OUR STORY

Sky has 25 years of leading development, teams & operations for some of the nation’s most prestigious hospitality and real estate organizations. Sky has operated and consulted on over 50 restaurant openings in the nation’s largest real estate markets and with celebrity chefs such as Morimoto, Rick Bayless, Jose Andres, and Makoto Okuwa. Sky has served in senior leadership roles with Starr Restaurants, Bon Appetit Management Company and Patina Restaurant Group in Los Angeles where he led the contract food service business for both while expanding their portfolios with chef partnerships. Sky has consulted and partnered in hospitality and real estate positioning for such organizations as Red Bull North America, The Capital Group, The Irvine Company, Westfield, CBRE and LBA Realty. Sky has completed celebrity chef restaurant deals, owned, and operated restaurants from New York City to Mexico City and from Santa Monica to Sao Paulo. Sky has served as an advisor for restaurant technology company Kitchensync advising over 100 prestigious clients nationwide in restaurant company growth, as well as COO of Mosaic repositioning the Shay Hotel in Culver City and the W Hotel in Hollywood. Sky is a Co-Founder & Head of Development for Imagine Lab & Found Hospitality.

An Ohio native, Chef Michael is an alum of Johnson & Wales University, where he graduated Magna cum Laude in 2002. Michael completed a number of international stages that would prove invaluable to his development, including Fat Duck, Mugaritz & St. John. Michael’s experience includes culinary leadership at such institutions as Gilt at the New York Palace Hotel, Boqueria, Washington D.C.’s Blue Duck Tavern, Starr Restaurants, and his own lauded Philadelphia restaurant, Mildred. Michael began the development side of hospitality in 2015 working to bring a new concept to the Watergate Hotel after its 125 million dollar extensive renovation, where he oversaw the creation and development of cuisine for the hotel's many F&B outlets. After successfully relaunching the Watergate Hotel, Chef Michael moved to LA where he lead the repositioning of one of the world’s foremost luxury Food & Beverage Departments at the 5 Star Beverly Hills Hotel including the legendary Polo Lounge, Fountain Coffee Room, Cabana Café, Bar Nineteen12, in-room dining, and events. Chef Michael served as Culinary Director for the American Gonzo group including American Beauty, The Win-dow, and Superba Food & Bread, before taking on all Culinary development for The Shay Hotel, W Hollywood as well as consulting for other projects like the Pendry Hotel in West Hollywood as the Chief Culinary Officer for Mosaic Management. Mike Santoro currently serves as a Head of Strategy for Imagine Lab and Head of Culinary for Found Hospitality.

Alexa’s design career dates back to her first experiences wtih Otto Walker Architects in Park City, Utah and Studio Volpe while she pursued her Interior Design degree at the Academy of Art Institute in San Francisco. Alexa’s focus on hotels and restaurants began with her work at AvroKO while managing hospitality projects across the world from the US to Mexico to Abu Dhabi. After leaving AvroKO New York, Alexa joined the Soho House. While at Soho House, Alexa focused on revitalizing existing Soho House locations, and designing new Houses being launched in North America, including Soho House Austin and Soho House Nashville. In 2019 Alexa started her own first, Adean Studios in Manhattan before moving it to San Francisco. Adean is a dynamic Interior Design Studio with projects across the United States and around the world. The studio focuses on concept-driven narratives that not only create unique and inspiring interiors but also challenge the everyday user and experience.

Alexa’s approach with Imagine Lab is to collaborate and participate - from the integration of large structural pieces to the plateware, stemware, and salt and pepper shakers. Alexa truly believe every piece matters when striving for a cohesive concept driven, unique space. Alexa design focus leans on architectural finishes and layouts with the juxtaposition of found elements against modern fixtures.