Jamie Kaye, Chief Operating Officer

With his heart set on attending law school and a career in labor law, Jamie attended Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Ithaca New York. After graduation in 1985, a chance encounter with the director of operations of The Hard Rock Café in Los Angeles, and fellow Cornell alum, led him to an offer to be the “first official management trainee” in the company’s history. During an interview with Hard Rock Café owner Peter Morton, he said, “come work for us and you can write your own ticket”. Since that day Jamie’s career with the Hard Rock Café, found him as a management trainee, then General Manager, and opening new locations and training General Managers for other stores including New Orleans, Aspen, Maui, San Diego and San Francisco.

In 1993 Jamie accepted a job offer as a multi unit manager for the partnership between Barneys New York and famed restaurateur and the father of Tuscan cuisine in America, Pino Luongo. “ It was a great opportunity to learn fine dining, and I never knew how much I really didn’t know about food until I started working there. The food quality, presentation, and concept was amazing”, remembers Jamie.

In 1996 Jamie conceived and opened Carmines Big Tomato, an Italian restaurant concept in Houston Texas. This was the first restaurant he owned and operated. The concept, food, and reviews were excellent but an unforeseen chain of events and a great job opportunity in Boston Massachusetts led to the restaurants closing.

In 1998 Jamie became the General Manager of Stephanie’s on Newbury in Boston Massachusetts. Originally Stephanie’s was a “to go” food shop with a 90 seat café, but with well planned renovations, and a total concept overhaul, it became a premier dining destination in Boston with annual sales topping nine million dollars.

In 2005, Jamie once again ventured into self employment with Fit Chef Meals, a healthy, low fat, diet conscious catering company preparing fresh made to order meals for a myriad of clients from housewives and body builders, to personal trainers and professional athletes.

Since 2008 Jamie has been the Chief Operating Officer of The Metropolitan Restaurant Group in Chestnut Hill Massachusetts, which operates The Metropolitan Club, a modern steak house, and The Met Bar & Grill and Met Burger Bar. Currently the company is operating two restaurants, building a third, and has several more on the planning table.

email: jamie@metbarandgrill.com