John Merlino Email Address

Director of Culinary Development

The nationally acclaimed Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar offers the best in steakhouse dining-Prime meats and chops, fresh fish and poultry, generous salads and side orders. Fleming's was launched in Newport Beach, California in 1998 by successful restaurant industry veterans Paul Fleming and Bill Allen. Today there are 65 restaurants nationwide. Fleming's is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including Wine Spectator Magazines Award of Excellence. I will share more about our dinner selections in a another post.

John Merlino, the soul behind the Soul Patty, is a California native raised around food. After graduating in 1985 from the esteemed California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, he began a long career in the hospitality industry. His love for food took him to many places, including large corporate establishments like Vicorp Restaurants, Quiznos, K-World Cuisine and Claim Jumper Restaurants. He even owned and operated his restaurant Merlino’s On 17th. At each establishment, Merlino proved his worth developing hundreds of new, trend setting menu items by adding flavor, consistency, inventiveness and operational ease to the menus. It was not until the decline of the economy in 2007 that Merlino began thinking about starting his own company again. This time, his motivation was not to just make money, but to help others through his success. This led to the creation of the best vegetable patty on the market, the Soul Patty, and the formation of Foundation Soul to Soul, LLC. Specialties: Design, graphics, computer skills, cooking, business, brand identity, consulting,