David Connolly

David Connolly’s career sits at the intersection of kitchen leadership, business operations, and editorial fluency, with Beijing running through the center of that path. He trained at University of International Business and Economics and built an early career in Beijing roles that developed commercial discipline, language awareness, and senior-level operational experience. That foundation continues to shape a career that moves between service, strategy, and communication while staying connected to the kitchen.

His early work was not restaurant-facing, but it established a broad professional base. From 2010 to 2011, he was PA to the chairman at Sun Enterprises Group in Beijing, China, a role that placed him close to leadership and day-to-day operations. He then advanced to Business Development Manager at Sun Enterprises Group in Beijing, China from 2012 to 2013, adding commercial responsibility to that foundation. From 2013 to 2016, he served as Senior Website Editor and Cross Cultural Liaison at Dalian Wanda Group in Beijing, China.

That combination of editorial and liaison work suggests a practice built around systems, language, and audience, skills that also inform how a chef reads teams and public-facing work. Entrepreneurship entered the picture in 2014, when he became Co-Founder of BFB Group. He has held that role in Beijing since then, giving his career an ownership layer alongside his restaurant work. In 2015, he stepped into front-line kitchen leadership as Executive Chef at Tap: A Gastropub in Midtown Atlanta.

That role marked a move into a specific venue and neighborhood, where his responsibilities were tied directly to restaurant command. Today, he serves as Corporate Research and Development Chef at Pappas Restaurants, a title that points to a different mode of kitchen work, focused on testing, refinement, and development for scale and continuity. He is also Executive Chef at Bottega in Beijing, keeping his current work anchored in the city that has shaped much of his path.

Connolly’s career reflects a steady movement across business, editorial, entrepreneurship, and culinary leadership without losing contact with the kitchen. His Beijing background, early commercial roles, and later restaurant positions form a record that spans operations, communication, and development. The result is a profile defined by range and discipline, with his current work extending from restaurant leadership in Beijing to research and development in the broader trade.