Innkeeper's Story

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From Dancers to Innkeepers

from Chestnut Street Inn

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Jeff and Monika Sudakov both got their careers started as performers. Jeff was a professional musical theater performer in Southern California for over 15 years. Monika danced with a semi-professional ballet company in Southern California for 14 years before discovering she loved to cook.

When the Sudakovs got married in 1998, they moved to Las Vegas where both worked for a ticketing company that ran the box offices for 5 casinos, had the federal contract for all Hoover Dam tour ticketing and ran 26 concierge booths around town. Both worked their way into upper management while Monika finished her Master's Degree in Cultural Anthropology at UNLV.

By 2004, the Sudakov's had had enough of corporate life and decided to pursue their dream of owning a bed and breakfast/restaurant. They sold everything they owned, moved back to California to live with family and began looking for their dream house. The search lasted for 10 months, during which Jeff got a job as an apartment manager and Monika worked as a cocktail server at the Four Seasons Resort in Newport Beach.

Working within a tight budget and seeking a bed and breakfast that would have adequate dining space to be open to the public as a restaurant greatly limited the options they had. Fortunately, in November of 2004, the Chestnut Street Inn went up for sale. Jeff's dad and Monika flew out immediately to check the place out. It fit all their needs and was elegantly appointed so they could jump right in. They entered into contract and by February of 2005, they were running their dream bed and breakfast.

Jeff and Monika continue to enjoy the innkeeping life. Monika teaches numerous cooking classes and is working on several cookbooks. And who knows, maybe their theatrical roots will become useful again in the future in the format of a cooking show. In the meantime, they'll continue entertaining on a smaller scale, one guest at a time.

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