In his role as Chef de Cuisine at RO Restaurant & Lounge, Jeffery Hayashi provides adept leadership to the culinary team while effectively managing the day-to-day kitchen operations.

Prior to the joining the lounge, Jeffery served as the Head Chef Candidate for Team USA Bocuse d’Or in both 2019 and 2023. During his time on the Bocuse d’Or team, Jeffery was Chef de Cuisine for the Michelin-starred restaurant Madera, located in the acclaimed Rosewood Hotel. He also held positions as the Chef de Cuisine at Senia in Honolulu and the Executive Sous Chef at Mourad in San Francisco.

Jeffery’s educational background includes a certification in Architecture and Sustainability from Arizona State University, an experience he acknowledges for igniting his interest and fostering the craftsmanship and creativity integral to his cooking.

As Director of Beverage, Michel Couvreux develops the beverage program for Chef Keller’s casual and fine dining restaurants. In this role, he relies on his tenure as Beverage Director, East Coast and as head sommelier at Per Se, where he managed their extensive wine program and developed the wine education program for the restaurant’s dining room team.

Couvreux joined Per Se in September 2009, bringing 20 years of experience at some of the world’s top dining establishments. During his tenure, Per Se was recognized by Wine Spectator for its extraordinary wine program and received the Grand Award in 2013 and in each subsequent year. In 2018, Wine Enthusiast inducted Per Se into its Restaurant Hall of Fame for continual recognition of appearing on America’s Best Wine Restaurants. Couvreux holds an Advanced Master Sommelier Certificate from the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Thomas Keller’s name is synonymous with quality and high standards. The chef and proprietor has established a collection of restaurants that sets a new paradigm within the hospitality profession. He is the first and only American-born chef to hold multiple three-star ratings from the prestigious Michelin Guide—for The French Laundry and Per Se—in addition to being awarded one star for The Surf Club Restaurant, becoming the most honored American chef by Michelin Guide, as well as the first American male chef to be designated a Chevalier of The French Legion of Honor, the highest decoration in France.

Chef Keller has earned countless accolades, including The Culinary Institute of America’s “Chef of the Year” Award, the James Beard Foundation’s “Outstanding Chef” and “Outstanding Restaurateur” Awards and Michelin Guide’s Chef Mentor Award. He holds honorary doctorates in Culinary Arts from Johnson and Wales University and The Culinary Institute of America. Chef Keller led a team from the U.S. to its first-ever gold medal in the Bocuse d’Or, a prestigious biennial competition that is regarded as the Olympics of the culinary world. With more than 1.6 million copies in circulation, he is the author of six cookbooks, including the recently released The French Laundry, Per Se.

Shaoching Bishop is the President of Regiis Ova. Before partnering with Chef Thomas Keller, most recently, she was Managing Director and CEO of Sterling Caviar where she oversaw sturgeon farming operations, caviar production, finance and accounting, sales and marketing as well as international expansions and acquisitions.

Prior to Sterling, Bishop was the General Manager of TNC Holding Co. which is one of the oldest brands in caviar. Her main function was to re-structure the management team and streamline operations to bring a troubled company back to profit and develop an exit strategy for the business.