Meet the Team
ROBERT MARTINEZ
PRESIDENT
As President of USBG SoCal and a 14 year veteran of the Hospitality Industry Robert believes it is his mission in life to educate, uplift, protect, and lead the hospitality community. An LA Native, Robert loves to celebrate Los Angeles’ diversity through its food and drinking culture. He believes bars and restaurants use food and drinks as a vehicle to create connections with people and build communities. He’s created these connections while bartending at neighborhood bars like Cole’s French Dip, and as Beverage Director for acclaimed Michelin Star Chef, Curtis Stone, at Gwen.
A University of California Davis graduate with a degree in Political Science, he married his love of public service and hospitality by becoming involved in local government. He is the current President of the United States Bartenders’ Guild for Los Angeles, Serves on the US Bartenders’ Guild National Council of Chapters, and is seeking re-election to the DTLA Neighborhood Council.
He stands up for people who have historically been discriminated against and is a voice for the working class community. This includes events and initiatives to raise money or advocate for the following: The LGBTQ community, emergency grants for bartenders, women in leadership, addiction resources, homeless resources, a sustainable future, safety in the historic core, cleaner streets, labor rights, S.A. & S.H. protections, D.E.I., Health/Wellness/Physical fitness, free standardized education for hospitality professionals, coalition building across hospitality facing organizations, and clear/transparent paths to promotion in the hospitality community.
Its a lot to take on, but Robert strives to create the kind of Hospitality Community he would have liked to experience when he was first a barback and tries to create that for the barbacks joining us today.
ELIOTT MONTERO
VICE PRESIDENT
With over 12 years experience in hospitality and 6 years as a Brand Ambassador; Eliott’s journey as a Spirits Industry Professional came from the opportunities and connections made by being an active member of the Southern California USBG. Now as Vice President and Board Member of the Chapter, Eliott strives to work and give back to the community that gave so much to him.
CARISSA KAUFMAN
TREASURER
As a Los Angeles native with over fifteen years of hospitality experience, Carissa has established and embedded herself within the community. After many years of serving tables, she eventually found herself behind the bar, before making the career change to Brand Ambassador for Tequila Patrón! When the pandemic hit, Carissa volunteered at the USBG’s Project Cornerstore and grew even closer to her community. This amazing program led her to eventually join the board and now is the standing Treasurer.
CLAIRE MALLETT
SECRETARY
Claire Mallett has been in the industry long enough to be considered an OG. Landing in LA from the UK at some point in the 90s. Modeling contract in hand she spent her evenings as the List Bitch at the Viper Room, as the Naughties began she dealt with Red Ropes and Celebutantes as part owner of a Nightclub, called Vynyl, in Hollywood. After taking a break from the biz, for a while, she worked at Three Clubs Cocktail Lounge for a few years, perfecting her Martini skills. She left in 2016 to open Catch One Nightclub. In 2017 she she added Brand Ambassador to her repertoire, working with Q Mixers and Pomp & Whimsy. She is currently working with Dirty Sue Premium Olives and OM Chocolate Liqueur. She is the Venue Liaison and Art Curator for Art Beyond The Glass, LA’s largest, yearly industry event. She’s excited to join the team at USBG SoCal and work with this group of amazing people.
BC HOFFMAN
BOARD MEMBER
BC Hoffman has been working in the hospitality industry since he was a kid. From kitchens to bars, he has worked every position in a restaurant. He has won a couple competitions, been on a few shows, created a few menus and run programs and operations all over the world. He has for the last 10 years had the luxury of calling LA his home and has worked in and run multiple venues in LA. Currently he runs his own catering and consulting company, as well as being the lead recipe developer for Proof Media Mix for the last 4 years. His hopes to help create a more positive hospitality community have had him volunteering and working with Restaurant Opportunities Center, National Restaurants Association, American Culinary Federation, and USBG both as a member and Chairman for the last 4 years.
ASH MIYASAKI
BOARD MEMBER
Ash Miyasaki was born in Los Angeles, raised in Sacramento and has been back in LA since 2007. She currently bartends at The Let's Go Disco & Cocktail Club. Her career in hospitality, though she didn't know it would become a career at the time, began over twenty years ago. From dish, to busser, to host, door gal, server, cater waiter, barback and on, she has done a little of it all along the way. Needless to say, her back often hurts, but she still loves working in service so she keeps showing up. Over the last ten years, her experience has grown to include bar management, beverage programming, consulting, spirits judging & a lot of drink-slinging throughout East LA, Chinatown, the LA Arts District and Hollywood.
Ash has a great love for the LA bar scene and the truly wonderful community that comes with it. She became a member of the USBG & part of the board in the hopes of finding ways to further strengthen and celebrate the connections, creativity and craft within her chapter. Volunteering with the USBG SoCal's "Project Cornerstore", which provided out-of-work hospitality workers with food and essentials during the height of the Covid shutdown, solidified her belief in the importance of the Guild's efforts. It is her goal to support initiatives that positively impact the talents and hearts behind the hospitality.
CEDD MOSES
BOARD MEMBER
Cedd Moses is the Chief Vision Officer and Founder of Pouring with Heart, a hospitality company that operates 25 bars, historic restaurants, and beer halls in Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, and Denver. Moses and his company have garnered national recognition for their part in the revitalization of Downtown LA, circa 2002. Moses and ‘Pouring with Heart' (formerly 213 Hospitality) are pursuing the auspicious goal of building 2030 careers in the bar business by 2030. Moses’s successful book “Pouring With Heart, the essential magic behind the bartenders we love” was published in 2021. All the profits of this book go directly to “For Each Other Fund”, a charity which supports hundreds of their bar staff to help see them through problems affecting them and/or their families. Cedd Moses was raised in Los Angeles, the son of famous Abstract Expressionist painter Ed Moses, and was raised in Venice’s renowned art scene. Moses is on the Board of the Los Angeles Chapter of the US Bartenders Guild, the Museum of the American Cocktail, the National Food and Beverage Foundation and the Los Angeles Tourism Board.
JOSHUA LUCAS
BOARD MEMBER
Born in Kentucky, Cultivated in Tennessee...
Came of age in New York...
Now a local luminary of Los Angeles.
Theatre major at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, yet moved to New York, to work and learn in the ways of French/American culinary arts. Joshua, in 2005 moved to Los Angeles, and worked in Michelin starred restaurants of Ortolan, and Spago. During the Great Recession, Joshua, transitioned into the world of craft cocktails. Working in cocktail programs of Audrey Saunders, Alex Day, and Dave Kaplan.
Member of the Academy of Magical Arts at the Magic Castle, teacher of rock climbing, and previously, the US ambassador for Pernod Absinthe and Ricard Pastis. Joshua, is now an ambassador of Woodford Reserve: proudly and fortuitously so! (Because Woodford Reserve is from Kentucky, and as I was born in Kentucky, it’s Fortuitous. Fortuitous means to happen by chance not by design. Some people think fortuitous means it was planned, but those people are wrong. Those people probably use that joke about “gullible” not being in the dictionary… which it isn’t.)
