Partners
Kevin Brown brings over 30 years of
experience and leadership in the restaurant industry to his position of
President and Chief Executive Officer of Lettuce Entertain You®
Enterprises, Inc. (LEYE). LEYE is one of the most highly regarded multi-concept
restaurant companies with over 85 restaurants compromised of 37
individual concepts in 12 states.
As President and Chief Executive
Officer of Lettuce, Kevin’s emphasis is on continuing the trend of innovation
and creating new concepts while strategically growing existing successful
concepts. Kevin works with Chairman and Founder, Richard Melman, and other key
members of the Lettuce senior management team to continue to grow and develop
the company.
According to Kevin, “Great food, satisfied
employees, and taking care of our guests while creating growth opportunities
are my priorities in the years ahead. Lettuce is a great environment of
entrepreneurial spirit while operating with a strong stable team and a richly
developed culture. When you put the right people with the right concepts you
can create the excitement that has been the standard at Lettuce, and I am proud
to help continue the culture of the innovation of food and service that is
Lettuce’s reputation.”
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
Kevin has always been a very dedicated and hard worker. His first restaurant
job was in college working at Phillip’s Crab House in Ocean City, Maryland.
Kevin quickly fell in love with the restaurant business where he excelled and
quickly progressed through the ranks; he decided that this was what he wanted
to do for the rest of his career. He researched and found that Michigan State
had a hospitality program, enrolled and was accepted into the program. During
the school year, Kevin worked at a restaurant near campus and each summer he
would return to work at Phillip’s Crab House.
Restaurant companies were recruiting
from Michigan State’s hospitality program and, as fate would have it, Kevin was
the first candidate Rich Melman ever interviewed on a college campus. He was
offered a position in the Management Training Program during the course of the
interview; he accepted that same day. This was the start of Kevin’s journey
with Lettuce Entertain You® Enterprises.
Upon graduating in 1977, Kevin began
his career at LEYE working at R.J. Grunts, Lettuce’s original restaurant. In
his early years at Lettuce, Kevin also held positions as Manager at The Pump
Room, the company’s first fine dining concept, and in 1981 was awarded his
first partnership opportunity with the opening of Un Grand Café.
Kevin is fueled by a passion for
creating new restaurant concepts. He has worked to develop some of Lettuce’s most
popular restaurant concepts including Shaw’s Crab House and Mity Nice Grill.
Kevin’s creative drive also led to
the creation and growth of the highly successful Big Bowl, which opened May
1992, and was followed by several additional stores in Chicago as well as locations
in Minnesota and Virginia. Kevin spearheaded the entire process from concept, creation,
execution, growth and building a management team. The concept was purchased in
February, 2001 by Brinker International.
Throughout his career at LEYE,
Kevin’s successes were rewarded with increased responsibilities. He was made
President of Lettuce in 2001 where the affects of his natural leadership
instincts were expanding within the company. In 2003, Kevin was officially
named President and CEO of all of Lettuce Entertain You. Kevin’s leadership
style is more of a supportive coach who leads by example and has the ability to
yield loyalty and instill a desire to succeed within his team. Kevin’s
philosophy is driving success by being “better, not bigger” as an organization
and to continue to enhance and foster Lettuce’s reputation.
While a restaurateur at heart, Kevin
is a highly successful business executive with a keen understanding for
consumer trends. His very strong analytical skills, coupled with strong
financial skills and fanatical attention to detail have helped to more than
double the size of the business and elevate the professionalism within the
organization.
He enjoys time with his family and friends as he and
his wife like entertaining in their home. Kevin enjoys being quite active and
spending time outdoors. He is a committed participant in the community and
dedicates time to civic duties as a Board Member of The School of Hospitality Business
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