Felipe Riccio, a native of Mexico, grew up in coastal Veracruz and moved to Houston as a teenager. He comes from a long line of immigrants—his mother is of Spanish heritage, and his father is from Naples, Italy. Felipe began working in the culinary scene in high school and began his career with Frederic Perrier at Aura. He spent nearly four years at REEF and worked his way to executive sous chef. Later, after being on the opening team at The Pass & Provisions, he opened Camerata wine bar. While at Camerata, Felipe achieved his Sommelier Certification under The Court of Master Sommeliers, was named an Eater Young Gun in 2014, produced dinners around the city with MangiaMaccheroni and married fellow Camerata sommelier Hayley Riccio.
In 2016, Felipe and Hayley moved to Milan, Italy, where he staged at Carlo e Camilla and Erba Brusca. He then moved to Modena for a three month stage at Osteria Francescana under Massimo Bottura. Later, Felipe moved to Basque Country to travel and stage at Azurmendi. He left Europe for a month-long stage in New York under Dan Barber at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in August 2017. Upon returning to Italy, Felipe went to the Dolomites to stage at 1-Michelin starred AGA. Before returning to Houston to join Goodnight Hospitality as Chef/Partner, he traveled throughout Italy and the Mediterranean exploring his roots and discovering the bounty of the region.
Felipe runs the food programs at Goodnight Hospitality’s concepts: casual European restaurant Rosie Cannonball, named one of Vogue’s most anticipated restaurants of the year; Montrose Cheese & Wine retail shop; and fine dining restaurant MARCH in 2021. Felipe was a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Texas in 2022.
Born in the Philippines and raised in Texas, June joined Houston-based Goodnight Hospitality as a partner in 2019 and opened two new concepts the same year: Montrose Cheese & Wine and Rosie Cannonball, a 2020 James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Wine Program. Goodnight Hospitality opened their fine dining concept, MARCH, in spring 2021.
Previously, June was VP of Operations for McGuire Moorman Hospitality, based in Austin, TX, and headed operations for 11 concepts. She remains a partner in June’s All Day, her namesake restaurant that was named one of Food & Wine magazine's Restaurants of the Year in 2017.
She is known as a leader in the beverage community and her accolades include: Wine Enthusiast’s Sommelier of the Year 2018; Wine Enthusiast 40 Under 40 2016; Key Panelist at Women in Wine Leadership Symposium and numerous Food & Wine festivals across the nation; Food & Wine magazine's Sommelier of the Year 2014 (she is the only person to have received the Restaurant of the Year & Sommelier of the Year accolade in Food & Wine history), Star Chef's Rising Star Sommelier 2012, Wine & Spirits Best New Sommelier 2011, TEXSOM Best Sommelier Winner 2009 and is one of 29 women in the Americas to earn the Master Sommelier credential.
An avid sparkling wine drinker, in 2017 she launched her private label wine, June's Brut Rosé, with Austrian winemaker Markus Huber.
Outside of her passion for restaurant operations and championing diversity and inclusion in the hospitality industry, June loves doing crossword puzzles with her husband, obsessing over her dog, admiring art she can't afford, avoiding regular exercise, and laughing really heartily with her friends.
Houston native and Advanced Sommelier Mark Sayre returned home from Austin in November 2019 to join Goodnight Hospitality as general manager and beverage director of MARCH.
Mark has been fascinated with wine since he took his first restaurant job—at Lomontes Italian Restaurant and Bar in Katy—right out of high school. He left Houston to take a job as a server at Westwood Country Club in Austin. He had the latitude to build a dialed-in wine and spirits program for the club from the ground up. During his seven years at Westwood, he passed his first two Court of Master Sommeliers exams.
When a server position opened up at the Four Seasons, Mark accepted the job and continued to study wine. When the Four Seasons hosted the TexSom Conference in 2006, Mark competed in Texas’ Best Sommelier Competition. He won the competition in 2007—his second year to compete—and was immediately promoted to sommelier at the Four Seasons and became an integral member of the training team at the hotel. In 2010, he was named a Best New Sommelier by Wine & Spirits magazine.
After eight years, Mark was recruited by Master Sommelier Craig Collins to Elm Restaurant Group. June Rodil, three years later, recruited him to Maguire Moorman Hospitality, where he ran service and operations. When she left to join Goodnight Hospitality, he also managed the wine direction for MMH and led their team of sommeliers.
At MARCH, Mark leads a small team server/sommeliers to serve the 28-seat restaurant. Although MARCH is his focus, he’s involved in all concepts, supporting partner June Rodil in wine, service and operations. Mark is currently pursuing his Master Sommelier certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers.
Amber Burling, a Houston native who forged her culinary career in the jungles of Tulum, is Goodnight Hospitality’s culinary director.
She began her hospitality career working in hotels in Houston and New York City before graduating from both the French Culinary Institute in New York and Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. In 2015, she moved to Tulum, Mexico to work as a line cook at Hartwood, a live fire, open air restaurant that’s completely off the grid—zero carbon footprint, hyper-local sourcing, and open fire cooking. She was promoted to sous chef in 2016 and head chef in 2018. She returned home to Houston in 2021 to join Goodnight Hospitality as culinary director. In this role, she supports chef/partner Felipe Riccio through recipe development, kitchen management, and supporting the culinary teams at both MARCH and Rosie Cannonball.
When she’s not working, Amber enjoys traveling—she’s visited 33 countries on six continents—and spending time with her three-year-old daughter.
Formally trained as a savory cook, Shawn began his career in Chicago at Tru under celebrated Chef Rick Tramonto. In 2004, Shawn moved to Philadelphia to be a sous chef at Lacroix at the Rittenhouse, Esquire’s Best Restaurant of the Year in 2003.
At the Rittenhouse, Shawn worked with the world-renowned Chef Jean-Marie Lacroix, who would become one of his greatest mentors and pique his initial interest in pastry. After leaving Philadelphia, he worked closely with Chef Laurent Gras to open Bistro du Vent in New York and then served on the opening team at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in New York, which went on to earn three stars from The New York Times.
In 2007, Chef Laurent Gras invited him to join the opening team at L2O, and to serve as his sous chef thereafter. Knowing of Shawn's strong desire to learn pastry, Chef Gras allowed him to spearhead the dessert program at his cutting-edge restaurant, which later would also garner three Michelin stars in the first year Michelin was released in Chicago.
In 2009 Chef Grégory Pugin tapped Shawn as executive pastry chef at the critically acclaimed Veritas in New York City. Shawn joined the team at Corton in September 2010 and enjoyed collaborating with Chef Liebrandt on a singular vision for Corton's cuisine. He joined Saison in 2012 as the pastry chef and was a member of the team instrumental in helping it earn three Michelin stars.
He spent two and a half years as executive pastry chef of Quince & Cotogna restaurants in San Francisco before moving to Texas.
Chef Gawle was named a 2011 New York Rising Star by StarChefs and named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Pastry Chefs of 2012.
Wine director Gillie Dougherty graduated magna cum laude with a BA in English from Northeastern University in August 2012 and pursued a career in marketing and public relations for the hospitality industry. She quickly realized she’d rather be working in restaurants rather than promoting them, so she enrolled in The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and earned a post-graduate certification Wine and Beverage. She then spent two years as a sommelier at Frasca Hospitality in Denver working with master sommelier Bobby Stuckey and three years as a sommelier at PRESS in Napa Valley. She moved to Houston in 2021 to join MARCH as part of the opening sommelier team and was promoted to wine director in 2022.
Originally from Michigan, Chad Matson relocated to Texas in 2006 and worked as a server in a number of local restaurants before discovering his love for bartending in 2010. After taking an almost 5 year hiatus from the restaurant industry in 2012 to work in oil and gas, Chad set his sights back on bartending with the specific goal of working for Bobby Heugel.
Chad realized his goal after some persistence and landed his dream job at Better Luck Tomorrow, where he stayed for 4 years, eventually becoming head bartender. During his tenure at BLT, the bar received accolades from CultureMap, Eater, GQ, Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, and more while Chad honed his personal bartending style–in his words “fun, easy drinking, and delicious.” Chad also spent a short time working at Tongue Cut Sparrow, BLT’s sister bar.
Chad came to work at MARCH in 2021 during the Andalusia & Murcia season. In 2022, Chad was nominated for CultureMap Tastemaker bartender of the year. The Islands is Chad’s first season as bar manager, and he’s made his debut with a well-balanced menu featuring punchy, bright, and flavorful cocktails. As bar manager, Chad strives to cultivate a collaborative environment with plenty of opportunities for growth. His dedication to providing guests with warm, welcoming, and comforting service is a testament to his passion for all aspects of bartending.
When he’s not workshopping cocktail ideas with his team, Chad loves spending time with his wife Mal and their two dogs, working on his film photography, and indoor rock climbing.