Rich Melman
{{Short description|American restaurateur (born 1942)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rich Melman
| image =
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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1942}}{{cite web|url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/19881001/5992.html|title=The Man With the Golden Touch|last=Larson|first=Erik|date=October 1, 1988|work=Inc.|accessdate=May 23, 2011}}
| birth_place = United States
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| occupation = Chairman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises
| spouse = Martha Melman
| website = {{url|http://www.leye.com/company/rich.htm}}
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| children =
}}
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."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{{cite magazine |author= Cebrzynski, Gregg |url= http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_5_34/ai_59227913 |title= Richard Melman - chief executive officer of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc|magazine= Nation's Restaurant News |date=January 2000 |accessdate=February 2, 2007 }}
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{{cite magazine|url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/19950603/ISSUE01/10009519/just-desserts|title=JUST DESSERTS|author=Jeff Borden|date=Jun 3, 1995|magazine=Crain's Chicago Business}} 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. 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.{{cite web|author=Sheridan, Margaret |url=http://www.rimag.com/archives/2000/10b/interface-melman.asp |title=Richard Melman on Savoring Peace of Mind |publisher=Restaurant & Institutions Magazine |year=2000 |accessdate=February 2, 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428051814/http://www.rimag.com/archives/2000/10b/interface-melman.asp |archivedate=April 28, 2007 }}
Lettuce Entertain You
By 1988, Lettuce Entertain You encompassed 27 restaurants and yielded approximately $90 million. 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. In 2003, Kevin Brown assumed the CEO role.{{cite web |author= Carpenter, Dave |url= https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna13957408|title= Restaurateur sees salad days ahead |publisher= NBC News (Associated Press story also published on CBSNews.com) |date=July 20, 2006 |access-date=February 2, 2007 }} 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|date=May 2021}}
Family
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official|http://www.leye.com/about-us/partners/bios/richard-melman}}
- [http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/December-2007/The-7-Habits-of-a-Highly-Effective-Restaurateur/ Chicago magazine profile]
- {{cite news|last1=Silverman|first1=Ruth|title=Eat, Drink and be Melman|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1935725/eat_drink_and_be_melman_1/|work=The Daily Herald|location=Chicago, Illinois|date=October 15, 1986|pages=1-[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1935736/eat_drink_and_be_melman_2/ 2]|via=newspapers.com}}
{{Chicago}}
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Category:Businesspeople from Chicago
Category:American restaurateurs
Category:20th-century American Jews
Category:James Beard Foundation Award winners
Category:21st-century American Jews
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