Office & AdminCulinary

Erik Battes

Executive Vice President of Food & Beverage | STARR Restaurants
Everybody should be a little bit less impatient about climbing ladders and really learn the fundamentals of cooking.

Podcasts

Culinary Agents
Jun 23, 2026
Hospitality On The Rise Podcast
EP 67: Erik Battes

Experience

2025 - Present
Executive Vice President of Food & Beverage
STARR RestaurantsPhiladelphia, PA
2024 - 2025
VP of Culinary Innovation & Concept Development
STARR RestaurantsPhiladelphia, PA
2023 - 2024
Advisor
2023 - 2024
Head of Culinary Innovation & Concept Development
STARR RestaurantsPhiladelphia, PA
2020 - 2023
President & Board Director
RealEatsNew York, NY
2019 - 2020
Vice President Operations
2017 - 2020
COO, Co-CEO
Good UncleNew York, NY
2016 - 2017
Culinary Director of Development
STARR RestaurantsPhiladelphia, PA
2014 - 2016
Corporate Chef
STARR RestaurantsPhiladelphia, PA
2013 - 2014
Executive Chef
MorimotoPhiladelphia, PA
2012 - 2013
Chef de Cuisine
2009 - 2012
Corporate Chef
BLT Restaurant GroupNYC, LA, Chicago, Hawaii
2005 - 2009
Sous Chef, Chef de Cuisine
Perry StNew York, NY
2004 - 2005
Chef de Partie
2003 - 2004
Extern

Education

2004
Associates in Culinary Arts

Advice from Erik Battes

Quotes about career path, skills, and teamwork from an industry leader.
You are not your job.
People who care the most and do the most are often the ones who are celebrated, but you should be careful to not tie your identity too closely to your work, for fear of collapse at a certain point. Creating separation actually makes you better at your job.
As leaders, we are going to have to build the next generation of leaders and creatives if we're going to keep this industry alive and un-commoditized and special.
We need to go back to teaching certain things and move away from the dilution and inspire cooks to want to be great cooks.
Balance is a choice.
If you choose to have relationships and a family and things like that, you have to be able to support that with sufficient attention and time as well
I've always had a connection to creative things and creative people.
My parents were both artists growing up. I randomly wandered into cooking because I didn't really see a stable career path to become a drummer, which is what shaped the first 17 years of my life. I thought that becoming a chef was a good balance between creativity and business, two things that I was interested in and that actually turned out to be pretty true.
There's a lot of great places to learn.
I wanted to work in a restaurant that had somebody at the helm that would really invest and teach but was a place that you really could learn how to cook.

Roles in Office & Admin

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Regional Manager

Los Angeles, CA
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Regional Director of Operations

Private Listing
Beverly Hills, CA
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Human Resource Generalist

Los Angeles, CA
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Director of Operations

Los Angeles, CA
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Marketing & Brand Manager

Los Angeles, CA
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Business Manager

Los Angeles, CA
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