Our Story
HELM’s story began decades ago in family-owned restaurant kitchens, long before it had a name. Today, it endures through the shared vision of its founders.
Brian Arruda
Founder, CEO
Brian grew up in Connecticut, where, like many chefs, his first job was washing dishes. This marked the start of his epic culinary journey. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Brian traveled the world working for global hospitality luminaries such as Charlie Palmer, Thomas Keller, José Andrés, and Daniel Boulud. In 2019, he moved to New York after transitioning from Executive Chef at Bar Boulud to that same position at Boulud Sud.
When the pandemic shut down restaurants across the country, thousands of chefs and hospitality workers suddenly found themselves out of work. Instead of watching the industry collapse, Brian evolved. He created Executive Chefs At Home (ECAH) to help his peers find stability and meaningful work during an unprecedented crisis–and what started as a lifeline, quickly blossomed into a global network connecting chefs and hospitality professionals with private households in need of talent.
HELM extends the reach of Executive Chefs At Home–affording its members exclusive access to his elite culinary peers.
Joseph Busone
Founder, COO
From an early age, hospitality was not simply a career path for Joseph Busone–it was a familial legacy. Raised in New York, within a family that owned celebrated Italian restaurants, catering service, and nightclub lounge, Joe grew up immersed in the artistry, operational execution, and environmental warmth that embody exceptional service. From this foundation, an intuitive understanding of what it means to create meaningful experiences for guests became instinct.
Joe began his career working in private suite hospitality at Arizona's premier sporting arenas and ballparks–a preview of the luxury experiential environments that would become mainstays throughout his career. He later moved to Las Vegas, NV, where he assumed a departmental leadership role and was instrumental in opening the prestigious ARIA Resort & Casino, and effectively managed its high-roller events and major convention operations.
Joe then embarked on his entrepreneurial journey, co-founding an entertainment dining concept with 7 locations spanning multiple states. In 2021, he partnered with longtime friend, Brian Arruda, to scale Executive Chefs At Home from a boutique long-term private chef placement agency, to a global provider of luxury hospitality services. HELM is the latest chapter in Joe's illustrious high-end hospitality services career.
Join HELM
Request access and take the first step to joining our community of discerning members and elite hospitality professionals.