Joast currently assists all Lettuce properties in his capacity as Founding Partner and Executive Vice President, Operations. Fred is a troubleshooter and a master at organizing the back of the house or kitchen operations. He then became a partner in the company and was heavily involved in the creation, planning, and development of the second Lettuce property, Fritz, That’s It! in Evanston, Illinois and the majority of the restaurants to follow. He consulted with Richard Melman on the development of the first Lettuce property, R.J. Joast joined Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants in 1973, was one of the first to become part of the organization. He and his wife Martha have been married for forty-one years and have three children who are successful restaurateurs themselves.įred Joast says it’s the opportunities for creative expression and challenge that keep him enamored of the world of restaurants. Melman's personal life revolves around his family. Melman’s commitment now is to develop the young leaders of Lettuce to ensure that the company will be around for another 50 years. He places enormous value on the over 7,000 people who work for Lettuce and feels tremendous responsibility for their continued success. He has always just wanted to be the best he can be. Melman's guiding philosophy is that he is not interested in being the biggest, the richest or the most well-known restaurateur. To operate so many restaurants well, Lettuce has needed to hire, train and develop people, and then keep them happy and focused on excellence. Today, Melman has 70 working partners, most of whom have come up through the organization. Through his relationship with Orzoff, Melman formulated a philosophy based on the importance of partners, of sharing responsibilities and profits with them, and of developing and growing together. Melman and Orzoff continued to develop restaurant concepts together until Orzoff's death in 1981. Here Melman and Orzoff presented food differently and with a sense of humor, creating the youthful and fun restaurant which was a forerunner in the trend towards dining out as entertainment that swept this country in the early 1970s. Grunts, a hip burger joint that soon became one of the hottest restaurants in Chicago. Orzoff, a man who immediately and unconditionally believed in Melman's ability to create and run restaurants. After realizing that he wasn't cut out to be a college student, and failing to convince his father that he should be made a partner in the family business, Melman met Jerry A. The restaurant business has been Melman's life work, beginning with his early days in a family-owned restaurant, and later as a teenager working in fast food eateries, at a soda fountain, and selling restaurant supplies. Richard Melman is the Founder and Chairman of Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, a Chicago-based corporation that owns over 125 restaurants nationwide. Founder of Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants
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