help caterers by developing the proficiency of their personnel.
Brian has further contributed to the industry by authoring and producing a series of Service Arts Training and Development DVD seminars that are distributed internationally.
