OpenTable Appoints Philadelphia Restaurateur Ellen Yin to Advisory Board

OpenTable, a leader in restaurant technology, today announces the appointment of industry veteran, Ellen Yin, to its Advisory Board. Yin founded and co-owns High Street Hospitality Group, a James Beard Foundation Award-winning restaurant group based in Philadelphia which includes the 25-year legacy restaurant, Fork, the recent reopening of High Street, and a.kitchen+bar in AKA Rittenhouse Square. In 2023, Yin was named “Outstanding Restaurateur” by the James Beard Foundation.

Yin joins a distinguished cohort of industry titans including Kevin Boehm, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Boka Restaurant Group in Chicago; Will Guidara, author of “Unreasonable Hospitality” and founder of thank you in New York City; Hanson Li, founder of Salt Partners Group in San Francisco; Dan Simons, founder and co-owner of Farmers Restaurant Group in Washington DC; and Lien Ta, Co-Founder of RE:Her and co-owner of Here’s Looking at You and All Day Baby in Los Angeles. For more details, visit OpenTable’s Advisory Board website.

In this remit, Yin will collaborate with OpenTable and other advisory board members to further support OpenTable’s mission of helping restaurants solve their biggest challenges. Board members bring their deep industry knowledge to help prioritize OpenTable’s product and innovation pipeline, guide decision making on agenda setting issues, inform industry-leading partnerships and integrations and more.

“OpenTable is deeply committed to supporting the restaurant industry, and growing and investing in our Advisory Board is key to informing our focus areas,” said Debby Soo, CEO of OpenTable. “Ellen has been a decade-long partner to OpenTable and a passionate and loyal steward to the hospitality industry for even longer – we’re thrilled to have her join.”

Yin has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and serves on the boards of community organizations including the Philadelphia Award, the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation and the Arden Theatre Company. She is also a co-chair of Sisterly Love Collective, an alliance of women restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs, and a program of the Philadelphia arm of Les Dames d’Escoffier, a 501(c)(3) organization. Yin also serves as a mentor to emerging hospitality talent in and outside of her restaurants and is dedicated to uplifting the industry including underrepresented groups.

“OpenTable has been a trusted partner for many years and recently, I’ve seen so much growth and positive change in the company and its mission,” said Yin. “I’m excited to take on this new role to help them continue to innovate and best serve operators like myself – while deepening my commitment to the hospitality industry.”