The Perfect Match

With 20 years’ experience in bars and restaurants, Ari Sanders began her craft beer career at Mystery Brewing Company in Hillsborough, NC, and is currently Director of Tavern Operations at Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, NC. From dive bars to recipe development and training for corporate behemoths, Ms. Sanders considers herself a hands-on manager and people-first leader. She was also the 2018 Recipient of the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild Diversity and Inclusion Award. Ms. Sanders’ interests include reading, trying new foods, taking plants home to die, and petting all the dogs.

Douglass Miller has over 30 years of industry experience in restaurants, hotels, resorts, and education. He has worked around the country, including Las Vegas; San Francisco; New York City; Hawaii; Santa Barbara; Philadelphia; and Washington, D.C.; for organizations such as Four Seasons Resorts and Hotels, Wyndham Hotel, Marriott, and several independent companies. Mr. Miller is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA); SUNY Empire State College; and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he holds a Master’s of Hospitality Administration. Currently, he is a lecturer in food and beverage management at the Nolan School of Hotel Administration, SC Johnson College of Business. Before Cornell University, Mr. Miller was a Professor of Hospitality and Service Management at the CIA.

Mr. Miller is a Certified Specialist of Spirits (CSS), Society of Wine Educators; and Certified Beer Server, Cicerone; and he has taken the Introductory Sommelier Course, Court of Master Sommeliers. He has spoken at several conferences, including Tales of the Cocktail, Craft Brewers Conference, Great American Beer Festival, and Menus of Change. Mr. Miller has also been interviewed by the Associated Press, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, and Nation’s Restaurant News, and he has had cocktails published in Liquor.com, USA Today Magazine, and AOL. He was a content provider and consultant on the CIA’s book, “Remarkable Service: A Guide to Winning and Keeping Customers for Servers, Managers, and Restaurant Owners.”

Michael Wille is an Associate Professor at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Greystone, in St. Helena, California. For over a decade, he has taught students how to cook, design menus, create dishes, and pair foods in college restaurants at CIA Singapore; Cabrillo Community College in Aptos, CA; and the Professional Culinary Institute in Campbell, CA. Chef Wille has been cooking as a professional and consuming beer as an enthusiast since his graduation from the CIA, Hyde Park, in 1989. Although he does not craft his own liquid bread, he ferments plenty of foods and makes a refreshing ice-cold beer stock which tastes best after a productive day in the kitchen.