Michael Babin Email & Phone Number

Michael Babin is a Founder and Principal at Neighborhood Restaurant Group based in Alexandria, Virginia, United States, North America. I founded Neighborhood Restaurant Group in 1997 with the creation of Evening Star Café in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia. As we opened more unique restaurants and food-service businesses, from bakeries to bars, breweries to butcher shops, the company grew with a focus on community, access, and sustainability. To that end, I started Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a more equitable and sustainable local food system in the Washington, DC area. Since its beginning in 2010, the farm has provided millions of dollars of fresh produce to underserved communities, educated thousands of school children, and developed a Veteran Farmer Training Program. In 2019, I co-founded Shop Made in DC, known today as Shop Made In Brands as we have expanded to Virginia, Maryland, and intend to keep growing. Shop Made In acts as an incubator for local makers, providing artists and artisans a venue to sell their products in the state they were created and to provide creative programming to thousands of community-members. In the last twenty-six years, NRG has launched dozens of acclaimed, independent brands and businesses in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and Louisiana, including a multi-tenant food hall called The Roost in SE DC. All NRG operations are led by a management team that handles public relations, marketing, social media, menu development, graphic design, web design, copy writing, editing, design, project management, accounting, reporting, programming, private dining, overall restaurant operations management and staff training. The group’s businesses, chefs and beverage specialists have won numerous awards, including dozens of “RAMMYs” from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and five Good Food awards--among many others—and have been featured in outlets like the Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Washingtonian, Eater, and more. Last year, I started Catalytic Development Group to fill a need I saw in the real estate market—reliable ground floor tenancies uniquely tailored to the incoming residents as a third place to enjoy in tandem with home and work, both day and night. Now, in partnership with NRG, CDG is focused on evolving the food hall experience; designing, developing, curating, and operating best-in-class food halls and bars to maximize the value of real estate assets. With over two-hundred cumulative operating years under our belt, we are ready for the next level of growth in the national market.