Who we are
Sean P. McDougall
Sean McDougall is a Co-Founder and Operations Specialist for Ǣ Consulting. Mcdougall has been a food & beverage professional for over 15 years, with experience at some of the countries most iconic and respected operations under his belt.
Sean, born and raised in Miami, started his career at the cities most renown & popular restaurant, Joe’s Stone Crab. Here he learned the fundamentals and built the foundation that his hospitality career has been built on. 6 years later, Sean went on to work for some of the best restaurants in the cities of Miami & Nantucket including, Galley Beach, Amara at Paraiso, Fi’lia, MILA, and most recently KYU, maintaining creative and operational positions at MILA and Galley Beach. In his seasonal 6 years at Galley Beach, Mcdougall was promoted through the ranks and would eventually oversee the entire bar program where he would implement systems, structure, increase liquor revenue by almost 10% annually, and be named Best Cocktail Menu by N Magazine. During his time off from Galley Beach, Sean would work for the James Beard Awarded Michael Schwartz at Fi’lia and Amara at Paraiso. After leaving The Genuine Group, he was a part of the opening team at MILA and would immediately be promoted to head bartender of the unit. Seans primary focus while in this role was to cultivate a strong working culture & spearhead educational and technical trainings for the bar staff. These values allowed the team to achieve the wine spectator award in 2022 and best outdoor bar Miami by the New Times in 2022. Today, Mcdougall and his tasty libations can be found behind the bar at Maty's, the brainchild of James Beard nominated chef Valerie Chang.
Ilan Chartor
Born and raised in Miami, Ilan Chartor developed a passion for spirit mixing after his first introduction behind the bar at a TGIFridays over 15 years ago. Since then, his creative talent allowed him to quickly rise through the ranks of Miami’s restaurant and bar scene, working at Greenstreet Café, Beaker & Gray, KYU, MILA and AVA. Chartor joined the team at KYU in 2016 and quickly established himself as an integral team member. Ilan is a Co-founder for Ǣ Consulting.
In 2017, he took the reigns as KYU’S head bartender where he oversaw the full bar program and assisted with the growth and direction of the team. During his tenor, the restaurant was named top 25 in the US by TIME Magazine, James Beard semifinalist for best new restaurant, and best restaurant cocktail bar from The Spirited Awards. He would also go on to win multiple cocktail competitions and would later be named Top 100 bartenders in the US by Diageo. Post Covid, he would then move on to one of Miami’s hottest restaurants, MILA, which would later be named Best Outdoor Cocktail Bar by New Times Magazine. Ilan’s steadfast dedication, notable creativity, and eye for the number’s, created a path for his promotion to Senior Mixologist within RDG (Riviera Dining Group). From then he would go onto opening and creating the bar programming for all new concepts within the group. Today, you could find Ilan at any of Miami’s restaurants educating staff & representing the spirits portfolio for Rémy Cointreau.
Chartors’ expertise comes alive in the cocktail world with his exquisitely crafted and trend-forward libations that are as visually stunning as they are enjoyable to sip.