Private equity firm Brentwood Associates has acquired a majority interest in restaurant chain Chicken Salad Chick from Eagle Merchant Partners. Terms of the deal are confidential.
Doughnut chain Krispy Kreme introduced a new design with the opening of its latest Chicago-area location. The fourth of eight planned Krispy Kreme locations in the Chicagoland market, this unit operates from the world-famous Chicago Loop as part of a pedway in Block 37, a central shopping, dining and entertainment area with ample access to public transportation.
As part of a series of personnel moves to support the restaurant chain’s growth plans, Michael Goldberg was appointed chief executive officer for Ike’s Love & Sandwiches. In addition, Ike’s Love & Sandwiches tapped Will Coulehan to serve as vice president of operations.
Matt Merkle was hired to serve as vice president of sales for FOH, the designer and manufacturer of commercial grade serving solutions for the restaurant and hospitality industries.
Foodservice equipment and supplies dealer Edward Don & Company opened a distribution center in Auburn, Wash.
Smart Care Equipment Solutions transitioned Justin Verke to vice president of transformation from vice president of service. In this new role, Verke will work closely with Smart Care’s mergers and acquisition team performing operational integration and process implementation.
Matt Ratzlaff was appointed director of contract operations for Avanti Restaurant Solutions, a California-based foodservice equipment and supplies dealer.
Pizza industry veteran Brandon Solano was named CEO of RAVE Restaurant Group, a publicly traded company that owns and operates the Pie Five and Pizza Inn restaurant chains.
It’s not uncommon for leadership changes at high-profile companies such as McDonald’s to shake confidence in the organization. But initial feedback from industry analyst Morningstar has been positive to the series of leadership changes McDonald’s initiated on November 3.
The Society for Hospitality & Foodservice Management named its 2019-2020 Board of Directors. Robert Gordon, vice president of workplace services at American Express, will serve as president of SHFM.
Henny Penny, Hoshizaki America and Electrolux made a series of updates.
San Francisco’s popular high-end Saison restaurant got its start as a pop-up, as did New York City’s notable Bruno Pizza.
Foodservice equipment industry veteran Kyle Graalum joined Boelter Contract & Design as a national account manager.
For a generation of guests raised on celebrity chefs and reality cooking shows, open kitchens feed a collective craving for a seat inside the kitchen stadium — for the opportunity to get closer to chef, fire, flame and sizzle as part of the dining-out experience. And while they’re not for every concept, space or type of operator, open kitchens have become almost ubiquitous, adding energy, transparency and engagement in foodservice settings from fine and casual dining to campus, business and industry serveries, airport restaurants, fast casuals and even quick-service operations.
Coolgreens promoted Amanda Powell to vice president of operations from director of operations and training, a position she held since June 2018.
It has been said that Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., started the restaurant industry down the path to the farm to table movement back in 1971. In more recent years, this phenomenon has really blossomed, with an increasing number of restaurant operators creating on-site gardens, partnering with local farms to source meat and produce and, more recently, establishing their own full-scale farms that include animals. Homing in on one component of farms, beehives continue to create their own buzz among those operators particularly dedicated to the environment and sustainability.
As part of an internal sale, casual dining chain Razzoo’s Cajun Cafe will divest its Tricky Fish restaurant concept.
