Fast Casual Industry Council Steering Committee Members

Geoff Alexander
President, Wow Bao
Since joining Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE) in May 1993, Geoff Alexander has worked with some of the most notable concepts in LEYE's ever-burgeoning local, national and international portfolio, including Mity Nice Grill; Shaw's Crab House; Big Bowl (NRN's Hot Concepts, May 2000); Vong's Thai Kitchen (VTK) named one of "Chicago's Top 20 New Restaurants," (Chicago magazine, May 2002), Shanghai Circus (now Big Bowl Chinese Express) inside nine Byerly's and Lund's grocery stores in the Minnesota market, Frankie's Scaloppine at the 900 Shops on North Michigan Avenue and now Wow Bao, a concept focusing on steamed Asian buns.

In January 2009 Alexander took the position of President of Wow Bao. In this role, Alexander's focus is on expanding the concept to other areas of Chicago and beyond, putting it on par with other quick-serve, fresh dining experiences.

Under Alexander's guidance, Wow Bao has implemented on-line ordering both from an iPhone app and from computer desktops for pick-up orders, bicycle delivery and domestic shipping. He has also installed self-ordering kiosks for guest ordering. Aside from pioneering the @baomouth twitterfeed into a well respected Chicago Social Media influencer, Alexander partnered with Foursquare to have Wow Bao as one of its first Chicago restaurants offerings. Wow Bao has also flourished through a text messaging platform that Alexander created.

Louis Basile
CEO, Wildflower Bread Company
Louis Basile is the CEO of Wildflower Bread Co. in Scottsdale, Ariz. He is considered one of the most passionate leaders in the Fast Casual restaurant segment. Wildflower is known for great food and a passion for its customers. Louis was on the founding committee of the Fast Casual Executive Summit and in 2008, was elected to lead the Fast Casual Executive Alliance as president. He is currently the Chairman of the FCIC Steering Committee.

Paul Barron
Chief Digital Brand Officer, Genghis Grill
Paul Barron, Chief Digital Brand Officer to Genghis Grill and founder of DigitalCoCo a digital branding group in South Florida. As an innovator of several leading industry food websites and executive events, Paul is involved in many new age trends for the restaurant industry. He is considered one of the trendsetters in digital brand development, social media and interactive web content for restaurants. Paul has been involved in new media and web based technology systems for more than 18 years. Coining the term Fast Casual and as the founder of FastCasual.com, the Fast Casual Executive Summit and the Fast Casual Alliance Paul spearheaded the growth and recognition of the Fast Casual segment over the past 15 years. As a restaurateur and consultant to many national and international brands, Paul continues to identify many emerging consumer trends for the restaurant business. The Fast Casual segment credits Paul and his insights as a major contributor of how Fast Casual is reforming the restaurant industry.

Linda Duke
CEO, Duke Marketing
Linda Duke is one of the founding members of the Fast Casual Executive Summit and was elected secretary of the alliance in 2008. Ms. Duke is CEO of Duke Marketing, which she founded in 1987 specializing in marketing for multi-location and franchise organizations. Ms. Duke has consulted with the top restaurant brands in the United States, and is a nationally recognized speaker, educator and a published author. She speaks frequently at restaurant and franchise industry and client conferences, and is a member of the board of directors of the California Restaurant Association’s Educational Foundation. Ms. Duke is a contributing writer for several restaurant, hospitality and franchise industry trade and business publications and an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University in San Francisco where she has taught Advertising Strategy to the MBA students. Ms. Duke holds bachelor degrees in both Advertising and Marketing and an Executive MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.

Don Fox
CEO, Firehouse of America LLC
Tapping his impressive 34 years in franchising, restaurant management, corporate management, R&D, and Human Resources, Don leads the strategic, nationwide growth of Firehouse of America, LLC, overseeing 400+ restaurants and 6,000 employees. He serves as a chief spokesperson, sits on various boards of influence in the restaurant community, and is a respected speaker, commentator and blogger for the restaurant business.

Passionate about traveling to baseball games with his family, Don is also a trumpeter, historian, and the published author of Patton’s Vanguard, a book about the United States Army Fourth Armored Division.

Ed Frechette
Senior vice president of marketing / owner, Au Bon Pain
Ed Frechette is the Senior vice president of marketing at Au Bon Pain, overseeing all aspects of marketing, concept design and brand-building. Ed started his career working in advertising in Chicago at Leo Burnett and DDB Needham on great all-American brands ranging from Kellogg’s to Busch Beer to Hamburger Helper. He then moved on to Dunkin’ Donuts, where he spent over 16 years working on everything from product marketing, sales promotion, field marketing and new-concept development. In his current role, Ed is helping to shape the future of Au Bon Pain through refinement of branding and marketing strategies, materials and tactics.

George Green
Vice president, Bread & Company
A native of New Orleans and graduate of the University of North Carolina, Green is currently spearheading the growth, expansion, training, and organizational development for Bread & Company — an artisan bakery/café chain based in Nashville, Tenn. During the current management team’s time with the company, Bread & Company has grown by 45% (mostly from same store sales growth), and boxed lunch sales have grown from $35,000 to $150,000 per month. For the last 2 years in a row, Bread & Company has been named to INC magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies. Only 148 food and beverage industry companies made the list this year.

Although Bread & Company is a leader in the implementation of technology, Green argues that nothing is more important than having great people serving great food. "From the very beginning of my career working for the Ralph Brennan family and the House of Blues, I realized that great food was not enough for success in the restaurant business. To be truly excellent, restaurants also needed great people and great people practices. Obviously, this is truer than ever with the challenging economic conditions and demographic trends we will all face in the months and years to come."

Geoff Hill
Vice president, Roark Capital Group
Geoff officially joined Roark Capital Group in January of 2010 as Vice President. Roark Capital is a Private Equity Firm based in Atlanta, GA with $1.5B of capital under management. At Roark, Geoff is responsible for leading the sourcing activity for the Firm’s franchise and multi-unit investments as well as working with the CEO’s and Management teams of the existing portfolio to help them grow and maximize value. Roark Capital currently owns 8 restaurant brands representing over 4000 locations worldwide and over $2B in system-wide sales.

Prior to joining Roark in January of 2010, Geoff Hill was the President of Cinnabon, part of FOCUS Brands the franchisor of 3,300 ice cream stores, bakeries, and cafes. In additional to his role as President of Cinnabon, at FOCUS Brands Hill held responsibilities for franchise sales, real estate, design & construction, and franchise administration.

Hill currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Governors for the Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) program for the International Franchise Association (IFA) and the Board of Trustees for the IFA Educational Foundation.

Valerie Killifer
Editorial Vice President of Foodservice Media, NetWorld Alliance
Valerie has been the senior editor of FastCasual.com for the past five years and has positioned herself as an industry expert. As the editorial vice president of foodservice media at NetWorld Alliance, she oversees the company’s two other restaurant-industry related websites, QSRweb.com and PizzaMarketplace.com. Valerie has been interviewed on foodservice trends by publications ranging from the Atlanta-Journal Constitution to The Washington Post discussing fast casual and general restaurant industry trends. She has been a professional journalist for more than 15 years.

Husein Kitabwalla
President, Retail Brand Group, LLC
As president, Husein Kitabwalla leads the strategic direction of the Retail Brand Group, LLC, Sodexo’s retail restaurant development team that offers Sodexo clients access to a comprehensive portfolio of nine fast-casual restaurant concepts in all of the most popular restaurant categories. Each of Retail Brand Group’s concepts, including the award-winning Jazzman’s Café and Pandini’s, is a fully-supported operation offering memorable, guest-pleasing dining experiences, and a reputation for innovation and service. Kitabwalla, who joined the company in 1999, is considered an industry expert on retail trends and operations and has spoken on the retail environment and creating an over the top customer experience at a number of events.

Born and raised in Kenya, Africa, Kitabwalla moved to the United States in 1987 when he received a scholarship to attend the College of Wooster in Ohio. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree, he began his career as a foodservice director at Ashland College in Ohio. At Ashland, Husein gained valuable experience in the non-commercial business segment as well as general operations, but it was his experience managing a collection of restaurants on Main Street USA at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., where he sharpened his skill for creating unforgettable customer experiences. As area operations manager, he oversaw the concept development and operations of six restaurants totaling over $30 million, and served on the President’s Council on Guest Services.

Husein has received many awards and accolades during his career and was named a “Mover and Shaper” in Restaurants & Institutions magazine.

Daniel Pittard
President & CEO, Rubio's Restaurants, Inc.
Mr. Pittard’s diverse background includes key executive positions at companies including McKinsey & Company, PepsiCo, Inc., and Amoco Corp. (now part of BP). As a partner at McKinsey & Company, Mr. Pittard served a wide range of clients including consumer companies that he helped develop profitable growth strategies and build new organizational capabilities. He was also active in the operations and technology practices as well as the Corporate Leadership Center. During his tenure at PepsiCo, Inc., he held several senior executive positions. These included senior vice president, operations for PepsiCo Foods International and senior vice president and general manager, new ventures for Frito-Lay. Most recently, Mr. Pittard has been a private investor serving on the boards of directors of private and public companies as well as on occasions serving as executive chairman and interim CEO.

Mr. Pittard graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a B.S. degree in industrial management and received an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He currently resides in the San Diego area.

Larry Reinstein
President and CEO, Fresh City
Larry Reinstein is President and CEO of Fresh City, a successful and fast growing multi-concept restaurant company featuring unique menu offerings and environments where the freshness of the food takes center stage. Founded in 1997 and under Mr. Reinstein’s leadership, Fresh City has successfully become an award winning, favorite fast-casual destination that is poised for national expansion. With numerous acclaims including the 2002 "Hot Concepts" award by Nation's Restaurant News presentedin Chicago at the National Restaurant show, Fresh City has evolved through strategic branding including the institution of a new community-centered marketing campaigns, the implementation of cutting-edge training programs, and the development of over 70 unique fusion-based menu items. Today, Fresh City offers a wide assortment of freshly made-to-order menu items, including salads, wraps, Asian noodle and stir-fry dishes and smoothies in a comfortably sophisticated, yet energized atmosphere.

Ian Vaughn
Chief Operating Officer, Fry Cook & Cashier, Raising Cane's
As the Chief Operating Officer for Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, Ian Vaughn is responsible for leading more than 90 restaurants and 3000 crewmembers. His goals are to continue spreading Raising Cane’s Vision to open great restaurants across the nation and eventually the world and to help bring Cane’s to the leader of quality chicken finger meals, great crews, cool culture, and active involvement in Cane’s communities.

Under Ian’s leadership, Raising Cane’s has been recognized nationally with numerous awards, most notably those voted on by Customers in the Sandelman & Associates Ratings who have placed Raising Cane’s in the Top 4 in all of QSR for overall Operational Experience for the past four consecutive years. These achievements along with many other’s progressed Ian to be promoted to the Chief Operating Officer in January, 2009, where he leads all of Operations, a variety of Human Resource functions, and many of Raising Cane’s strategic initiatives.

Jim Vinz
As president of Corner Bakery Cafe, Jim Vinz has taken an active role in growing the brand from five restaurants in Chicago to a nationally recognized bakery-cafe leader with 119 locations throughout the US. In his over 15 years with the brand, Jim is credited with leading the development of Corner Bakery Cafe’s acclaimed catering strategy, evolving the brand and initiating a strong franchise program – all setting the stage for the brand to more than double its footprint over the next four years. Deeply committed to ending childhood hunger in the U.S. by 2015, Jim serves as chairman of the 2011 Dine Out for No Kid Hungry and hopes to see our industry join together to raise $3 million during the 2011 Dine Out. Jim completed his undergraduate degree at Bethany Lutheran College and holds an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Dave Wolfgram
Founder of Go Roma & CEO of Forklift Brands, the parent company of Go Roma and Boudin Bakeries
Dave Wolfgram began his career in the restaurant industry in the 1970's managing Hedon Place, an independent restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. In 1979, he joined Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE), a Chicago, Illinois multi-concept restaurant company, where he held a variety of positions for a number of restaurant concepts.

In 1991, Wolfgram co-founded Maggiano's Little Italy and the Corner Bakery Café, a LEYE restaurant concept. In 1996, Corner Bakery Café was acquired by Brinker International, a Dallas, Texas based publicly-owned restaurant corporation (NYSE-EAT). Wolfgram served as president and led the Corner Bakery Café expansion across the United States until 2003, when he left to start the development of Go Roma Italian Kitchen. At the time of his departure, Corner Bakery Café had grown to 80 cafes, generating $140 million in annual sales.

In 2004, Wolfgram partnered with GESD Capital Partners, a San Francisco based private equity firm, to create Forklift Brands. Forklift Brands, in addition to Go Roma, operates Boudin Bakeries. Founded in the early days of the Gold Rush in 1849, Boudin Bakery is the creator of the Original San Francisco Sourdough French Bread.