Our Team

Austin Crawford, general manager of Del Mar in Columbus, got his start with Cameron Mitchell Restaurants (CMR) in 2007 as a sales associate at Mitchell’s Ocean Club. After moving to Chicago for a few years, Crawford found his way back to Columbus and CMR as a dining room manager at Marcella’s Polaris in 2022. In 2025, Crawford transitioned as the General Manager of Del Mar Easton.

A native of Calgary, Crawford studied commercial design at Columbus College of Art & Design and has a minor in business. He is a member of two professional organizations, Leadership Team Development and Inner-Circle Mentorship. Crawford also holds multiple art & design achievement awards.

Sparking his interest in hospitality, Crawford recalls a memory from early in his career. “…there was a moment in the middle of the dining room on a Saturday night, with the lights, the music, the energy, the hustle, and the comradery that really grabbed hold of my heart. Coupled with a genuine desire to host a crowd, entertain, and deliver some ‘showmanship’ while making a living… I was sold.”

Looking forward, Crawford hopes to learn more about himself as a leader and make a lifelong impact on all the people he has been trusted with the privilege to coach and mentor. “CMR has provided an environment for me to gain mentorship, to thrive and grow in many areas of my life,” Crawford says.

Crawford currently resides in Powell, Ohio with his family. His favorite dishes from CMR are the Melted Pecorino Cheese from Marcella’s and Cameron’s Walleye from Cameron’s American Bistro. Outside of work, Crawford enjoys graphic design, real estate, road biking, hiking and collecting stamps in his passport.

After leading kitchens at Ocean Prime outposts in Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Boston for years, assisting in the development and opening of Valentina’s in Dublin, Ohio in 2023, and nearly two decades of extensive fine dining experience, Mitchell Brumels joins the Del Mar Columbus team as Executive Chef. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), he has trained under world-renowned chefs and is active in the pursuit of furthering his mastery of the craft.

Prior to joining Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, Chef Brumels was executive chef for nine years at Vitale’s restaurants in Michigan, which was named “Italian Restaurant of the Year” four times by Dining Out magazine. Prior to Vitale’s, he spent two years as executive chef of the award-winning Italian restaurant Tre Cugini in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which received “Restaurant of the Year” awards from On The Town magazine
both years that he was running the kitchen.

Brumels entered the restaurant industry as a dishwasher at age 16 and quickly moved up in the kitchen. Always eager to learn, he took a job at a fine dining Italian restaurant to work under a CIA graduate. Seeing Brumels’ merit, the chef later encouraged him to also apply to the CIA. Listening to the chef’s advice, Brumels went to the famed New York culinary school and graduated top 10 in his class in 1999.

A true Michigander at heart, Brumels enjoys ice carving, fly fishing, the outdoors, and food.