Brandon Gillis

Training at Central Connecticut State University and the International Culinary Center (2003) sits at the start of a career that moved between kitchen work and operations without losing contact with either. Brandon Gillis worked as Project Manager at Planimetrics, Inc (2002–2003), then as Head Chef at Franny's (2003–2008), before shifting into ownership as founder and ceo at Bark NYC, LLC (2008–2012). Operations stayed part of the tool kit after that.

From Lead Operations Consultant at Just Fare (2013–2016) to Vice President of sales and Business Development at Off the Grid (2016–2020), Gillis kept moving through roles that tied the kitchen to the business side. At Fiorella, that mix comes together in founder and ceo and chef and co-owner since 2017.

Fiorella in San Francisco is where Brandon Gillis applies a Cal-Italian brief without overcomplicating it: thin-crust pies, low-key execution, and a farm-to-table focus on finding good product. Fiorella Restaurant Group in San Francisco extends that same operating logic beyond one dining room, with Brandon Gillis serving as founder and chief executive officer. The city itself is part of the frame. As Gillis puts it, San Francisco is easy to love because “it’s just so beautiful.”

Brandon's signature dishes include burrata pizza and Calabrian Chili Hot Wings.

The work reads through the restaurant format itself: Cal-Italian cooking, thin-crust pies, and sourcing that keeps product at the center of Fiorella in San Francisco.