For foodservice design to be successful in the future it must align around behavioral shifts, not trends, that continue to reshape the industry. Designs must consider everything from health and wellness attributes to authenticity to consumers’ desire for culinary exploration. In doing so, both foodservice branding and design must respond together, presenting a consistent and unified message to customers – one that promotes authenticity and more.

Stefanie Hajer, LEED Green Associate, Hospitality Branding Design Leader | Senior Associate, DLR Group

Stefanie Hajer is a Hospitality Branding Design Leader at DLR Group with nearly 30 years of experience shaping hospitality brands as experiences inseparable from the built environment. Her work converges brand and design: storytelling, naming, tone of voice, and visual identity, carried through physical and emotional guest touchpoints, from signage and wayfinding to branded collateral and curated experiential moments. A creator, curator, and storyteller, Stefanie describes herself as the ribbon that threads through the design process, aligning brand, space, and experience with purpose. For her, a project cannot succeed on aesthetics alone – it must have a soul.

Sara Talleux, Hospitality Interior Design Leader | Principal, DLR Group

Sara Talleux is a Principal and Hospitality Interior Design Leader at DLR Group, leading a design team in Chicago with more than 25 years of experience designing luxury and boutique hotels across the country, recognized with two Boutique Design 18 awards among her accolades. From urban city centers to beachfront retreats, she grounds every project in the history and character of its place, guiding designers and teams as concepts take shape into spaces that are welcoming, purposeful, and inspiring. Her work goes beyond aesthetics, reflecting the true spirit of the people and places for which she designs.