Hilton Announces James Beard Award‑winning Mashama Bailey as Chef Partner for Signia Hilton Savannah

• Hilton partners with Savannah culinary pioneers and Grey Spaces co-founders, Chef Mashama Bailey and Johno Morisano, to bring Grey Spaces’ acclaimed hospitality vision to Signia Hilton Savannah.
• Grey Spaces will lead the culinary direction for the hotel’s food and beverage program, overseeing concept development, menus, wine lists and guest experiences across multiple venues, including a lobby bar, all-day dining restaurant and rooftop destination.
• The partnership reinforces Signia Hilton Savannah’s role as a premier gathering place on the city’s riverfront, combining world-class hospitality, locally inspired culinary experiences and direct access to the Savannah Convention Center in preparation for the hotel’s anticipated 2028 debut.
• As the 444-room headquarters hotel for the Savannah Convention Center, Signia Hilton Savannah will feature more than 34,000 square feet of meeting space, five food and beverage venues, Club Signia and elevated amenities designed for both business and leisure travelers.

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Today, Hilton (NYSE: HLT) announces a culinary partnership for Signia Hilton Savannah with Grey Spaces, a Savannah-based hospitality and lifestyle company founded by James Beard Award-winning Chef Mashama Bailey and restaurateur Johno Morisano. Widely regarded as a leading voice in American cuisine, Grey Spaces will bring its distinct vision to one of the city’s most anticipated hotel debuts in 2028.

Together, Chef Mashama and Johno co-founded Grey Spaces and are the business partners behind The Grey, the critically acclaimed Savannah restaurant they opened in 2014 in a restored, 1938 Greyhound bus terminal. Rooted in Port City Southern food, community and culture, Grey Spaces is guided by a mission to welcome strangers as friends and celebrate diverse experiences. The company’s work spans flagship restaurant The Grey in Savannah, L’Arrêt by The Grey in Paris and a broader portfolio of storytelling and cultural projects that bring Southern cuisine to new audiences.

In partnership with Hilton, Chef Mashama, Johno and Grey Spaces will shape the hotel’s culinary direction, guiding concept development, menus, wine lists and the overall food and beverage approach across the lobby bar, all-day dining restaurant and rooftop venue, which will offer panoramic views of the skyline and waterfront. The offerings will be completely unique from anything else Grey Spaces is doing in Savannah, giving locals, visitors and hotel guests plenty of reason to drink, dine and socialize on property through artful experiences that invite people to gather and see the city from a fresh perspective.

“At Signia Hilton Savannah, we’re excited to create a culinary destination that reflects the spirit of Savannah and the Lowcountry, embraces heritage through food and draws on the global influences that have shaped my journey as a chef. It’s about creating a place that feels connected to the city - one that belongs as much to guests as it does to the community,” said Chef Mashama.

“There’s an art to building a dining program from the ground up - thoughtfully shaping how guests move through each setting and how the experience unfolds. Our philosophy with Grey Spaces centers on radical hospitality: creating places where people gather naturally and strangers can become friends. With Savannah as our home base, we’re excited to bring that same intentionality to this partnership with Hilton,” said Johno Morisano.

"Savannah is a city with extraordinary culinary heritage, and Chef Mashama is a defining gastronomic voice and trailblazer in the community. What she and Johno have built at The Grey is a testament to their love for this city and its story,” said Brian Abel, senior vice president, food and beverage operations & development, Americas, Hilton. “We are honored to partner with Grey Spaces and look forward to bringing their perspective to the hotel, underscoring both Hilton and Signia Hilton’s commitment to working with world-class culinary partners to create exceptional, destination-driven dining."

Chef Mashama Bailey 

Born in the Bronx and raised between New York City and coastal Georgia, James Beard Award-winning Chef Mashama brings a distinctive point of view shaped by her Southern roots, early influences from the women in her family, and time spent in Europe and New York kitchens. She trained at the Institute of Culinary Education and studied in Burgundy, France, before building her career at acclaimed restaurants, including formative years at Prune under her mentor, Gabrielle Hamilton. In addition to serving as a co-founder for Grey Spaces, she is also the executive chef of the award-winning restaurant, The Grey. 

Chef Mashama won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast in 2019 and, in 2022, became the first African American woman to win the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef. Under her and Johno’s leadership, The Grey has earned widespread media recognition from Eater, TIME and Food & Wine, and she was featured on Netflix’s Chef’s Table. This year, Chef Mashama was named to the TIME100 list of the world’s most influential people and named North America's Best Female Chef for 2026 by The World's 50 Best. She also serves as chair of the Edna Lewis Foundation, which honors African American culinary traditions, deepens understanding of Southern foodways and supports greater opportunity within the industry.

Johno Morisano

Born and raised in Staten Island, New York, Johno is a multi-faceted author, speaker and restaurateur working at the intersections of hospitality, arts and culture, urban development and social transformation. As co-founder and managing partner of Grey Spaces, he has spent nearly 15 years fostering community through food and serves as the strategic force behind the company’s growth, working across a variety of dynamic partnerships. With a passion for bringing people together in artful, welcoming spaces, Johno brings design thinking, locality and a deep sense of connection to every venture. He has created spaces that imagine hopeful futures and bring people together over delicious food and warm hospitality, proposing new ways of sustaining mutuality and the radical notion of treating all strangers as friends.

"The partnership between Signia Hilton Savannah and Grey Spaces showcases what makes Savannah such a special destination for meetings and conventions," said Kelvin D. Moore, senior vice president and general manager, the Savannah Convention Center. "As our headquarters hotel, Signia Hilton Savannah will be an extension of the convention experience, giving attendees an authentic connection to Savannah through its local culinary and hospitality partners. Collaborations like this help meeting planners deliver memorable experiences while reinforcing Savannah's reputation as a destination where business and local culture come together."

As Signia Hilton’s second property in Georgia, the 444-room Signia Hilton Savannah will serve as the headquarters hotel for the Savannah Convention Center, anchoring the city’s riverfront. Owned by the Savannah-Georgia Convention Center Authority and developed in partnership with the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, the hotel will be managed by Hilton, with Songy Highroads and Matthews Southwest Hospitality serving as co-developers. The property will feature more than 34,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 13,000-square-foot ballroom, five food and beverage venues, an outdoor pool and Club Signia. With modern design, elevated amenities and direct access to the convention center, the hotel will connect guests to one of the Southeast’s premier destinations for meetings and events.

Signia Hilton Savannah’s collaboration with Chef Mashama and Grey Spaces was brought to life through StiR Creative Collective, Hilton’s in-house global food and beverage consultancy, and builds on the company’s commitment to collaborating with acclaimed chefs and hospitality innovators across its portfolio. Throughout the Americas, Hilton partners include Michael Anthony (Waldorf Astoria New York), Michael Mina (Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach), José Andrés and the José Andrés Group (Waldorf Astoria Washington DC and Conrad Los Angeles), as well as beverage authorities Ariel Arce (Conrad New York Downtown) and Jeff Bell (Waldorf Astoria New York).

For more information about Signia Hilton Savannah, please visit Stories from Hilton. Read more about Signia Hilton at stories.hilton.com/signia.