2021 Power 50: Robb & Madeleine Ahlquist and Caitlyn & Keith Carolan
(clockwise from lower left) Madeleine & Robb Ahlquist and Caitlyn & Keith Carolan
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It’s as difficult of a time for restaurateurs in perhaps generations, with the coronavirus pandemic pummeling the industry. But as it has for decades with three of Worcester’s most popular restaurants, the Worcester Restaurant Group adapted and survived, first by adapting to the initial wave of the crisis by offering takeout with the same high level of service, and then by installing high-quality air filtration systems to ensure guest safety.
Now, after leading the company for 42 years, Robb and Madeleine Ahlquist are moving into an advisory role, handing the business off to their daughter Caitlyn Carolan and her husband, Keith Carolan.
Overseeing three of Worcester’s best known restaurants won’t be entirely unfamiliar to the Carolans. Keith was most recently the group’s beverage director and Via’s general manager, and Caitlyn, now the Worcester Restaurant Group’s president, has spent 14 years with the company in various management roles.
What do you think the future holds for Central Mass.? Robb: “Worcester is becoming a magnet for young people to live, work and recreate … This will bring more opportunity and diversity of opportunities that become a self-perpetuating momentum that will take Worcester forward.”
An avid cyclist: To celebrate his 60th birthday, Robb rode a bike across the U.S. from San Francisco, to Portsmouth, N.H.
A teacher at heart: Madeleine was a teacher for 10 years before creating The Sole Proprietor and was asked, by the State of New York, to create content and questions for the New York Regent Exams.
A love story: Caitlyn & Keith met in New York City, their first date was a matinee of “King Kong” and they were later engaged at the top of the Empire State Building.
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