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Principals

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Emmanuel Roux, a Frenchman, was born in Tunisia and raised on several farms between North Africa and Southern France.

Emmanuel was schooled in England and France. He furthered his education in hotel management in Switzerland and served in the French navy as the captain steward on the famed Jeanne D’ Arc helicopter carrier on which he sailed the world. 

In Algeria, Niger, and Mali, he was a field administrator for a US oil research company, exploring remote areas of the Sahara.

In 1975, he moved to New York City to be the general manager of the Lotos, Manhattan’s third oldest arts and literature private club. During his tenure at the Lotos, he rubbed elbows with famous artists, writers, and celebrated New Yorkers. 

Trading New York for Savannah, he established the first nationwide, upscale pasta company. This initiated the trend of flavored pasta.

In 1993, he moved to St. Petersburg, FL where he pioneered downtown renewal. He opened several restaurants on Central avenue: The Garden, Redwoods, Haiku Sushi, and The Lobby.

Since 2010, he has owned GateauOchocolat a flourless chocolate cake company he created.

In parallel, he returned to his farming roots, developing several community gardens and 15th Street Farm, a half-acre organic regenerative agriculture urban farm in downtown St Pete. 

Today, this urban nature oasis is a novel business model of an economically sustainable and educational urban farm. Upon the completion of an event space and commercial kitchen, the farm will offer extensive gardening, nutrition, food culture education programs and events as well as high-value fresh produce. The farm will also serve as a test kitchen and incubator for aspiring food entrepreneurs. 

Emmanuel is consulting on regenerative agriculture, agrihoods (Residential developments built around a farm), and urban food projects from farms to foodservice concepts and educational programs.

He is interested in everything about the soil, plants, food and all living creatures. His interests also extend to the sharing and enjoyment of good food.

He is consulting for and is a member of USF Metropolitan Food Project, a transdisciplinary group formed by The USF Institute for Microbiomes Research focusing on the connections between soil and gut microbiomes. 

Taking a broad view approach, the USF MFP is exploring the development of local food systems and organic regenerative urban agriculture and how they integrate health, economic development, community resilience, environmental sustainability, and social impacts to improve quality of life.

Mr. Spilman, a long time business partner and close friend of co-founder Emmanuel Roux, is a licensed Florida attorney and certified state and federal mediator who has practiced in the Tampa Bay area for more than thirty years.

Awarded a Juris Doctorate with Honors from the University of Florida Levin Law School in 1990, Mr. Spilman practiced environmental and commercial litigation in the Tampa offices of prominent national and state-wide law firms Rudnick & Wolfe and Ackerman, Senterfitt & Eidson before opening his own firm, DBSPAlaw, in 1997.

His practice has included representation of individuals, profit and non-profit corporations, and government agencies in legal matters involving general civil, commercial, corporate, environmental and immigration law, and real estate & condominium development, as well as in civil, administrative & appellate litigation.

Mr. Spilman is also a graduate of the University of Florida College of Engineering Department of Materials Science, and a former faculty researcher at the UF Advanced Materials Research Center. Prior to earning his law degree, he served as Project Engineer for human clinical trials and technology transfer at the Bioglass® Research Center. He is the co-holder of two U.S. patents for implantable biomaterials and devices.

Together with Mr. Roux, Mr. Spilman also founded and presently serves on the board of directors of the Urban Food Park, Inc., a Florida non-profit promoting urban agriculture-based community wellness development and education.

His other non-profit experience has included service as a member and President of the board of directors of the Eldermed Family Health Clinic in Tampa, Executive Director of the Bay Area Migrant Farmworkers Outreach Project, a Volunteer Lawyer for the Haitian Asylum Project, counsel for the Dzogchen Buddhist Society of Florida, Inc., a Buddhist Temple established in Tampa, and for the Burlesque ABE Schaw, Inc., a Tampa Bay non-profit arts collaborative.