About Us
Umami Concepts is a client-based culinary management firm specializing in the creation, execution and operation of restaurant concepts. With over 30 years combined experience in the Food & Beverage industry and nearly half of that time in Asia, the Umami Concepts team brings a unique set of skills to the investor or operator looking for hospitality solutions. Our experience ranges from fast-casual restaurants in the United States to Michelin-starred dining in Tokyo, offering our clients expertise at every level.
Umami Concepts is headed up by two award-winning chefs who understand that proper collaboration is the key to success in the restaurant game, especially in Asia. Our company is organized to allow for the myriad of skills needed when opening or operating a restaurant by utilizing a network of professionals we have grown to respect and trust over the years.
The Team
Nolan Ledarney
From the age of 17 in the Canadian Apprentice program to forming his first company, Umami Solutions in 2006, Nolan Ledarney’s culinary career has run the gamut. Nolan is an award-winning chef with roots in classical French style, having been featured in Foodservice and Hospitality Magazine as ‘one of Canada's most promising young chefs.’ His unsurpassed devotion and drive to find new combinations of flavor while maintaining a firm grasp on tradition has allowed him to thrive on the international stage. Nolan has had the honor to serve such guests as Her Imperial Highness, Princess Takamado of Japan, the Prime Minister of Canada and numerous dignitaries and heads-of-state from across the globe.
In 2001, Nolan was selected to be the first Canadian Chef de Cuisine at the Embassy of Canada in Beijing. For the following four years, he represented the Canadian Government as a Culinary Ambassador to East Asia. He then was named Chef de Cuisine at the Canadian Embassy in Japan in 2006. Nolan rounded out his Japan experience by landing some of the most coveted positions in the culinary world. Ledarney completed stints at Michelin starred restaurants in Tokyo, including the 3-starred L’osier.
In 2009 Nolan transformed Umami Solutions into Umami Concepts with chef and friend, Dan Segall. He moved from Tokyo to Shanghai and kicked off the business doing a project for one of the largest restaurant groups in China. Since then, Umami Concepts has secured contracts in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Nolan has a Masters Degree in Foodservice Management from the prestigious Cornell University.
Dan Segall
For the past 8 years, Dan Segall has been regarded as one of the most dynamic chefs in Asia, garnering spots on the Conde Nast Traveler’s coveted Hot List and twice ranking on San Pellegrino’s prestigious “50 Best Restaurants in the World.” He has been featured in countless publications as well as radio and television.
For almost twenty years Dan has worked in nearly every type of Food Service venue, from summer camps to rock concerts, 30-seat diners to 260-seat Japanese restaurants. His culinary adventures have taken him to nearly 20 countries on 5 continents.
Dan Segall has helped set the stage for some of the most respected restaurants in Asia. In 2006 he was tapped to open Rainer Becker’s London-based Zuma in Hong Kong. Then in 2008, Segall went back to China to open M1NT Shanghai, a modern day members club, which instantly topped the charts as one of Shanghai elite’s favorite eateries.
In 2009 Dan joined forces with Nolan Ledarney, a long-time friend and rising star chef as well. Together they transformed Nolan’s already successful Umami Solutions into Umami Concepts, providing concept development to new venues as well as hospitality solutions to existing ones. Their goal is to create original, scalable and profitable restaurant concepts and innovative hospitality solutions throughout Asia.
In 2010, Dan Segall was inducted into The Institute of Culinary Education’s ‘Alumni Hall of Achievement’ in New York City. He is one of just 77 alums in the school’s long 35-year history to be awarded this honor.
Nathan Hogan
Over the past 15 years, Nathan Hogan has experienced the hospitality industry from all angles. As part of the rapid expansion of Toronto’s fine dining scene, Nathan ‘made his bones’ at Millie’s Bistro, Rain and Zoom before moving on to the Crown Plaza Hotel Toronto. Here, Hogan honed his skills at the hotel’s Restaurant Accolade, consistently ranked one of Toronto’s top ten fine dining establishments. Nathan then rounded out his expertise on the country club circuit as Executive Sous Chef at the distinguished Brampton Golf & Country Club and the exclusive Magna Golf Club, where Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods and Gene Simons would all experience his creativity and passion.
In 2007, Hogan left his home in Canada having been selected to be Group Executive Chef for the pioneering Rhombus Hotel Group in Hong Kong. His personal interest in the cultures of Asia and experience in Chinese, Japanese and Thai cuisines matched with his solid command of a kitchen team prepared him to meet success after success as he opened Hotel LFK, Hotel Panorama and Hotel Bonaparte in the demanding market of Hong Kong.
In 2009, he joined the team of Umami Concepts, seeking a new way to utilize his skills in the industry. Always the ‘chef’s chef’, Nathan Hogan devotes his vast experience to the development of our clients’ cooks and chefs. His sincere passion for learning is aptly matched with an innate talent for training.
Services
CULINARY SERVICES
- Concept Creation & Development
- Menu Creation & Development
- Recipe Creation & Development
Whether you are a new investor looking to create a restaurant concept or a long-time Food & Beverage Operator looking for a makeover or something in between, Umami Concepts will bring that necessary set of expertise to help you realize your vision of your business.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
- Feasibility Studies & Business Plan
- Menu & Recipe Costing
- Menu Engineering
Even if your restaurant is packed every night, you may or may not be turning a profit. Creating a popular restaurant concept is difficult enough, but it also needs to make money. Umami concepts will create or revise your business model, rework recipes and costings and analyze your sales statistics so that you are sure to achieve your
financial goals.
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT
- Executive Placement and Support
- Culinary Staff Management
- Development & Production of Training Manuals
Good help is hard to find. Rather than taking the traditional role of a recruiter, sourcing a candidate and selling them to you, Umami Concepts’ chefs & mangers are part of a greater whole. Each one of our placements is an extension of the company, bringing to your business a wealth of experience and resources that you can rely upon. The members of our team have access to our professional network at anytime.
TECHINICAL PROCESSES
- Site Evaluation
- Kitchen Design
- Equipment Sourcing
- Recipe/Ordering Systems
- Project Mangement
There are no small jobs when it comes to profitability. The team of Umami Concepts has opened and redesigned kitchens and restaurants all over Asia, producing more popular and profitable operations. Be it maximizing dining space, internal kitchen workflow, computer systems or putting all of these elements together, we will provide that eye for detail that only comes with years of experience.
Contact Us
Umami Concepts is a forward thinking organization that values the close relationships we build with our clients and within the industry. Do you have a question, comment or enquiry for Umami Concepts? We would love to here from you. Please fill out the form on this page and we will endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible.
