Shula’s Restaurant Group, the brand collection behind Shula’s Steak House and 347 Grille by Coach Shula, has expanded their recently appointed management team to include Rohini Moradi, who will now serve as Corporate Director of Bars for the group’s entire collection of restaurants. Moradi will work directly with Bill Freeman, CEO, and Shardul Kiri, Chief Brand & Marketing Officer for Shula’s Restaurant Group.
“We are delighted to have someone with Rohini’s passion and expertise join our executive team as we guide the Shula’s restaurant brands into the next era,” says Bill Freeman, CEO of Shula’s Restaurant Group. “A restaurant’s beverage program is essential to its success and having Rohini on board will ensure Shula’s bar offerings remain innovative and customer-driven.”
As a part of the directorial team at Shula’s Restaurant Group, Moradi will develop the future vision of the bar programs for each brand within the group. She will develop new cocktail menus, assist in designing new bars, head up direct acquisition of additional equipment, and elevate the cocktail programs at each location overall.
“I have known Rohini for several years and was immediately impressed with her innovative vision and perfectly balanced cocktail development,” says Kiri. “At many steakhouses, the bar is simply a place to wait until your table is ready. We want to elevate that experience and have our bars be a destination for perfectly prepared cocktails that are timely, interesting and exciting. Rohini is the person to help us accomplish this goal.”
Since she was 21, Moradi has been involved in the bar and beverage industry. As a child growing up in Iran and India, she was fascinated by spices used in cooking and drinking, such as cardamom, lavender and saffron. She made herbal mixology her life’s work, incorporating them into drinks with a child-like curiosity that has led her to stand out as a true innovator in the field.
In May 2013, she founded a simple syrup company called Roya Spirit, which infuses herbs, minerals and spices into zero-calorie, organic, stevia-based cocktail syrups. There, she headed up product development, sales, marketing, quality control, brand strategy, team management, and was the company’s spokesperson.
Moradi spends much of her time as an educator, and founded The Cocktail Camp in June 2015, where she partnered with renowned Bay Area mixologist, Daniel Hyatt, to educate industry enthusiasts looking to enter the world of professional bartending. At the Cocktail Camp, Moradi has doubled revenue yearly, and has now expanded offerings to team-building exercises for first-in-class tech companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Lyft and Uber.
She became managing partner of Ceremony Beverage Catering in November 2017, where she oversees the boutique bartending and beverage service, catering, artisanal cocktails to upscale events serving up to 500 guests.
“I am overjoyed about joining the Shula’s Restaurant Group team in creating a fun and adventurous cocktail program,” says Moradi. “I look forward to incorporating innovative techniques, fresh ingredients, and a forward-facing beverage philosophy into SRG’s established tradition of excellence, pushing the bar program into the future.”
