Our Team

Meet some of the talented members of our family who brought our restaurants to life and who work behind the scenes for the entire group! And yes, we made some of them choose only one dish or drink recommendation, which is the equivalent to choosing your favorite child…

Josh Loeb - Co-Owner/Chairman of the Board
I make sure the spirit of Rustic Canyon goes through everything we do and support the amazing team we’ve put together since opening our first spot in 2006. I have a lot of wonderful memories of the restaurants, but my favorite is probably the day Zoe walked into Rustic Canyon for her interview for the first time.

Zoe Nathan - Co-Owner/Chief Creative Officer/Board Member
Not only is Zoe the chief creative officer and co-owner behind all of our spots, but she’s a talented baker and chef. We love this video of Zoe talking about the Gather For Good fundraising platform she started that’s centered around bake sales. It so perfectly captures the generosity and warmth you feel at our restaurants, and our commitment to giving back to our community.

Colby Goff - Co-Owner/Chief Financial Officer/Board Member
I get to hang out with the most creative, passionate group of thoughtful friends bringing hospitality, warmth and amazing tasting experiences to our diners. I also help think about how we apply the science of numbers to the business, so that we stay in business in a sustainable way, and so that we can keep hanging out. One of my favorite memories is opening night at Rustic Canyon in December of 2006. It was chaos, but it was a party. The POS system didn't connect to the printers in the kitchen, so no orders were fired correctly. Ultimately, the team simply passed dishes regardless of your order and everyone had a blast. I would never recommend just one dish, so I consider this a trick question, but if I had to choose, it would be Sweet Rose Creamery’s “Genius Bar.”     

Jeremy Fox - Chef/Partner - Rustic Canyon, Birdie G’s
Sometimes the care and precision isn’t always visible, but you know it’s hiding there in the background. This video of Jeremy perfectly dicing an onion beautifully captures his attention to detail and how he cultivates talent in the kitchen.

Laurel Almerinda - Pastry Chef/Partner - Huckleberry Bakery & Cafe
Laurel has been working at Huckleberry since day one and we’re thrilled to have her become the newest partner within our family. Over the years she’s held a variety of positions within our family as she’s grown with us, overseeing the bakery at Milo + Olive and the dessert programs for Rustic Canyon, Cassia and our former Mexican restaurant, Tallula’s. She also co-authored Huckleberry: Stories, Secrets and Recipes from Our Kitchen, and we have sweet dreams about her Coffee Coffee Cake! 

Shiho Yoshikawa - Partner - Sweet Rose Creamery
As the founding chef, Shiho brought her love for peak-season ingredients and whimsical creativity to creating our ice cream flavors. The process is truly handmade and small-batch, as shown here in this video.

Chef Bryant Ng & Kim Luu-Ng - Partners - Cassia
Cassia is a delicious celebration of Bryant’s Chinese-Singaporean heritage and Kim’s Vietnamese roots, which Bryant explains in this video about what it means to be a chef in Los Angeles. The couple also created LA Chefs for Human Rights, a fundraising platform that benefits and increases awareness of local human rights causes that directly affect our community. Kim talks about its purpose and impact in this touching video (grab a tissue).

Wine Director Kathryn Coker & Tug Coker - Partners - Esters Wine Shop & Bar
Not only does Kathryn oversee the wine programs for all the restaurants in our group, but she runs Esters with her husband Tug. He perfectly likens the wine shop & bar to “a neighborhood clubhouse,” so take a tour in this little video with Kathryn. This creative couple also has a hilarious, inspiring and educational podcast called “The Long Finish,” that delves into what it’s like to keep Esters, their marriage and the kids alive, all while drinking a different bottle of wine.

Kelsey Brito - Pastry Chef/Partner - The Dutchess
Kelsey has been working with our group since 2012, when she joined Huckleberry Bakery & Cafe as a Morning Baker at the age of 19. After 5 years at Huckleberry and working her way up to Lead Baker & Pastry Sous, she left to go work at Tartine in San Francisco (where Zoe learned to bake). She just couldn’t quit us though, and rejoined the family in June 2019 to take over bakery operations at Milo + Olive where she baked up all manner of rustic pastries, cakes and pies and oversaw bread production for the whole restaurant group. The Dutchess marks her first foray as Partner, and you really shouldn’t leave this all-day bakery, cafe & restaurant without snagging one of her savory pastries or decadent cookies.

Saw Naing - Chef/Partner - The Dutchess
The Dutchess is also Saw’s first restaurant in a partnership role, and it’s a beautiful opportunity to explore and celebrate his Burmese heritage. He first joined our family in 2017 as Sous Chef at Tallula’s (our former Mexican restaurant), eventually working his way up to Chef de Cuisine and Executive Chef. It was after cooking a Burmese-Indian dinner with his mom for friends at the restaurant that he developed an insatiable curiosity for learning the cuisine of his birthplace and began experimenting with fun Burmese-Indian-Mexican mashups at Tallula’s. After leaving in 2020 to pursue the dream of opening his own restaurant, he reconnected with Zoe and Josh in Ojai and is now making his dream come true with us!

Brian Jacobs - CEO
Nothing makes me happier than supporting this team. Every day I get to try to make someone’s life a little bit better, add a little bit of joy, or make something run just a little bit smoother. In a career where our main focus is to care for people, it’s all those little pieces that add up to something truly special. My first dining experience with the group was at Birdie G’s in summer 2020—right smack dab in the middle of the pandemic. It was our first time out at a restaurant, but the team made us feel so welcomed and warm. It felt like we had been regulars there for years and we were able to have such a great night. Every time I have the matzo ball soup there, I’m transported back to my grandmother's house. There’s something special about that broth that feels like it’s a secret passed down from generation to generation.

Joel Dixon - Chief People & Culture Officer
My first memory was working with Zoe in the beginning of February 2009, weeks before opening Huckleberry. Zoe had just made English muffins and put together a new breakfast dish, Green Eggs & Ham, which was going to be a customer favorite for over a decade. I hadn't eaten eggs since I was 10 years old, but no one can refuse something that was made with that much love and thoughtfulness. I ate it, didn't even leave a crumb on my plate, and wanted more. I will always remember my first Green Eggs & Ham at Huckleberry. With so many great options to choose from, I land with the Garlic Knot at Milo + Olive. 

Arlene Villalobos – Human Resources Manager
As the HR Manager, my goal is to drive forward our people-centric approach, ensuring that every individual feels valued, supported and motivated to contribute their best. With a deep understanding of the evolving dynamics of the modern workforce, I am committed to staying at the forefront of HR trends, emerging technologies and best practices. My favorite memory dining at a Rustic Canyon Family spot was coming to Milo + Olive with my two best friends who were visiting for the weekend from Northern California. We all love Italian food, and we ordered so many things off the menu and just sat there for about two hours enjoying espresso martinis. My favorite dish is their Garlic Knot.

Monica Heffron - Director Of Financial Planning & Analysis
I wear a lot of hats! I love puttering around behind the scenes, trying to help each restaurant run at its best in various random ways. It's too hard to choose a favorite memory, so I'll describe my first! My mom and I visited Huckleberry for the first time years and years ago. We ordered food to eat there and a huge box of pastries to take home. We ended up eating almost all the pastries sitting at the table and barely had anything left to bring home. My ability to resist eating all the pastries from Huckleberry hasn't improved much since.

Taneshia Warren – Social Media & Marketing Manager
I oversee all of our social media accounts across all platforms. I'm the person you go to capture an ambiance or setting, show off the perfect bite, or update you on all things relevant in pop culture. My first experience dining within the group was at Birdie G's with some friends a couple years back and I was OBSESSED. Everything was so good and so fresh, and the spot quickly became one of my favorites. The Pickle Chick from there is nuts. I've gotten lucky the past 2 times I've gone and gotten the last bird of the night, so working here was meant to be

Michelle Khoury - Digital Sales Manager
I’m responsible for the management and development of our restaurant group's technical operating platforms, which includes all the reservations systems and online ordering platforms you may use, like ChowNow, plus internal systems for accounting, tracking sales and more. My first Rustic Canyon Family experience was at Cassia when my family was visiting me from the Bay Area. We loved EVERYTHING we ate, especially the delicious Vietnamese "Sunbathing" Prawns. If I had to pick one favorite dish in the group so far, it would be Milo + Olive’s Felino Salame & Roasted Red Pepper Pizza— It’s hands-down the best pizza I’ve ever had!

Derek Arnette - Controller & Director of New Ventures
I get to help keep the lights on! As Controller I'm lucky enough to work with the whole team, from chefs to managers to employees and vendors. Each restaurant is like it's own independent ecosystem, where people come to enjoy good company and amazing food. I like to think of the finance team as those microorganisms that nobody can see, but which play an important role in balancing the ecosystem. My first time having the meatloaf at Birdie G's was a game changer. I still get funny looks when I tell people about our new(ish) restaurant doing “meatloaf executed at a high level.” Cassia’s Spicy Wontons are so good that me and my fiancée named our Wi-Fi network after them.

Lily Richards - Staff Accountant
I handle the books! I prepare important financial documents, like P&L statements and balance sheets, to keep our restaurants cookin'. You could say I've got a lot on my plate (pun intended). I'm dedicated to thorough auditing, reporting and number crunching, so we're able to source high quality ingredients, work with our favorite small batch winemakers and more. The first time I dined at one of our RC Family restaurants, I was training as a host for Rustic Canyon. The food was so good, I had to stay for the next 5 years. (A nod to the long-term growth opportunities we like to provide our employees!) My absolute favorite dish is Milo + Olive's Mixed Mushroom Pizza. I've probably eaten it more times than I can count – and that's saying something.