I want feedback and advice, and with John I feel like I'm working with a partner that helps me to find the best solution to my problems. He gives his personal attention to the needs of the client. He has superior knowledge of the industry, listens well and always responds in a positive manner.

—Joseph Trungale
President/CEO
Perkins Restaurants

Ron is knowledgeable, very professional, and truly understanding of our needs. He is persistent but not pushy and provides great access to qualified candidates. We could not have been happier with the process or results!

—Paul Motenko
CEO
BJ's Restaurants, Inc.

National Restaurant Search has always met and exceeded our expectations in locating the appropriate professionals for us. I have used their services for over 10 years and they do an excellent job in carrying out difficult assignments. They only send qualified candidates that meet the job criteria, and do an outstanding job following up on every aspect of the search assignments. We will continue to use NRS, and we recommend them to any retail business.

—Ralph Guarino
Executive VP & CFO
CarSpa

Our Executives

John Chitvanni
Founder/Chairman
Focuses on strategic planning, marketing initiatives and executive research and analysis.
> contact John

John Chitvanni founded National Restaurant Search in 1981, after three years of successful restaurant search activities with other national firms. Prior to his entry into the executive search industry, he spent 13 years in restaurant operations in positions of increasing responsibility. His background includes both fast food and full service; his last position in operations had multi-unit responsibility with a national fast food company.

A native of Boston, John attended Boston State College. He has served as a guest speaker at industry conventions, written articles for various industry publications, and was a contributing author for the book Dining in Corporate America.

Ron Stockman
President/CEO
Focuses on C-Level, CEO, President, COO, Sr. VP's and VP's.
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Ron Stockman, President and CEO joined National Restaurant Search in 1997 following a 20 year successful career in the restaurant industry. Most recently, Ron was President/CEO of a franchise company and prior to that served as President/COO of a casual theme chain, VP Operations of a national casual theme brand and Division Manager of a major hotel chain.

Ron graduated from State University of New York with a degree in Hotel/Restaurant management.

Steve Samata
Vice President
Focuses on Sr. VP's, VP's, Sr. Directors, Directors and Sr. Culinary Executives.
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Steve Samata, Vice President, joined National Restaurant Search in 2004 following a successful 25 year career in restaurant and hotel operations. He has an extensive culinary background and was also an operating partner for a 6 unit casual Italian chain in Chicago.

Steve is an entrepreneur who is passionate about the hospitality industry. Steve grew up in the restaurant industry with 5 family owned theme restaurants after attending Southern Illinois University. His second passion is deep-sea fishing in the Florida keys.

Jim Ameluxen
Account Executive
Focuses on Sr. Directors, Directors, Division and Regional Managers and Sales and Marketing Executives.
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Jim joined National Restaurant Search in 2007 after a 32 year career in the restaurant industry. After spending his initial years in corporate operations positions, he transitioned to his first interest, marketing. There, he held director level positions in the QSR and casual theme segments of the business.

Jim has also owned and operated two of his own restaurants, giving him an appreciation for the day to day demands of the business.

Graduating from the University of Minnesota with a B.S. in Marketing, he enjoys living in the Upper Midwest and spends much of his recreational time in Northern Minnesota where he and his family have a lake cabin.