Rich Melman

Last updated

Rich Melman
Born1942 (age 8081) [1]
United States
Occupation Chairman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises
SpouseMartha Melman
Website www.leye.com/company/rich.htm

Rich Melman (born 1942) is an American businessman, and the founder and chairman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a privately held restaurant company with more than 100 venues. [2] [3]

Contents

In 1971, Melman and Jerry A. Orzoff founded R.J. Grunts in Lincoln Park in Chicago. Melman and Orzoff continued their partnership, developing a number of restaurants, until Orzoff died in 1981. Melman continued his philosophy of "partnership" and now has 37 working partners.

Early life

Melman grew up in a Jewish family [4] in Chicago. As a child, he sold ice cream and peanuts at Chicago beaches and even sold eggs door to door. He unsuccessfully attended three different colleges. [1] At 14, he started working for the family restaurant business. After his father rebuffed his inquiries to buy into the partnership, he struck out on his own. Persistence led him to Orzoff, who was the first businessperson to take him seriously. [5]

Lettuce Entertain You

By 1988, Lettuce Entertain You encompassed 27 restaurants and yielded approximately $90 million. [1] Some of their best-known restaurants include Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak, & Stone Crab, Ed Debevic's, Wildfire Grill, Mon Ami Gabi, Beatrix and RPM Italian. On January 1, 2000, he passed the title and duties of chief executive to Steve Ottmann. [3] In 2003, Kevin Brown assumed the CEO role. [6] The separate consulting business has served McDonald's Corp., Chart House and Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits. In fact, it was instrumental in the development of Popeyes Cajun Kitchen.[ citation needed ]

Family

He is the father of two sons and a daughter – R.J., Jerrod, and Molly, who all work in the company. His wife is Martha. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Rancic</span> American businessman

William Rancic is an American entrepreneur who was the first candidate hired by The Trump Organization at the conclusion of the first season of Donald Trump's reality television show The Apprentice. He is married to E! News host Giuliana Rancic and currently resides in Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church's Texas Chicken</span> Chicken restaurant chain

Church's Texas Chicken is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The chain was founded as Church's Fried Chicken To-Go by George W. Church Sr. on April 17, 1952, in San Antonio, Texas, across the street from The Alamo. Church's Texas Chicken trades as Texas Chicken or Church's Chicken in many countries. The chain is currently owned by American private equity firm High Bluff Capital Partners. As of 2017, Church's Texas Chicken had more than 1,700 franchised and company-owned locations in 26 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popeyes</span> American multinational chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., also known as Popeyes and formerly named Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits, is an American multinational chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants formed in 1972 in New Orleans, Louisiana and headquartered in Miami. It is currently a subsidiary of Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International. As of 2021, Popeyes has 3,705 restaurants, which are located in more than 46 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 30 countries worldwide. About 50 locations are company-owned; the vast remainder are franchised.

Marriott Corporation was a hospitality company that operated from 1927 until 1993, founded by J. Willard Marriott and Frank J. Kimball as Hot Shoppes, Inc. In 1957, Marriott Corporation opened its first hotel in Arlington County, Virginia, United States as the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corner Bakery Cafe</span> American chain of cafes

Corner Bakery Cafe is an American chain of cafes that specialize in pastries, breads, breakfast dishes, gourmet sandwiches, homemade soups, salads, and pasta. Corner Bakery Cafe is considered to be a part of the fast casual market segment of the food service industry, offering a somewhat higher quality of food and atmosphere than a typical fast food restaurant, and offering limited table service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggiano's Little Italy</span> American casual dining restaurant chain

Maggiano's Little Italy is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. The company was founded in Chicago's River North neighborhood, at Clark Street and Grand Avenue, in 1991 by Rich Melman's Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE), and was named after Melman's late partner, Marvin Magid. The concept was acquired by Brinker International, Inc. in August 1995 from LEYE. As of March 22, 2021, there were 54 locations throughout 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Jean Joho is a French-American chef and restaurateur. He was chef and proprietor of Everest in Chicago, Paris Club Bistro & Bar and Studio Paris in Chicago, The Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Las Vegas, and Brasserie JO first in Chicago, then in Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potato skins</span> Potato dish

Potato skins, also sometimes referred to as potato jackets, are a snack food or appetizer made of unpeeled potato halves, hollowed and dressed with bacon, cheddar cheese and green onions before being baked again. They are commonly found on the menus of casual dining restaurants in the United States. While popularly eaten in restaurants and pubs, these snacks are also commonly made at home or can be purchased frozen at grocery stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe's Stone Crab</span> Restaurant in Florida, USA

Joe's Stone Crab, also known as Joe's Stone Crabs, is an American restaurant in Miami Beach, Florida. Joe Weiss began his Miami Beach career by cooking at Smith's Casino beginning in 1913. On December 4, 1920, Joe officially opened his own restaurant at 213 Biscayne Avenue, practically across the street from the restaurant he operated for Smith’s Casino. Joe's is the biggest buyer of Florida stone crab claws, and it plays a significant role in the industry, influencing the wholesale price and financing many crabbers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises</span> Hospitality group based in Chicago

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE) is a restaurant group currently comprising 120 or more restaurants mainly located in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded by Rich Melman and Jerry A. Orzoff in 1971.

Richard Michael Tramonto is a Chicago chef and cookbook author. He was executive chef and partner in Tru, a contemporary fine-dining restaurant from Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises.

The Pump Room was a restaurant established on October 1, 1938 by Ernie Byfield. It closed in 2017, then reopened under different names. It is located in the Ambassador Chicago hotel, formerly known as the Ambassador East, on the northeast corner of State Parkway and Goethe Street in Chicago's Gold Coast area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wimpy (restaurant)</span> Restaurant chain

Wimpy is a fast-food chain that was founded in the United States. It found its success internationally, mainly in the United Kingdom and South Africa. It has changed between being a table-service establishment and counter-service establishment throughout its history.

Gale Gand is a Chicago-based pastry chef, cookbook author, television personality, and winner of the 2001 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef. Gand was the host of the Food Network show Sweet Dreams. She was the Chef-in-Residence at Elawa Farm, in Lake Forest, Illinois. Gand is a partner and was the founding Executive Pastry Chef at Tru, a contemporary fine-dining restaurant affiliated with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. Gand and her partners at Tru won the 2007 James Beard Foundation Award for Service. She has blogged for the Huffington Post, was a contestant on Iron Chef America in the 2006–2007 season, and was a judge on Bravo's Top Chef in 2008 for the episode Wedding Wars. Gand was also featured on the Great Chefs television program.

The Great Gritzbe's Flying Food Show was the name of a popular Chicago restaurant during the 1970s.

Tru was a French restaurant located in the Streeterville neighborhood in Chicago. Tru was opened in 1999 by Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand with the backing of Rich Melman's Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. It was a Michelin one-star restaurant since the Chicago guidebook's inception in 2011; in 2017 the restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars. Since 2008, the Executive Chef was Anthony Martin. The restaurant closed on October 7, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mon Ami Gabi</span> Restaurant in Illinois, United States

Mon Ami Gabi is a chain of French bistros in the United States operated by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. Mon Ami Gabi has five locations, with the original located in Lincoln Park, Chicago.

Belinda Chang is a James Beard Award winning American sommelier, writer, and restaurateur. Chang has been the wine and service director for multiple critically acclaimed restaurants in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York City. She has authored wine notes for several cookbooks, including Charlie Trotter’s Meat and Game, and as a host on the Fine Living Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambassador East</span> Hotel in Chicago

The Ambassador Chicago, known for many decades as the Ambassador East, is a historic hotel in Chicago, established in 1926. In their heyday, both the hotel and its iconic restaurant, The Pump Room, were frequented by celebrities.

Alma Lach was an American chef, cookbook author, and food consultant.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Larson, Erik (October 1, 1988). "The Man With the Golden Touch". Inc. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  2. "Let Us Now Praise R.J. Grunts: How Rich Melman and his Lettuce Entertain You empire set the scene for Chicago's culinary revolution," Chicago Reader , April 14, 2006
  3. 1 2 Cebrzynski, Gregg (January 2000). "Richard Melman - chief executive officer of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved February 2, 2007.
  4. Jeff Borden (June 3, 1995). "JUST DESSERTS". Crain's Chicago Business .
  5. Sheridan, Margaret (2000). "Richard Melman on Savoring Peace of Mind". Restaurant & Institutions Magazine. Archived from the original on April 28, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2007.
  6. 1 2 Carpenter, Dave (July 20, 2006). "Restaurateur sees salad days ahead". NBC News (Associated Press story also published on CBSNews.com). Retrieved February 2, 2007.