Hospitality Considered From Every Angle
Outre Consulting was built by Christopher Kearns, a hospitality specialist with veteran experience across all formats of bars, nightlife, fine dining, high-volume venues, private events, and multi-venue operations.
Outre Consulting creates hospitality programs that feel as good as they perform. That means combining concept and atmosphere with serious operational thinking: beverage development, bar design and strategic equipment planning, staffing and training, financial controls, service standards, and day-to-day management systems.
Our work is grounded in the reality of service and functional operations. We understand how a room should move, how a bar should function under pressure, what guests remember, and where profit is won or lost. Whether opening a new venue, rebuilding an underperforming program, or producing a private event, Outre connects creative direction with the systems required to execute it consistently.
The result is a distinct, commercially intelligent hospitality experience—designed for the guest, built for the team, and structured to last.
Bio
Chris Kearns developed his expertise from the ground up, beginning behind the bar at Mystique Nightclub in Manhattan’s Chinatown—one of the last truly independently owned and operated nightclubs in New York City. During the property’s transformation into Bobby’s Nightclub and Red Heels Sports Bar, he advanced into senior leadership and ultimately served as General Manager. This progression gave him direct experience across nightlife service, staffing, bar management, revenue generation and complete venue operations.
Through International Cocktail Group, Chris Kearns partnered with internationally recognized bartender and beverage consultant Esteban Ordonez on beverage development and hospitality consulting projects for restaurants, hotels and nightlife venues. Their work included consultations for prominent New York properties such as Gospel nightclub and The Gansevoort Meatpacking, as well as high-profile events including Leblon’s 2014 World Cup activations, WhiskyFest, the New York City Wine & Food Festival and The Feast. They also represented numerous brands across the Diageo, LVMH and other major beverage portfolios.
Kearns’s experience with major hospitality groups includes Tao Group Hospitality’s Magic Hour Rooftop, one of Manhattan’s largest indoor-and-outdoor rooftop venues. He was part of the team that reopened the property during the COVID pandemic.
He has also worked for celebrity chef José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup at Nubeluz, the rooftop venue at The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad.
Chris Kearns has consulted for Amina Hospitality in Philadelphia alongside Chef Darryl Harmon. OpenTable credited him as the New York–based beverage consultant who helped create Amina’s culinary-focused cocktail program, developing drinks intended to complement the restaurant’s menu and overall dining experience.
His restaurant and nightlife management experience includes serving as Bar Manager and Assistant General Manager of Woodland in Park Slope. As part of its two-person senior management team, Kearns helped transform Woodland Restaurant and Lounge into one of New York City’s leading brunch and day-party destinations. The team generated unprecedented revenue, repeatedly surpassed the venue’s previous sales records and established Woodland as a culturally influential gathering place that organically attracted prominent clientele from entertainment, professional sports and New York’s broader social scene.
Kearns also served as Head Bartender at The Django at The Roxy Hotel, working under acclaimed beverage director Maxwell Britten and alongside alumni of award-winning bar programs including Death & Co. and Maison Premiere.
Chris Kearns’s most extensive multi-concept work was directing the opening beverage development and operations for the Howard Hughes Corporation’s branded “Seaport Summer” redevelopment of the Seaport District in Lower Manhattan. As Bar Director, he developed the beverage concepts for The Garden Bar, Clinton Hall, The Seaport Food Lab and Mr. Cannon. The portfolio required him to create distinct identities and operating systems for concepts ranging from extremely high-volume outdoor service to intimate cocktail hospitality and chef-driven dining experiences.
Kearns developed large-scale batching procedures, trained teams in consistent cocktail production and executed beverage programs for events attracting more than 5,000 daily attendees. He also worked with Howard Hughes, Chase, Lincoln and their respective partners on sponsored beverage programming involving major international portfolios such as Bacardi, Beam Suntory and LVMH. He was entrusted with representing brands including Belvedere Vodka, Bombay Sapphire, Jim Beam and Veuve Clicquot, integrating commercial partnerships into positive guest experiences.
For The Seaport Food Lab, Kearns directed the wine, cocktail and broader beverage program supporting a rotating roster of Michelin-starred and James Beard Award–winning chefs and their concepts. The Food Lab received coverage from major outlets including The New York Times, Time Out New York, Food & Wine and Eater.
At Mr. Cannon, Kearns conceived and directed a cocktail program that received extensive media attention, including a four-out-of-five-star review from Time Out New York and coverage from Gothamist, the New York Post, Eater New York, UrbanDaddy, Edible Manhattan, Metro, IN New York, Thirsty NYC and other hospitality and lifestyle outlets. Chris Kearns also represented the venues through personal interviews with 95.5 WPLJ, Supercall, Uproxx and other media outlets.
His expertise has additionally been presented through broadcast media, including Fox 5’s Good Day New York and Todd & Jayde in the Morning on 95.5 WPLJ.