Who We Are

Pilot Light Consulting builds your team of experts to fit your scope and concept ensuring your launch team’s know-how is exactly what your project needs. With decades of restaurant industry experience, our core team makes sure nothing gets missed when you’re building your dream restaurant.

  • OWNER & MANAGING DIRECTOR

    Courtney Blake is the owner of Pilot Light Consulting and has been working in the restaurant industry for over 20 years. Before becoming a consultant, she worked with respected chefs in North Carolina, New York City, and San Francisco including chefs Nick Balla and Cortney Burns at the now shuttered Bar Tartine, Dan the Pig Man in Charlotte and the late Molly O’Neill in upstate New York. She was previously co-chef of Private Dining Room SF, a pop-up restaurant located in San Francisco that focused on a ‘farm to neighborhood’ mission by raising funding for local partners such as Larkin Street Youth Services. She is a partner at OWL Bakery in Asheville, NC.

    Courtney holds an MBA with a concentration in Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco, a Masters Certificate in Hospitality Management with a focus in Foodservice Management from Cornell University, and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Leadership at Gonzaga University. She has been working with owner/operator clients to bring their hospitality vision to life through Pilot Light Consulting over the past seven years.

    When not opening restaurants and advising clients, Courtney likes to hike the California coast or relax in Western North Carolina with her partner and dog. Oh, and eat, of course.

  • SERVICE & MANAGEMENT TRAINER

    Rosie Grillo, a fifth-generation Californian, got her start in the service industry bartending at the "Whiskey Flat Saloon" in her home town of Volcano, CA. While working there, the saloon was awarded One of The Top Ten Bars in The World by GQ Magazine. Rosie has a strong background in singing and performing, and thrived in the NYC Cabaret scene where she headlined as the burlesque star Rosie 151. While living and performing in New York, Rosie continued to excel behind the bar. She opened and was head bartender of EMM Group's original "Catch", won Best Team at the Spirited Awards for "Holiday Cocktail Lounge", was voted one of the top 50 Bartenders by Time Out NY, and was also a Speed-Rack contestant.

    Rosie currently splits her time between Fire Island, New York, where she is General Manager at a seasonal restaurant in the private community of Point O’ Woods, and Amador County California - where she works on creating an Amaro with natural winery, End of Nowhere.

  • PROJECT MANAGER

    Heather Miller is the administrative master and project manager for Pilot Light Consulting. Her background in the food industry has spanned over 13 years in various positions and cities with her start in fine dining in Charleston, SC at Magnolias. She learned a high standard for the craft, acquired an attention for detail, and the ability to adapt to diverse situations to ensure excellent service. Her career’s expansion into Asheville, NC led to roles where she steered others to success with grace and kindness at the Montford in downtown Asheville and The Admiral in West Asheville. Heather has had a chance to work closely with chefs in all of these environments, learning from some of the best in food and wine. She prides herself in knowing the restaurants flow from front to back by learning all nuances to each role and how they produce a successful structure.

    Heather’s work expanded to Project Management in 2020 when she accepted a role with BIH Restorations. This new role extended her talents in communication, creating effective long term timelines, and budgeting for a team.

    Heather attended the College of Charleston where she received a Bachelors in Psychology with a focus in Developmental Psychology and a minor in Studio Art with a focus in Photography.

    In her free time Heather loves to be outside with her husband- tending to their garden and hosting friends at their home in Western North Carolina. When she is disconnecting you can find her wandering on a mountain close by.

  • DIGITAL MARKETING & BOH OPERATIONS

    As an elementary student, Justin envied the culinary experiences of his peers - where food was portrayed as generational and special. During his adolescence celebrity chefs like Gordan Ramsey and Anthony Bourdain excited his culinary passions. Lewis enrolled in a community college culinary program at San Joaquin Delta College and dove into the real word of kitchen grunge life. Those days he worked to travel - cross county hitchhiking, Thailand, Laos, Maui, Mexico, Spain, the UK, and more.

    In 2017, he moved from the kitchen to the dining room to accommodate a wine tour transportation business he started - Amador Uncorked. He quickly pursued wine education and was awarded a Court of Master Sommeliers, Certified Sommelier pin in 2018 and WSET (Wine Spirits Education Trust) Level 3 certification in 2019.

    In 2020, Justin went back into the kitchen - Justin's Pantry, a catering and pre-order meal service. Through 2022 he catered private events for the wineries, breweries, and people of Amador County while delivering free meals weekly to a subsidized apartment complex near the commissary kitchen he worked from. The fall of 2022 awarded Justin his first opportunity to work with Pilot Light as the opening kitchen manager of a new brewery. In 2024, J Lew joined the Pilot Light team and was christened with the title Marketing + BOH Operations.

  • BEVERAGE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

    Miranda Escalante began her time in the food and beverage industry at 17, however it wasn't until a few years later that she decided to take it seriously after falling in love with it while landing a job at the iconic Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in Asheville, NC in 2008. Escalante, located in Asheville since 2004, moved to study Creative Writing and started at the Grove Park Inn as a cocktail waitress. In her almost 10 years at GPI, she held many positions in multiple outlets from bartender to the General Manager of Edison Craft Ales + Kitchen, a brand new restaurant concept she was instrumental in launching in 2013.

    Opening a new restaurant allowed Escalante to utilize both her role as a bartender and manager in creative ways, focusing on the importance of service and training. During this time Escalante truly honed her passion for classic cocktails, North Carolina breweries, unique wine, and local ingredients. In July of 2017, she took those passions to The Montford Rooftop Bar on top of the Hilton Doubletree Asheville Downtown as the hotel's Beverage Director and GM of The Montford. The Montford proved to be an environment where she was empowered to put all of her time, energy, and passion into guest interactions and individualized training with a smaller staff. In her five years there she was instrumental in executing successful events (including Miracle's Sippin' Santa pop-up), managing social media, a hotel brand conversion, community collaborations, and revamping operations during the pandemic.

    In the summer of 2022, Miranda joined the team at Avenue M to revamp the cocktail and spirits program to match the beautifully seasonal and locally driven food. The space allows for her to pursue her WSET 2 while working with a Wine Spectator award-winning wine list and make time for more collaborations in the community. One of her passion projects is a monthly pop-up wine club for the community in Asheville, NC called, “Purple Teeth”, which she co-founded. At Avenue M, her heart goes into the handcrafted, both simple and complex, seasonal cocktails for every palate. Her 13 years in the Asheville food & beverage community have helped to solidify her mentality that the best guest experiences come from passionate and knowledgeable individuals, locally sourced ingredients, and the deep care of welcoming service.

  • FOOD PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

    Michael Evans, a native to Northern Michigan, has been working in the hospitality industry for 19 years. After completion of culinary school Michael went on to further his education by moving to the Bay Area, California. It was there that he worked under respected chefs and restaurants at Atelier Crenn, Bar Tartine, and Commonwealth.

    By the time he left San Francisco he had advanced to CDC and Sous Chef positions in these establishments. Michael returned to his home town in Traverse City, Michigan in 2018 to continue his culinary journey and start new creative projects. Michael and his brother are the co-owners of Crocodile Palace, a small Sichuan restaurant opened early 2023.

    When not spending time in the kitchen Michael enjoys spending time with his wife and sons relaxing and exploring the outdoors near his home in Traverse City.

  • BUSINESS INNOVATION

    Allison Slaughter grew up in Evanston, IL and owes her love of the hospitality industry to Chicago's incredible food scene. She started her career in client services at retail marketing creative agency FCB/RED (Chicago, IL). Before and during business school she explored her passion for food with internships at Brown Bag Seafood (Chicago, IL) and Califia Farms (Los Angeles, CA).

    Allison holds a MBA from the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley with a Graduate Certificate in Food Systems. Before joining Pilot Light she spent two years at top management consulting firm Bain & Company focusing on strategy, go-to-market and transformation projects for food & tech clients.

    When she's not working on Business Innovation for Pilot Light, these days you can find Allison ripping (espresso) shots at Red Bay Coffee in Oakland.