“It is my pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for you based on the exceptional services your company, The Nyman Group, has provided to me and our team. The Nyman Group has consistently offered our company a high quality experience on the conceptual food and beverage program at the Doubletree by Hilton in downtown Canton, Ohio. The Nyman Group was dedicated to fully understanding our vision for the redesigned Doubletree Hotel, and demonstrated the knowledge, skill, and creativity to help us achieve that result.
The Nyman Group has always provided us with dependable and outstanding services, and we would strongly recommend them for conceptual needs.” - Carol Smith, SVP/Director of Development, Hall Of Fame Village
"On behalf of Warburg Pincus LLC and Crestline Hotels and Resorts, I would like to thank you for your assistance in helping to identify and select a restaurant for the ground-level retail space at the Hotel Derek, our independent hotel in Houston, TX. Starting in late 2007, a time when the US economy was entering a turbulent period, we were impressed with the Nyman Group’s ability to create a competitive bidding process consisting of high end national and regional restaurant groups. As you promised me when we first began working together, the Nyman Group’s proprietary database of restaurateurs proved extremely helpful in the process. I would also like to mention how pleased we were with the Nyman Group’s professionalism and overall commitment leading up to the eventual lease signing with an established fine dining restaurant. We understand that you have a busy schedule and have a stable of larger clients around the country, but we always felt that we had your full attention. Please feel free to use me as a reference for potential clients in the future." - David Schwarz, Principal, Warburg Pincus
"Thank you very much for the wonderful leather note pad and printed cards. It is a very thoughtful gift. And perfect for me and my way of tracking world events… those in my world, at least! I really will enjoy using it. For all my collection of writing apparatus, I have nothing to use for odd notation that usually finds its way to a napkin. This is much better. I’ll look more serious anyway. It was a real joy to work with you. Hunter was right where he first told me about you… you are just what Philips Arena needed. I hope that time will give the operations folks a chance to act on your many good suggestions. And I hope to have the opportunity to work with you again." - Janet Marie Smith, President, Sports Entertainment
"It is hard to believe it has been almost a year since we opened this hotel, and clearly we have had our share of successes in the first full year of operation. Of course, the crowning achievement of the property was to receive the four diamond award from AAA in the first three months of opening. Clearly, the quality of services throughout the hotel and in particular within the Food & Beverage Departments were instrumental in achieving this very prestigious award. Robert, clearly, your contribution to the success of this hotel cannot be underestimated, and on behalf of Carlson Hotels & Resorts, we would like to thank you for the outstanding work and creativity you have placed into the food and beverage operation. You certainly have a unique ability to create a successful concept and then ensuring the concept is flawlessly executed. Your participation in the hands on training in the development of the teams was very well received as well as your ability to bring in outstanding individuals to assist us in the opening process. I do look forward to working with you again on future projects, and please do not hesitate to contact me at anytime if I can be of further assistance." - Michael Poynter, Vice President/ G.M, Radisson
"Johnson & Wales University had the opportunity to employ Robert Nyman as a consultant working on a complex project with our College of Culinary Arts. Briefly, the University made a decision to change and upgrade a series of internal operating systems that we had not addressed in a number of years. Since all of our internal people had grown up with these systems we felt it appropriate to find an individual who understood our educational mission as well as the unique aspects of operating a culinary school. Robert Nyman was such a man.A month or more into this project, we discovered that it would be appropriate to make changes that were beyond what we thought was the original scope of work. Mr. Nyman addressed these changes professionally and was able to work with constituents at many different levels, internal and external to the University, to make these changes come about.
I would say that some of Robert Nyman’s best attributes were the ability to stay focused while dealing with complex issues, he was able to be firm but fair, and always maintained an even keel as a gentleman. In the future, Johnson & Wales University would be pleased to hire Robert Nyman again and highly recommends him to other businesses and organizations." - Kenneth R. LevySenior V.P, Special Projects, Johnson & Wales
"Now that we are coming to the close of our contractual relationship for the management of Sportsmen’s Lodge, I wanted to express my appreciation for your efforts and dedication in dealing with a difficult situation.Your direction in implementing the necessary cost controls, development of new banquet menus and recipes, staff training, reduction of labor, food and beverage costs, implementation of new standards and procedures, and general facility improvements met or exceeded my expectations. All of your contractual commitments were completed on schedule.I have always appreciated your professional and direct approach to dealing with problems. Your knowledge of our business has always been an educational and rewarding experience. I would be glad to serve as a reference to any of your future clients if I can be of any assistance. Again thanks to you and Victor Wong for all of your efforts. If the need should arise again for your services, I would not hesitate to call upon you and your staff to assist us." - William A. Norred, President, The Sportmens Lodge
"As our most recent joint effort reaches its conclusion, I wanted to make sure you know how valuable your insight, advice, and direction have been in the development of the restaurant and kiosk programs in Bryant Park and in Herald and Greeley Square Parks. In particular, the vision and energy you brought to the kiosk program in Bryant Park made a significant contribution to turning these amenities into vital assets. There is no question that only the premier restaurant consultant could have helped bring us such success while working within the context of our programs and the constraints of our obligations to the public. I am most grateful to have had the benefit both of your determination and of your talents.Together, over the past decade, we have had an unbroken series of successes. I very much hope to have the opportunity to work with you again and look forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration. In the meantime, please do feel free to ask any of your prospective clients to contact me; it will be my pleasure to share with them my enthusiasm for your work and my strongest recommendation." - Daniel A. Biederman, Executive Director, Bryant Park
"It has indeed been a pleasure to work with you during the past year regarding the Food and Beverage operations of our Fisher Island Club.The entire process was handled with complete professionalism and the positive results speak for themselves. Robert from the survey, focus groups, menu planning, staff evaluation, equipment recommendation and designing the new Beach Club, everything was most productive and successful. I appreciate your sensitivity in dealing with both the staff and the residents.Robert, professionally I found working with you to be most rewarding, and personally I found a new friend. Again, we sincerely appreciate everything you did to assist our Food and Beverage operations at the Fisher Island Club." - G. Michael Thomas, Fisher Island Club
"We are most appreciative of the work you are doing with us, and want you to know we are pleased to expand your contract. Since you have come on board the Music Center’s food service revenues have increased significantly, and the total dining experience at the Center is much more customer friendly.Your leadership in helping the Center select a food service operator and negotiate the contractual relationship for our future operations at the Walt Disney Concert Hall has been invaluable. We are confident that as we move forward, your assistance in setting up the new program will help us reach our goal of providing a world class operation.We are pleased that you have extended your services at the Center to supervise construction and implementation. I have worked with many consultants throughout my career, and you are the most professional and considerate of your clients’ best interests." - Joanne Kozberg, President, Music Center, Performing Arts Center Of Los Angeles County
"As we come to the close of our contractual relationship with you, I wanted to drop a note to say how pleased I have been with your services. You guided us through the difficult and thorny task of selecting a food service consultant from those interested in working at Carnegie Hall. I am grateful for the way in which you organized the request for proposals and helped sort through conflicting information. You were there for us when we needed you and for this you have our thanks." - Judith Arron, JA/rb, Carnegie Hall
"Robert Nyman of The Nyman Group has been associated with the Space Needle since the Spring of 2000. Initially, Robert consulted for us as we went through a renovation and a difficult repositioning, particularly from a quality level, of the Space Needle’s restaurant and banquet operation. He was a critical member of our food and beverage team throughout that transition, and we continue to utilize his services. He has functioned virtually as our corporate vice president of food and beverage, with the responsibility to continually upgrade and improve our overall food and beverage operation as well as to coach and mentor our management staff in both the restaurant and kitchen. Additionally, his national exposure and experience have allowed us to significantly develop and expand our relationship with our vendors. We have found our association with Robert to be a very productive one, and have retained his services through 2003.I believe that Robert has been extremely effective in moving the Space Needle’s food and beverage operation to a higher level of quality, and we continue to see potential for growth. I would highly recommend Robert and his group to any similar organization that requires new direction." - Dean Nelson, President & CEO, Space Needle
"A short note to express the appreciation of Saks Fifth Avenue and myself for the outstanding efforts you have made in directing the planning and implementation of our new food facility, Cafe SFA, in the New York store. The enormous energy and dedication demonstrated by your group was a major contribution to the success of our mutual enterprise. Saks has achieved its objective of having a first class restaurant in our store as opposed to a typical store restaurant. Based on customer comment, food reviews and current performance we will over achieve our sales and profit estimates for the first full year of operation. To me this demonstrates with great clarity the level of professionalism of your organization.Again thanks to you, Donna, Cathy and the rest. We look forward to a continued successful collaboration with your company." - Charles Leven, Senior V.P - Director of Operations, Saks Fifth Avenue
"The opportunity to work together these last few months has been helpful and rewarding. Our time together developing the Diner concept, food and beverage controls, merchandising and the retail program was extremely beneficial. The game plan that you set out to accomplish was well conceived and the potential locations for new Big Food Diners were certainly on target.As sometimes the best made plans seem to change, we need to now turn our efforts in a different direction. Utilizing your Master Plan as a foundation, I look forward to calling on you from time to time to access your input and expertise. Thank you for your dedication and professionalism in not only putting us on the right track, but also your assistance in the management direction and repositioning of the original Eldon, Iowa Diner. I look forward to the opportunity of collaborating with you on another development project sometime in the not too distant future." - Alan S. Goldman, Chief Financial Office, Big Food
"Before I become too involved with my new responsibilities, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your efforts in assisting MetLife with Buddy’s Bar & Grill. Maintaining a restaurant at American Center was a very important amenity since the building was in a re-leasing stage.We often worked under tight time constraints but the dedication portrayed by you and your staff made the work seem effortless. As I pursue my new responsibilities I feel very fortunate to have experienced such a successful working relationship. I hope that we will be able to work on another project in the future." - Gail E. Griffith, Senior Investment Analyst Real Estate Investments, Metropolitan Life
"Robert Nyman of The Nyman Group has recently completed a major assignment for us at the new Philips Arena, which opened in September 1999. This assignment was for the “development of the food and beverage Master Plan for the arena restaurant and general concession service program.” This started with the master plan for all the general concessions food service; developing the conceptual plans for each of the individual food stands; advising on the equipment needs for each individual stand and the commissary; identifying, interviewing and negotiating with food and accessories vendors, and orchestrating the opening of the arena food service.Through all these efforts, Robert proved himself consistently creative, knowledgeable and thorough in both his planning and implementation. He brought to bear many opportunities for creative food service planning and management. As a result of his efforts, Philips Arena has one of the best food concessions operations in the country today. The diversified food choices are much more in sync with the demographics of a basketball and hockey arena than historical arenas, which are predominantly hot dog, popcorn, beer and soda oriented.I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Robert, would highly recommend him to others considering a wide range of food service options (sports facilities, hotels, restaurants, etc.) and above all else would hire him again without hesitation." - J. Hunter Richardson, Jr. Vice President of Development, Carnegie Hall
"Bravo, bravo, bravo! The ball is now in our court, you were very succinct in your critique of our needs and confirmed our major concerns that our food and beverage program was not up to the standards to benefit our cruise guest. We could not have engaged a more knowledgeable consultant to put us on the right course. Your leadership, understanding and warmth towards our multi-cultural staff during the hands-on training in the kitchen was invaluable.Please accept our heartfelt appreciation for your work and dedication in developing the Trattoria concept, the “Cruise of the Americas” menus, and outlining a system of product specifications, recipes and cooking methods for our Royal Empress food and beverage program. On our recent voyage, the menus you developed for the 53 day South American cruise were a great success, the Trattoria is on line and the staff is utilizing the systems recommended for production needs, forecasting, inventory control, purchasing, and recipes files.Robert, again many thanks." - Mr. Peter Arevalo, President, Regal Cruises
"Thank you for directing Grand Central Partnership in developing, identifying and leasing the Pershing Square viaduct space to a viable and qualified restaurant tenant. I want to express my appreciation for your efforts, dedication, and persistence in successfully handling a very challenging situation.We greatly appreciated your professional and direct approach to the task of selecting a finalist from a large field of those interested in developing the restaurant with the Partnership. Your contributions in formulating a rental and cost matrix as well as the tenant’s capital contribution were extremely valuable.If I can be of assistance to you, I would gladly offer my personal reference to any of your future clients. Please let me know how I may help.Thank your again for all your outstanding work." - Daniel A. Biederman, President, Grand Central Partnership
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your assistance in developing an extraordinary restaurant plan for The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. Your guidance was of great value in connecting with the finest operators in the country.The Venetian is breaking new ground in that it will be the first Las Vegas development with restaurants including Valentino, Pinot, Star Canyon, Emeril Lagasse’s Delmonico Steakhouse, Cheesecake Factory’s Grand Lux Café, and Il Fornaio’s Canaletto to name a few. All are externally financed and owner operated. Your assistance was very important in bringing our goal to realization. I look forward to working with you again in the future." - Robert G. Goldstein, Senior Vice President, The Venetian
“Over the past nine years, we have had the pleasure of working with Craig Nyman of CAN Media & Entertainment based out of Las Vegas, NV. Craig started nearly a decade ago supporting our earned media outreach across our entire portfolio of award winning brands for the Nevada market which quickly expanded to Colorado and eventually Illinois as well. During those years, Craig developed incredible working relationships with our entire William Grant & Sons internal communications team, worked closely with region marketing, our local sales teams and of course, the stars of the show, our Ambassadors. Craig was hands down a favorite of the Ambassador team by thinking outside the box when it came to TV segment opportunities, print stories and creative collaborations. There were endless strings of coverage from markets where Craig managed the communication and relationships with the media, establishing a number of ongoing opportunities for our brands that always nailed the messaging we were trying to achieve. Not only did Craig deliver impactful results year over year, he was also an absolute pleasure to work with, becoming part of the fabric of our family owned and family run company.” - Annie Taplin, Director US Communications, William Grant & Sons