Darden Names Gene Lee as New CEO

Darden Restaurants named Gene Lee its CEO on Monday, giving the head job to the interim leader and former chief operating officer.

Lee has been running Darden Restaurants since October, shortly after activist investor Starboard Value replaced the company’s board of directors.

“It was clear that Gene was the best candidate and was the board’s unanimous choice,” said Darden Chairman and Starboard CEO Jeffrey Smith in a statement. “Gene has already done a terrific job improving the energy and attitude inside Darden and we expect the reinvigorated culture to continue to improve. Gene brings the perfect combination of restaurant-level operating experience, brand- and corporate-level management expertise, and thoughtful, focused, hands-on leadership.”

Before becoming interim chief executive officer, Lee worked for a year as chief operating officer and for six years as president of the specialty restaurant group.

Darden, Orlando’s only Fortune 500 company, is the parent of Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Seasons 52, Yard House, Capital Grille, Eddie V’s and Bahama Breeze restaurants.

“As President and Chief Operating Officer, and then as Interim CEO of Darden, I fully appreciate the possibilities of an improved and reinvigorated Darden,” Lee said in a statement. “I am incredibly excited to continue to work with the Board of Directors and to execute our common vision for Darden. I believe Darden has a fantastic future and look forward to continuing to work with Darden’s talented employee base in our collective effort to return Darden to the pinnacle of full service dining.”

Darden has been looking for a new CEO since Clarence Otis announced his departure in July after months of fighting with investment groups over the company’s direction. Otis was criticized for the $2.1 billion sale of Red Lobster to Golden Gate Capital and years of lagging sales at flagship Olive Garden.

Lee came to Darden in 2007 with the acquisition of RARE Hospitality International, where he was president. It was the parent company of LongHorn Steakhouse and Capital Grille.

Before working at RARE, Lee served in executive positions at Uno Restaurant Corp. and York Steak House Systems.

Lee grew up in Massachusetts and earned his MBA from Suffolk University in Boston.

This article appeared in print in the February 24th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.