• Paul Fields - Principal
• Anna Harris Ghen - Associate

Paul Fields - Principal

Paul Fields is a principal of Restaurant Development Services, Inc and Restaurant Financial Services, LLC. He has more than 25 years of experience in finance, real estate and restaurant transactions.

Mr. Fields received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, in 1979. After spending one year in the aviation industry, he was accepted to the graduate program in Real Estate and Urban Development at The American University. He received a Master of Science degree in June of 1982.

In 1984, he joined the mortgage banking firm of Walker & Dunlop. There he was responsible for making real estate loans on behalf of institutional lenders such as insurance companies and pension funds. Mortgage banking gave Mr. Fields the skills necessary to effectively represent the interests of institutional investors in the finance process.

In 1988, Mr. Fields formed Windgate Properties, Inc., which specializes in commercial mortgage brokerage and sales. The general real estate and mortgage practice quickly turned into a restaurant leasing boutique. Windgate placed several highly visible restaurant deals in Washington, DC, among which were I Matti, Pines of Florence and Star Of Siam. In the process of preparing restaurant tenants for presentation to landlords, business plan preparation and financing developed into distinct services provided by Windgate.

In 1989, Mr. Fields became a founding partner with master chef and restaurateur Roberto Donna in I Matti Restaurant. He was involved in all phases of the development process including finance, design, and liquor license application. Mr. Fields was also an equity owner in Roberto's extremely successful Il Radicchio, a chain of low price-point pasta restaurants. He placed the financing of most of the units and was the contract CFO for several years.

To fill the obvious need for consulting and financing services, Mr. Fields formed Restaurant Development Services, Inc. in April 1994. The consulting division worked with restaurateurs on strategic planning and preparing business plans in the start-up, expansion or emerging growth phases of the restaurant development process. Financial services include debt as well as private placements.

In January 1998, Mr. Fields joined Sam & Harry's as Chief Financial Officer. The fine-dining steak house development and management company grew from two units to five within four years. As CFO, he directed an institutional debt placement of $4,500,000. Mr. Fields was responsible for all day-to-day financial functions including accounting, budgeting, administration and cash management, as well as all administrative and human resources tasks.

Returning to Restaurant Development Services in February 2002, Mr. Fields adds his experience as Chief Financial Officer to the services previously provided. Current contract CFO assignments include Austin Grills, Inc., Zaytinya, Jaleo, Oyamel and Cafe Atlantico.

Restaurant Financial Services, LLC was formed by Mr. Fields in 2006 to provide specialized bookkeeping services to restaurant companies. He developed procedures to allow restaurant owners to concentrate on running their restaurants. The full-charge bookkeeping services include data entry, accounts payable processing, payroll oversight, general ledger entry, fixed-asset maintenance and periodic reporting to municipal agencies.

Mr. Fields' other activities include education and charitable work. He was an adjunct professor of business administration at L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, Maryland for 11 semesters and continues to speak on such topics as restaurant financing and financial statements. Mr. Fields is involved in the task of combating hunger. He is on the board of directors of both DC Central Kitchen and Campus Kitchen Project Mr. Fields lives with his wife, Karen, and twins, Noah and Remy, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Anna Harris Ghen - Associate

Anna Harris Ghen brings wide international experience to Restaurant Development Services, Inc. Having resided in Europe for many years, she received a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) degree from the University of Bristol (UK) in Pharmacology with Study in Industry. She has considerable retail and restaurant experience and she currently lives with her husband and two cats in Springfield, VA.