ProStart Professional Development

Falling in love with food at a young age, Chef Sara Johannes could always be found diligently listening to the cooking shows on PBS on Saturday mornings and was inspired by her Italian Grandmother’s cooking, who always let the season, mood, and occasion dictate her menu. This love led her to culinary school, and she has enjoyed every minute since. 

Chef Johannes served as the opening executive chef of Wolfgang Puck’s Five Sixty restaurant in Dallas and WP24 in Los Angeles at the Ritz Carlton before heading back to Minneapolis. Upon arriving back in Minneapolis, she took on seven concepts at MSP Airport for the award-winning OTG Management. Concepts were diverse, ranging from a French Bistro with a Raw Bar, an Asian Fusion restaurant featuring fresh sushi, handmade noodles, and dim sum, to gourmet sandwiches at Andrew Zimmern’s airport outpost of Minibar. OTG afforded her the opportunity to represent them on Bravo’s TV’s Top Chef, New Orleans, Season 11.  

Chef Johannes is thrilled to be teaching at her alma mater Saint Paul College, teaching the profession she loves to future culinary professionals. After 25+ years in restaurants, Johannes is honored to be in the kitchen every day, working with passionate students looking to start their careers.  

Chef Johannes holds a diploma in Culinary Arts.  

Over the last 15 years, Samantha Jones has worked in a variety of positions within the culinary and hospitality industry. Sam eventually found her love for teaching in 2014 and joined the Chicago Public Schools as a ProStart educator in 2016. Believing that learning is a constant, she continuously built on her curriculum and community connections to increase her students’ opportunities. During her time there, ProStart supported multiple aspects of her program from providing student job shadows and work experience, to scholarship support and certifications. In 2018, she was named as an Educator of Excellence and as the IL ProStart Teacher of the Year, and in 2023, was granted the IL Meritorious Teacher of the Year award. After years of teaching, she decided it was time again to grow and started her own business. Given her connection with her fellow educators and her understanding of the opportunities the program provides, she was asked to continue to support ProStart both at the state and national levels. Sam now works as an education consultant and partners with multiple state and national workforce programs which focus on culinary education, teacher training, career skill building, and course development. 

Mark Molinaro has enjoyed growing with ProStart for over 15 years. He enjoys working with the people who make this program continuously improve in supporting and equipping emerging hospitality professionals. Having worked as a chef with Omni, Four Seasons, and Ritz-Carlton hotels, Mark transitioned to education where he served as Executive Chef for the New England Culinary Institute. He is currently the Executive Director and Professor at Northern Arizona University’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Management where he gets to serve over 400 students and a robust hospitality community. He recently obtained his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership with research focused on improving ethics education in hospitality programs.  

Michael Santos is the Chief Executive Officer for Tailored Food & Beverage. After launching a successful restaurant franchise group in Las Vegas; Santos set out to help other restaurant groups sharpen their operations. Tailored Food & Beverage works with restaurant organizations who are looking to expand their organizational structure and market presence all while enhancing their operations. Santos works with each department and the restaurant operators to build the sole focus of serving the guests in all they do every day. From supply chain analysis to guest service training, Santos is operationally focused and guest minded.

Prior to Tailored Food & Beverage Santos was the Chief Operating Officer for MRG a Raising Canes franchisee; overseeing Operations, HR, IT, Supply Chain and Training. Immediately prior to this position, Santos served as the VP of Operations and Human Resources. Under Santos’s leadership, Raising Canes grew to 15 restaurants in three markets in 9 years. With a passion for education almost as great as for the restaurant industry, Santos attended California State University, Long Beach and graduated in December of 2004 with Bachelors of Science Degrees in Finance and in Human Resources Management. Today, Santos supports Prostart – a program developed by the National Restaurant Association’s Education Foundation. Santos works as a Partner in Refined Restaurant Group overseeing Finance and Human Resources for the company.  Michael in his free time enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife Alexandra and their two daughters: Sophie and Mila.