Elevating Hospitality Through Experience: Monique Hayward & Brian Driscoll on Building Connection Beyond the Plate

Monique, you co-founded DRISCOLL Cuisine & Cocktail Concepts with Brian Driscoll to create highly personalized, chef-driven culinary and cocktail experiences. What originally inspired you to build a brand centered around that level of hospitality and connection?
At its core, DRISCOLL was inspired by a belief that hospitality is about how you make people feel, not just what you serve them.

Brian’s journey through the kitchen—from dishwashing to cooking to bartending—shaped his deep respect for craft and service. My background as an entrepreneur, including building and running a restaurant, reinforced the idea that the most memorable experiences aren’t transactional, but personal.

When we came together, we realized we shared the same philosophy: create experiences that feel thoughtfully designed, highly personalized, and seamlessly executed. That became the foundation of DRISCOLL and our brand promise: creatively conceived, exclusively tailored, and professionally executed.

We weren’t trying to build a traditional personal chef service. We wanted to create something that felt more like a curated experience, where every detail matters and every guest feels seen.

Over time, your work expanded into launching The Concept, a hospitality-focused retreat in Phoenix. How did your early experiences shape the vision for creating a space centered on food, cocktails, and memorable gatherings?
The Concept was a natural extension of the work we were already doing in people’s homes. We saw demand in the market for an upscale property that filled a niche to deliver culinary experiences for foodies and travel enthusiasts.

Over time, we found that while we could create beautiful experiences for our clients, we were always adapting to someone else’s environment. We started to imagine what it would look like to design a space from the ground up, one that was intentionally built for the kind of hospitality we believe in.

That vision became The Concept: a chef-driven, hospitality-forward retreat in Phoenix’s Moon Valley neighborhood. It’s not just a place to stay. It’s also a place to gather, connect, and experience food and cocktails in a more immersive way.

Every element of the space is designed to support that feeling, whether it’s an intimate dinner, a cocktail class, or a small private event. It allows us to fully express our approach to hospitality in a way that’s consistent, thoughtful, and elevated.

You’ve recently introduced DRISCOLL Dry, a line of premium zero-proof cocktails. What inspired you to move into the non-alcoholic space, and how are you approaching innovation in that growing category?
We haven’t launched it yet. We are partnering with Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center in Portland to develop DRISCOLL Dry, and we’re anticipating our first products will come to market later this year.

The idea for DRISCOLL Dry came directly from what we were hearing from our guests. People are increasingly rethinking their relationship with alcohol, but they’re not willing to compromise on the experience. I had lunch recently with a couple in their late 50s/early 60s, and we talked about how they’re drinking less as they get older. However, when they’re out for dinner or entertaining at home, they still want something that feels sophisticated, balanced, and intentional—not overly sweet or an afterthought.

We saw a gap in the market for zero-proof cocktails that could truly stand on their own, while also offering flexibility for those who want to add spirits. That’s where our “dual-purpose” concept came from.

Our approach to innovation is grounded in our culinary background. We think about flavor the same way a chef would—layering ingredients, balancing textures, and creating depth. At the same time, we’re open to using new tools and ideas, including AI, to accelerate the creative process and push beyond the obvious.

But ultimately, every product has to pass the same test: would we proudly serve this to our guests?

Another exciting development is Tableside, which incorporates AI to help restaurants improve training and consistency. What challenges in the hospitality industry led you to explore this kind of solution?
DRISCOLL Tableside came from a very real and persistent challenge we’ve seen across the industry. Through our own work and conversations with restaurant owners, we kept hearing the same things: high turnover, limited time for training, and the pressure to deliver consistent guest experiences with lean teams.

Great hospitality requires more than just knowing the menu. It requires confidence, emotional intelligence, and the ability to respond in the moment. That’s hard to teach, especially when teams are constantly changing.

We began exploring how AI could support—not replace—hospitality professionals by helping them build those skills more quickly and consistently. Tableside is our way of thinking about how to bring real-time, practical support to the front lines of service.

It’s still early, but the goal is simple: help teams feel more prepared, more confident, and better equipped to deliver great experiences. Right now, we’re focused on finding a few owners or managers to work with us to pilot Tableside in their restaurants so we can get direct feedback to improve the product before we launch it broadly.

Across all of your ventures, you emphasize that great hospitality is about creativity, connection, and care. How do you ensure that philosophy remains at the core as your business continues to evolve into new areas?
For us, everything comes back to the same question: Does this enhance the guest experience?

Whether we’re designing a dinner, developing a beverage, or exploring new technology, we anchor every decision in our core philosophy—creativity, connection, and care.

That also means being intentional about what we don’t do. We’re not interested in scaling for the sake of scaling or adding complexity that takes away from the experience.

As we grow into new areas like DRISCOLL Dry and Tableside, we see them as extensions of the same idea: elevating hospitality. The format may change, but the intention stays the same.

If we can continue to create moments that feel thoughtful, personal, and memorable, then we know we’re on the right path.