Dayton Restaurateur Liz Valenti Recognized as ORHA Ambassador of the Year
By Alexis Larsen, Dine Out Dayton Correspondent, December 9, 2025
COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Chef Liz Valenti stepped onstage at the Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance’s (OHRA) 2025 Industry Awards on Dec. 8 to accept the Ambassador of the Year honor, she immediately redirected the spotlight.
“I was completely surprised when I learned I had received the award,” she told the crowd. “In my heart, I believe this honor truly belongs to the independent restaurant community of Dayton.”
From the outset, Valenti framed the recognition not as a personal milestone, but as validation of a region she says has shaped her work.
“Dayton is an incredible town … innovative, hard-working, blue-collar, but most of all, collaborative,” she said. “In Dayton, we work together. We inspire each other.”
The annual ORHA Industry Awards, which honored 23 winners this year across Ohio’s restaurant, foodservice and hospitality sectors, recognize excellence in leadership, operations, innovation and community impact. Valenti’s remarks stood out for the way they reframed an individual accolade as a collective one.
“I felt like this honor belonged to all of us,” she said. “Dayton’s independent restaurants inspire me every day.”
She pointed to the operators she works alongside throughout the year, from Blueberry Café to Giovanni’s, El Meson, The Last Queen and The Root Beer Stande, and especially to her own team: “I could not have done this without the incredible Wheat Penny team,” she said. “We are a team. Dayton is a team.”
Always proud of her town, before leaving the stage, she offered an invitation to the rest of the state to plan a visit: “If you’ve not gone to Dayton to eat, to go to breweries, to go to distilleries, it’s well worth the time. Dayton is a thriving community, and I always say the best is yet to come, and I firmly believe that for this industry.”
It was a speech that echoed what many in the industry already say about her.
“Liz embodies what Dayton’s independent restaurants do best,” said Amy Zahora, MVRA executive director. “She takes care of her customers, her staff and her community with consistency, integrity and positivity. She leads in a way that strengthens the entire region. Her leadership has been instrumental in helping Dayton’s restaurant community become the tight-knit, collaborative network she describes so often.”
Valenti’s leadership style is rooted in her early life and long culinary education. Raised outside Chicago in a family with Abruzzi and Naples Italian roots, she learned to cook alongside her mother, aunts and cousins providing her with a foundation that shaped her connection to food, discipline and teamwork.
She trained under respected chefs throughout her 40 year career including Judy Rogers, Barbara Trapp, Annie Somerville, Joyce Goldstein and Tony Gemignani, developing a model of leadership built on precision, accountability and mentorship.
She moved to Dayton in 2011 to join longtime friend and mentor Chef Elizabeth Wiley, who received ORHA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023. Valenti opened Wheat Penny Oven & Bar in 2013 and today co-owns Meadowlark alongside business partner and fellow Chef, Dave Rawson. Her next concept, Piccolo Orsetto, is opening in 2026. Colleagues describe a consistent approach to her work: arrive early, set standards clearly, invest in people and treat hospitality as a disciplined practice rather than a marketing phrase.
Her fellow Ambassador of the Year honoree, Britney Ruby Miller, leads Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment, a multistate enterprise with 800 employees and $100 million in 2023 revenue. The pairing underscores the range of leadership celebrated this year: one operating at enterprise scale, the other strengthening the independent network that defines a regional dining community.
The ceremony also inducted three new members into the ORHA Hall of Fame, recognizing more than 25 years of industry impact: the Ulrey Family of Flyer’s Pizza (Columbus area); the Schmidt Family of Schmidt’s Sausage Haus (Columbus); and Kamal Boulos of The Refectory (Columbus).
During his remarks, Boulos who owns The Refectory in Columbus emphasized four principles he believes define enduring success in all things but in restaurants especiaily: pursuing excellence without bias, elevating the whole team, aligning work with mission and modeling integrity rather than ego. His framework mirrors the strengths that help distinguish Valenti’s leadership style.
Although she has joined an exclusive club among Ohio’s most influential culinary leaders, for Valenti, the award affirms the core values defining the independent restaurant community in Dayton: integrity, accountability, hospitality and genuine care for the community.
“It’s a reflection of Dayton … of who we are, of how we take care of each other,” Valenti said.
And in Ohio hospitality right now, that kind of vision and leadership is increasingly what separates long-term success from short-term survival.
“Liz has been a champion for Dayton’s independent restaurants for years, and this recognition is so well-deserved,” Zahora said. “We’re grateful for everything she does to lift up this community and for her unwavering support of the MVRA. She makes our entire region stronger. Congratulations, Liz!”
Alexis Larsen is the Miami Valley Restaurant Association’s Dine Out Dayton Correspondent and is The Dayton Dish food columnist for the Dayton Business Journal. Stay tuned for more articles from Larsen who has been covering local restaurants and food and dining for more than two decades. When she’s not out dining and writing on nights and weekends Larsen serves as the Chief of Philanthropy for Five Rivers MetroParks.