CHRISTINE HAYES

Owner / General Manager

I grew up turning my nose up to almost all foods.  I was a vanilla girl, who hated my canned vegetables and found red meat to be  repulsive.  My mother was a working woman who always provided a warm meal for her family, just not a very flavorful one. 

Then, when I was 17, I got a job at the Portland Green Grocer and my view of food changed forever.  I was exposed to some of the most beautiful produce I had ever seen.  I discovered cilantro, mangoes and avocados.  I learned about local farmers and was introduced to local cheeses.  Cooking became a new adventure, one that my mother and I took together, and one that I will never forget.

In college I found that my cookbooks were always open while my textbooks quietly collected dust.  Cooking for my roommates and friends became my classroom.  I found so much satisfaction in making them happy with my food that I decided to enroll in the Culinary Arts Department at SMCC. Catering for places like Barbara’s kitchen gave me my first insight into the exciting and sometimes chaotic beauty of serving food at weddings, anniversaries and dinner parties.  Then I got the experience of working in kitchens like Natasha’s where I worked myself up to the position of Sous Chef. I’ve also had the amazing joy of working for Five Fifty-Five and Standard Baking Company. Dandelion is my ultimate adventure…. 

CHRISTIAN HAYES

Executive Chef / Owner

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I ride motorcycles and used to play rock and roll in a band. I started cooking at a very young age and never stopped, hitting the foodservice scene in my teens.

My great grandmother used to fry dough for me and put her homemade strawberry rhubarb jam on it. That was 35 years ago and I can still smell and taste it like it was yesterday. I can only hope that some day I can have that effect on someone. That's the real stuff and stands the test of time, the fleeting trends, and any pretentious dish ever made.

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AMY MAKOWIECKI

Operations Manager + Spreadsheet Ninja

Amy does a little bit of everything, all performed with impeccable organization. She is the heartbeat on the administrative side, and she joined us right as we were getting too big to handle everything on our own. She has developed our offices into a cohesive, efficient unit amongst the chaos of the industry, and she has done it better than we ever could have.

Amy's background was primarily in the music industry when she joined our company, having been Tour Manager for Fun and Production Assistant for My Morning Jacket, as well as spending years with Maine based company Reverb.

Besides her supreme organization and stellar itinerary production and planning, Amy also enjoys interior design, art and photography, constantly adding to the assets she brings to the table. Her relentless drive to constantly improve the back end of Dandelion's logistics, daily operations and client relationships has truly elevated Dandelion beyond expectation and her personal investment has been both humbling and inspiring. 

KAITLYNN GATCHELL

Chef

Kaitlynn came to Dandelion with an appetite for the catering industry. After trading anthropology for an apron, she cut her teeth in both large scale restaurant settings and smaller scale fine dining, allowing her skills and appreciation for commercial kitchens to blossom. She assimilated quickly into the Dandelion family based on her equal amounts of love for Beyonce and Fleetwood Mac, affinity for seltzer water, but most importantly her sincere and genuine belief that food is a vehicle for communication and communion.

KELLY DONOHOE

Kitchen Manager

Kelly started at Dandelion filling in shifts, and before we knew it, we knew we had someone special on our team. She brings a cool head under pressure, and a work ethic and willingness to take challenges head on that rivals most in the industry. When she isn't managing the kitchen while simultaneously operating as DJ DONNY, cranking the hottest kitchen jamz, she creates incredibly beautiful pottery. Kelly's ability to bring a big smile, calm demeanor and iron clad work ethic all together into one package makes us incredibly happy she chose us as her team.

MEAGHAN RUANE
Sous Chef / Head of Baking & Pastry

Meaghan's culinary background is exceptionally diverse, enabling her to have worked in several important capacities at Dandelion, finally settling in to the Sous Chef position in 2018. Her incredibly strong work ethic isn't just evident in her job, but also outside while she conquers mountains on foot during her days off. A graduate of Johnson & Wales and fluent in both sweet and savory, Meaghan's dedication to expanding her culinary knowledge and investing her talents in Dandelion make us feel incredibly special that she chose us! She also has two cats. 

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EMMA HAMILTON

Event Logistics Manager

Emma handles the logistics and management of planning and executing our events. It takes a special breed of person to take on such a task, considering the many variables involved, but Emma has done so from the start, with a smile on her face. She is a seasoned restaurant veteran, having started working in the industry at the age of 15. She is an avid runner, and has been known to complete a half marathon if you dare her to. 

She holds a deep appreciation for white wine, but during socially unacceptable times, she relies on Polar Seltzer to get her through the day.

SAMI SMART

Bar and Beverage Manager

Sami brings a career's worth of knowledge to our bar and beverage program, creating custom cocktail menus seasonally as well as creating wine lists that are nuanced and perfectly paired with Dandelion's food offerings. Sami fit right in with the Dandelion crew by bringing her perpetual light and warm smile, as well as a passion for service, quality, and thoughtful products. In her off time, Sami can be caught ripping up the slopes with epic shreds for dayz.

FIONA PIPER HAYES AND CASSIDY ROSE HAYES

In-house Dance Duo / Horse Enthusiasts

As soon as physically possible - resident dishwashers.