Team
RODNEY K. COUCH
Founder & Chief executive officer
Rodney Couch is founder & CEO of Preferred Hospitality, Inc., the managing entity for Market Broiler Restaurants and Provider Contract Foodservice.
A native resident of Riverside, California, Rodney was born, raised and schooled in Southern California. He is a graduate of Biola University’s BOLD program. His B.S. in Organizational Leadership brings added knowledge and strength to all his endeavors.
His restaurant career began at the age of 15, as a dishwasher for C&C Corporation. He worked continuously in numerous positions for various restaurant concepts.
At the ripe age of 19 he landed a job with the Seafood Broiler Restaurants, where after a period of management training, Rodney was appointed General Manager of their City of Industry location. Shortly thereafter, Rodney was awarded as one of the top sales performers of the chain, and was promoted to “opening” General Manager. With his new title, he took on the role of training, mentoring, and developing of all new managers & locations for the Seafood Broiler concept into the new markets of San Diego and Northern California.
In 1988, the 28-unit Seafood Broiler chain was sold to Red Lobster (of Darden Industries) by the French company, ACCOR.
Red Lobster offered Rodney a position in management, but he declined, determined instead to build his own business. He chose to partner with an entrepreneur, Joseph Pitruzzello, in a local Italian restaurant in Riverside. Rodney was able to add to his restaurant knowledge, by experiencing life through the eyes of an independent owner.
Soon he was becoming restless — his real dream was to own & operate his own business. He drafted a business plan and with the support of his family and a collection of former key executives from Seafood Broiler, Rodney was able to compile both the financial contributions and advisory capabilities to launch the new Market Broiler Restaurant.
Mr. Couch opened his first Market Broiler Restaurant in 1989, a seafood restaurant that has earned the crown of “Best for Seafood” continuous since 1994. The chain has enjoyed great success and continues to thrive, operating six restaurants throughout California.
The contract foodservice division ”Provider” was started in 2002 and aim’s to be the foodservice company of choice in the Inland Empire. Bringing to the table new ideas, fresh site designs and truly appetizing menu offerings, was an innovation to an industry that has been often burdened with the notion of being “institutional” in nature. As you will see, their foodservice client will attest to the fact that Provider shatters the myth that contract food has to be boring.
With decades of success to his credit, Rodney Couch would like to accelerate the growth of both his concepts, vowing to never compromise superior quality and polished service that has become the foundational cornerstones of the Market Broiler concepts today.
ARRON PERCOCO
President
Arron Percoco has risen through the ranks of President and has successfully held positions at our Orange and Huntington Beach locations: as a food server, supervisor, M2, M1, and General Manager. He has assisted in opening new restaurants for both the Market Broiler and Provider concepts. Additionally, he spent one year in the corporate office as Director of Strategic Planning & Development.
During his tenure with the company, Arron also graduated from California State University at Fullerton receiving a Bachelors Degree in Finance. He has also completed the masters program at Chapman University where he earned his MBA in Organizational Leadership.
Arron’s extensive experience in Operations has been noted, with an excellent record of exceeding his store’s financial goals, turning around a struggling store’s profitability, as well as being an intuitive problem solver, a strategic thinker, with a contagious positive attitude. Arron is known for his ability to be a team player and overcome problems during challenging times.
Arron has been with PHI for since 2008.
RAJESH MEHTA
Chief Financial Officer
Rajesh Mehta directs the accounting, treasury, audit and all financial functions of the Company. He has held the position of Chief Financial Officer of the Company since 1991, after graduating from California State University, San Bernardino with a BSC degree in Business, majoring in Accounting. Rajesh is also a credited CPA in California.
Concurring with Market Boiler, Rajesh held the position of Staff Accountant at Backstrom, Gandhi, & Soni, Certified Public Accountants.
Born in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Rajesh is a naturalized American citizen, and is married with one child. As a shareholder of the Company, Rajesh is committed to growing our concepts through securing the proper financial means.
ROBIN HIGA
Corporate Executive Chef
A native of Hawaii, Robin trained at Kapiolani College of Culinary Arts. He started his career in the restaurant industry at the age of seventeen, and started “moving up the ladder” when he reached the Mainland.
He moved to California in 1988 where he continued to excel as a chef in some of Orange County’s finest restaurants. He spent four years with the top-rated Chanteclair Restaurant, followed by a five-year stint with Jon Dominis in Newport Beach.
Robin is an experienced executive chef adept at creating and managing a wide range of retail food and beverage concepts from casual themed dining, catering operations and fine dining restaurants.
His responsibilities included strategic planning, product ideation, food and liquor menu development, creation of purchasing programs, and establishment of individualized Best Practice training programs. His off-site catering experiences reflect a blend of technical expertise and management skill sets.
Robin is the consummate chef who truly understands the balance of menu item development and the alignment and execution of delicious food, which is complimentary to our operations. He is also an everyday, hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeve team player who goes to great lengths to get the job done.
Robin was named, for the prestigious honor of “The Great Chefs of Orange County” award, for multiple years. And he has won numerous awards throughout the Inland Empire, presenting upscale seafood creations that celebrate his passion with food. Robin joined the Market Broiler Restaurant team in 1998 as Executive Chef, and was promoted in 2003, to Executive Corporate Chef.
Robin has been with PHI since 1999.
SERGIO MENDEZ
REGIONAL Manager
Sergio Mendez is currently overseeing the Market Broiler Restaurants in the capacity of Regional Manager. Sergio was one of the founding managers of Market Broiler Restaurants, promoted to his current position in 2000.
After arriving in America in 1985, Sergio was immediately hired by Seafood Broiler Restaurants. Sergio was trained in every position of operations, and over the course of his career became a Supervisor for the chain.
Sergio’s biggest challenge came with managing the new Market Broiler prototype, built in Orange. This was the first Market Broiler Restaurant to be located within a mall with higher customer traffic and more upscale decor package. The on-going increase in sales speaks volumes to Sergio’s success.
Sergio has been with PHI since 1989.
STEVE TORTI
regional Manager
Steve Torti joined PHI, working under the Market Broiler Restaurants concept in 2014, as the General Manager of our restaurant in Orange, California.
Steve started his restaurant career in 1989 at Claim Jumper, as a manager and was quickly promoted to the role of General Manager. He founded and ran his own company, Southstar Enterprises, in Pickens, South Carolina, a family style restaurant and catering company. He has also held management roles at concepts including Golden Coral, Flat Rock Grille, Sticky Fingers Rib House, and The Fresh Market. He specializes in technology with a deep understanding of POS systems, as well as the development of training programs focused on ensuring polished casual service standards.
In 2019, Steve was promoted to the role of Regional Manager, overseeing three locations including our Huntington Beach, Orange and Simi Valley restaurants.