Page 10 - Mississippi/Louisiana Gaming News - Winter, 2022

Moving Ahead
Executive promotions, F&B additions at Scarlet Pearl
D’IBERVILLE — Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort recently announced that Phong Nguyen has been promoted to vice president of VIP
experiences and Darvis Gill has been promoted to director of hotel operations.
Additionally,
there are some
new faces in
Scarlet Pearl
Casino Resort’s
food and beverage
department. New
to the property are
Tremayne Davis,
Café chef; Allison
Spicer, pastry
chef; and Matthew
Kallinikos, Scarlet’s Steakhouse chef.
In his role as Café chef, Davis will be responsible for Under the Oaks kitchen operations. He has a proven background in kitchen operations with 15 years of experience in culinary and restaurant management.
He began his culinary career in Biloxi at Casino Magic in 2001 and in 2005 he took the position of sous chef at
IP Casino Resort Spa, where he rose through the ranks at IP to room chef for Costa Cucina. Davis transitioned to executive sous chef at Golden Nugget Casino Biloxi in 2014 and oversaw culinary operations for the buffet, employee dining room, banquets, and fine dining kitchen operations.
In her role as pastry chef, Spicer, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, will be responsible for all operations of the bakery department.
She began her career as a baker at Beau Rivage in 2006 and quickly ascended to lead baker, responsible
Allison Spicer
Matthew Kallinikos
Nguyen joined
Scarlet Pearl back
in 2016 as senior
executive host.
Most recently, he
served as director
of VIP experiences, where he ensured that VIPs received
the highest
service and
experience when
visiting Scarlet
Pearl. Through
his leadership,
Nguyen will focus
on setting Scarlet
Pearl apart from
its competitors,
growing VIP
experiences at the resort.
Gill was promoted from assistant director to director of hotel operations. He began his career with Scarlet Pearl in 2018 as the hotel housekeeping manager. Prior to that, Gill had an extensive casino/hotel background, leading teams for Isle of Capri Casino and IP Casino Resort Spa.
Tremayne Davis
Phong Nguyen
for producing all desserts and bread for the property. After being promoted to assistant executive pastry chef, she was hired as a pastry chef in 2015 by Penn National for Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast. Her most recent position was
as executive pastry chef at Boomtown Casino Biloxi.
Responsible for Scarlet’s Steaks & Seafood kitchen operations, Kallinikos has 20 years of experience in culinary and restaurant management. He started his culinary career in 2001 in New York.
In 2005, he moved to Biloxi, where he took the position of sous chef at Taste
of Farraddays’ Restaurant at Isle of Capri. In 2007, he joined the Island View Casino Resort staff as a room chef at Carter Green Steakhouse. In 2011, he joined thirty-two at the IP Casino Resort Spa as the chef de cuisine.
Kallinikos has also instructed students in culinary and food and beverage management classes at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
Darvis Gill
10 MISSISSIPPI GAMING NEWS WINTER 2022
Dardeau named Beau Rivage, Gold Strike president
BILOXI — MGM Resorts International announced the appointment of
Brandon Dardeau as president and chief operating officer of Southeast Operations, which includes Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica and Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi,
where he will oversee daily operations while providing strategic direction and leadership.
A 20-year veteran of the hospitality and gaming industry, Dardeau most recently served as general manager and senior vice president of marketing and operations for Gold Strike. He began his career with MGM Resorts International as a casino marketing coordinator at MGM Grand Las Vegas
in May 2000. He rose to management and transferred to Beau Rivage in July 2001, and has held numerous leadership roles in slot operations, marketing, and was instrumental in evolving the company’s charter program into the Gulf Coast and launching the M life Rewards loyalty program in 2010.
“I am pleased to transition back full time to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to lead both Beau Rivage and Gold Strike teams, where we will continue to create world class destination experiences for our customers,”
Brandon Dardeau
Dardeau said. “This year’s priorities will include a multi-million-dollar room remodel at Beau Rivage, capital investments into our restaurants and gaming floors, and ensuring our employee experience remains the best in the market.”
Dardeau received a bachelor’s degree in
marketing from the University of Louisiana-Monroe. He is an MGM Resorts Diversity Champion and active in the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as several other company growth initiatives.