Foodie Live! Sysco Napa Culinary Experience March 16 & 17, 2026

Matthew Rutkowski, North American Director of Spiegelau & Nachtmann Glass, has championed the Spiegelau brand rise to North American success. Over the span of his 25+ year career as a food and beverage professional, Matt has gained accolades and awards from Wine Spectator, written a nationally syndicated wine column for American City Business Journals, and served as a wine consultant for high-net-worth individuals seeking only the best for their private cellar collections. Using his vast beverage knowledge, Matt has succeeded in bringing Spiegelau Crystal, to the forefront of the glassware industry. Each year, he educates thousands of consumers and media through Spiegelau seminar-style tasting workshops, where he demonstrates the incontrovertible effects shape, color and the size of glassware have on how a beverage tastes and smells. Matt has appeared on television stations nationwide, including segments on Bloomberg TV, NBC and CBS, where he speaks to the art of serving and drinking fine wine, craft beer and bourbon. In his spare time, he enjoys touring the nation’s finest distilleries, vineyards and craft breweries and speaking at Food & Wine Festivals across the country, including Savor Central Coast Festival in California, SOBE: South Beach Food & Wine Festival and Wine Spectator’s New York Wine Experience. A pioneering force in the wine and craft beer and bourbon worlds, Matt continues to modernize Spiegelau glassware collections, demonstrating to tastemakers across the world the merits of variety-specific glassware.

Shara Orem is Senior Director of Community Engagement for Datassential, where she leads Elevate, a community initiative driving innovation and navigating industry disruption through connection. Prior to joining Datassential, Shara worked for The Culinary Institute of America for 19 years, leading corporate relations and guiding program strategy for the strategic initiatives group. Through this role she connected foodservice manufacturers, commodity boards, and associations with thought leadership initiatives focused on health, sustainability, global cuisines, and innovation. Shara started her career in foodservice with brands from Mrs Fields to Marriott and Disney World, in a number of positions spanning the front- and back-of-house. Shara holds a degree in Hospitality Administration from Boston University.

Dawn Fitzgerald is the Sr. Director, Restaurant Solutions at Sysco Corporation, where she drives standardized value-added services for all North American Sysco customers. In this role, Dawn is responsible for leading initiatives designed to drive growth, traffic, and efficiencies, which include menu analysis, menu design, and innovative digital marketing for Sysco customers. She is the product owner of Sysco’s proprietary restaurant marketing platform and leads the sourcing of strategic partnerships that enable all North American Sysco customers to grow and connect with their guests, notably including the largest strategic partnership to date, which is driving high growth among Sysco's customer base. Dawn brings over 26 years of progressive leadership experience with Sysco, in addition to tenure at Shell Oil, BMC Software, and Kraft Foods. She holds a BA in Computer Information Systems from the University of Houston and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. Furthering her expertise, she has earned a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University, a Certificate from the IFDA Executive Development Program, and is a PMI-Project Management Professional (PMP) certified. Dawn is an engaged community leader, having served on boards for organizations including Family Services of Houston, Houston Achievement Place, and the Association of Women in Computing. She is also a Committeemen on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo - Lamb and Goat Committee, where she helps raise scholarship money for students participating in the show. Her achievements have been recognized with the Top Women in Technology Houston Award and The Women of Excellence Award in 2005.

As the COO and Co-founder of Popmenu, Tony Roy is a key figure driving next-generation technology for restaurants. With extensive expertise in revenue operations, Roy works with thousands of independent restaurants and hospitality groups to help them engage with more customers and increase sales, both on-premise and online, while improving profitability. He leads corporate development and strategic partnerships for Popmenu and is often called upon to provide industry and tech insights at events. Prior to Popmenu, Roy oversaw international operations for CareerBuilder and spearheaded partnerships and acquisitions.

Growing up, Chef Jennifer Selvaggi had one true passion that many Chicagoans can relate to: deep dish pizza. With her love for pizza, Selvaggi began her culinary journey at Lou Malnati’s learning all things deep dish. In 2014, she graduated from Kendall College in Chicago with a degree in culinary arts. Selvaggi then worked for her family’s meat company that was founded by her grandfather in 1956 when he immigrated from Italy. After years of working for her family, she then became the R&D Chef for the world’s largest fresh pasta company, Giovanni Rana. She was given the opportunity to work in Verona, Italy learning the art of pasta making and exploring her Italian heritage. Chef Jennifer has also held the roles of Corporate Executive Chef for Turano Baking Company and most recently, R&D Chef for Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants. Today, Chef Jennifer is the Senior Chef for Hormel Foodservice where she continues to expand her knowledge in this ever-changing foodservice industry.