By Rona Gindin
October 2009

The next time you dine in Golden Corral, say, or Macaroni Grill, look for the particular customer who’s getting the royal treatment by the staff. That middle-aged man may be not only the head of the entire restaurant chain, but also your neighbor. Winter Park has become a magnet for high-level restaurant executives, collectively calling the shots for about 2,000 eating establishments across the country. On Friday night one of the handful of honchos might be eating a hot dog next to you at a high school football game, but come Monday morning they might be deciding whether to change the recipe for the scallop appetizer you’ve been ordering for years, and contemplating whether their chain’s salad bar should feature cherry tomatoes or the smaller “grape” variety.

Serving foods from “hand-pulled pork” (Smokey Bones) to Five Cheese Ziti al Forno (Olive Garden), their restaurants range from the fast-casual chain Upper Crust Pizza Café to the American icon Red Lobster, which boasts 700 eateries and 63,000 employees.

Their congregation among the city’s leafy green streets is no coincidence, theorizes Rick Van Warner. When Van Warner relocated to Winter Park from a New York suburb in 1996, one restaurant corporate-type told him, “You guys from the North like a lot of trees, so you’ll probably end up in Winter Park.” And he did. Van Warner now hobnobs with executives as president of The Parquet Group, a national consulting and public affairs firm for restaurant and retail industries.  “Central Park on Park Avenue looks like Scarsdale or other U.S. towns in northern climes,” he points out. “No two houses look the same, and the canopy of trees makes it feel like an established community. Winter Park has great youth leagues and a lot of music and theater opportunities because Rollins College is here. It’s the kind of place where kids can still ride their bikes to the ice cream shop. Where else can you be a stone’s throw from nice shops and restaurants, yet also have bald eagles, ospreys and owls visiting the pine trees in your yard?”

Shade trees, strong schools and a sense of community are among reasons given by the executives for settling in this city of 25,000. Although most of these guys have relocated more than once for corporate job changes over the course of their careers, once here they quickly learned to call Winter Park home. We caught up with five of the men. The list of restaurant executives who also live in Winter Park includes Brian Wheeler, who owns the Tijuana Flats chain; cousins Bob and Jeff Yarmuth, owners of Sonny’s Bar-B-Q; Dave George, president of LongHorn Steakhouse; Gene Lee, president of Darden’s Specialty Restaurant Group; and Kim Lopdrup, president of Red Lobster. Several of them are – or were - in the upper echelon at Orlando-based Darden Restaurants.

Andrew “Drew” Madsen
President and COO, Darden Restaurants, Orlando

Madsen oversees operations, marketing, culinary and more for more than 1,600 Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants. In addition, he is responsible for purchasing, restaurant design, construction and other areas for all Darden restaurants. His previous management experience was in direct marketing and paper products.

Weekday mornings, without fail, if Drew Madsen is in town he’ll start his day at Palmano’s, the coffeehouse on Park Avenue. “It’s my morning routine,” says Madsen, who could certainly have employees fetch him cups of java all day long at the Darden corporate office. “As soon as they [Palmano’s staffers] see me, they get a large coffee with steamed 2-percent milk going. It’s ready by the time I get to the register.”

Madsen’s Palmano’s stop is one of many hangouts for the restaurant executive, who has made Winter Park his residence for 11 of his 53 years. You’ll find him and his wife, Paula, having a glass of wine on the sidewalk outside Eola Wine Company on Park Avenue. They also enjoy The Wine Room two blocks down, but Madsen prefers Eola Wine Company’s table service to The Wine Room’s self-serve debit-card system, explaining, “I prefer consuming over sampling.” Not far away you might see the couple, perhaps with their teenage twins, eating Turkish specialties at Bosphorous, where “the food is so fresh and it looks wonderful and it’s not terribly expensive and the people are friendly.” Frequently, they’ll dine at The Ravenous Pig on Orange Avenue – which is a top pick for other restaurant executives, too. “It’s a fun place,” Madsen says. “The food is a little more forward with more interesting flavor profiles, and the plate presentations are interesting.”

Madsen – surprisingly – is nearly invisible at the Olive Garden on Orlando Avenue. “They used to know who I am when I worked directly for Olive Garden,” he says, “but I’ve been gone from the inner circle for long enough that most of the managers don’t know who I am.”

As far as the distance between home and work, Madsen generally enjoys the “separation of church and state,” which is one reason he doesn’t mind the 25-minute drive to Darden’s office near John Young Parkway. “We picked the community first and foremost because it’s great for families,” he recalls. “If Dad had to drive a little bit longer, that’s not a big deal.”

After nine years on Via Tuscany, the Madsens built a lakefront “shingle-style house” on Lake Maitland in the Isle of Sicily. “It’s a little bit reminiscent of the house we had when we lived in Connecticut,” he explains. “It’s a relaxed, livable house, nothing real fussy, with a New Englandy feel.” The family spends time on the lake in their Moomba, a boat designed for wakeboarding and tubing. Madsen himself often holes up in a “little room on the end of the house with bay windows that looks at the lake.” There, in this “not real big, cozy room with high ceilings,” he relaxes while reading and sipping a glass of wine. He likes variety, but his company’s Master Sommelier George Miliotes recently turned him onto a “great alternative to chardonnay called viognier.” The Madsens’ social life revolves around friends the family made through the children, both in the neighborhood and at Lake Highland Preparatory School. The twins, a boy and a girl, are now students at Winter Park High School.

Even though Winter Park will be even less convenient to work this fall when Darden moves into its new corporate headquarters near the Beachline Expressway and Hunter’s Creek, he says he wouldn’t think of moving. “It feels like an established community with roots, history and a very good education,” he says. “Winter Park has a lot do – movies, restaurants, shopping. It’s got a look and feel all its own.”

Eric Holm
Owner, Metro Corral Partners, a Golden Corral franchisee, Orlando

After working as a busboy in a Gainesville Sonny’s Bar-B-Q as a young man, Holm pursued a career in food service, working in McDonald’s, Wendy’s and PoFolks. In 1988 he opened his first Angel’s Diner, and in 1994 he opened Bakely’s Restaurant and Bake Shop, both brands that he founded. In 1996 he bought four existing Orlando Golden Corrals as a franchisee. He has since expanded his portfolio to include 26 restaurants in Orlando and Atlanta. Until four years ago, he was also the largest franchisee of Sonny’s Bar-B-Q, with 15 restaurants.

When you hear that a couple are building a three-bedroom house, especially when their children are grown, you tend to envision a cozy retirement home. In the case of Eric and Diane Holm, you couldn’t be more wrong. Holm, a major Golden Corral franchisee, and his wife will spend a total of two years constructing a 14,000-square-foot Old World Mediterranean home in the College Point section of Winter Park, “across the lake from where [Macaroni Grill CEO] Brad Blum lives,” Holm points out.

They won’t be there alone all the time. In addition to luxurious perks like a media room, this building will house its own catering kitchen – and the empty nesters plan to make good use of it. “We’re building the house in part for charity fundraisers,” Holm explains. “We can use it for a lot of functions.” The Salvation Army, Ronald McDonald House and Camp Boggy Creek, for children with life-threatening and chronic illnesses, will be among those invited.

When they move into the College Point abode, the Holms will be having a homecoming, of sorts. Diane grew up and went to school in Winter Park. They have spent the last 13 years in nearby Maitland, but they have taken full advantage of their proximity to Winter Park’s bounty of restaurants. Admitting that he’s “pretty well-known in the restaurant industry around here,” the slow-talking Holm frequents the area’s steakhouses, rotating between Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar on Orlando Avenue, Ruth’s Chris at Winter Park Village and Del Frisco’s Prime Steak & Lobster on Lee Road – and that’s after visiting from two to seven of his own steak restaurants every day. Their business is reciprocal; the Ruth’s Chris manager occasionally will eat at the Altamonte Springs Golden Corral with Holm. “Our restaurants serve different purposes,” Holm, 53, observes. “Mine is sort of an everyday place to eat and Ruth’s Chris is more of a special occasion place to eat.” For a move away from red meat, he’ll opt for Luma on Park (“I like the management team there a lot; they do an exceptional job.”), 310 Park South, Houston’s and Brio Tuscan Grille.

Wouldn’t it be more convenient to build a Golden Corral in Winter Park, especially since Holm will soon call the city home? Nope. “Real estate is too pricy here,” he says. “It’s hard to charge what I charge for a great meal with real estate prices at Winter Park levels.”

Ian Baines
President and CEO, Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill, Orlando

Baines heads the Smokey Bones restaurant company with 68 restaurants in 16 states. He worked at Smokey Bones for Darden before leading the chain’s transition to a stand-alone company. His previous experience includes stints at Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Big Bowl Asian Kitchen and Toronto’s SIR Corp. Restaurants.

When Ian Baines moved to Central Florida three years ago to work at Smokey Bones, he was given two choices. “The people at Darden [which owned the chain at the time] said, ‘There are two areas you want to look at: Winter Park or Windermere.’ ” Together with his wife, Janet, and three children (now ages 17 to 22), Baines chose Winter Park. “Winter Park’s lakes and beautiful old trees reminded me of England, where I’m from, and Canada, where my wife is from and where I lived for 27 years,” the 53-year-old explains. “The streets are heavily tree-lined and there’s great flora. We have two English Springer Spaniels, and we’re near great neighborhoods for their walks. We also loved the retail areas and the little restaurants. Winter Park seemed to have much more of a neighborhood feel than some of the other areas we looked at.”

The house the Baines call home is the kind of structure you’d find in New Orleans. Built in 2004, it has two stories, with upstairs and downstairs porches in front, each wrapped in wrought iron. The house has five bedrooms and a swimming pool. “We love to entertain and we often use the outdoor kitchen,” Baines says.

When they’re not hosting co-workers for dinner or having their evening meals in separate cities because Baines is traveling for business, the couple spend a great deal of time at The Ravenous Pig. “We go out later in the evening and sit at the bar and just have two or three appetizers rather than a full meal,” he says. “The bartenders know us. The menu changes daily, and it’s always interesting. I was a chef for the first 12 years of my career; I love food, and I think The Ravenous Pig does an excellent job.” For special treats, the couple dines at Luma on Park, and on occasion they blissfully sit at a Park Plaza Gardens high-top and “watch the world go by.” Family meals are often at Houston’s, and take-out is frequently from Siam Garden. When they’re willing to take a drive, it’s frequently for Vietnamese noodles and soups at Pho 88 on Mills Avenue near East Colonial Drive. The only downside? “It’s a struggle to find good Indian food.”

Baines laments that while the Orlando area is “interesting,” it’s not a culture capital, yet he treasures the “pleasant surprises” that he has discovered. “We love the museum with the Tiffany glass [The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art]. That’s always on our list of places to go when people visit. Guests are always surprised at the extent and the quality of that little museum there.”

With their third child off to college, the Baines now have all 4,300 square feet – plus that outdoor kitchen – practically to themselves. (Their 22-year-old son lives with them.) That’ll give them more time to go out and find places that serve the quality of Indian food they seek.

Brad Blum
Chief Executive Officer and part owner, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Dallas

After stints with General Mills, Darden and Burger King, of which he was Chief Executive Officer from 2002 to 2004, Blum took the reins of the 220-restaurant Romano’s Macaroni Grill chain, owned mostly by Golden Gate Capital. He also owns BLUM Enterprises, which runs two restaurants in New York City.

If you see Brad Blum’s house, you won’t be surprised that it’s in Mediterranean style – not if you know his restaurants, anyway. The red roof tiles, the adobelike exterior, the arched entryways … they all make sense when you hear about his food-service preferences, such as how he incorporates Mediterranean-eating styles into his health-oriented menus. As CEO of Romano’s Macaroni Grill, he’s making the menu more Mediterranean – more olive oil, more lemon, more vegetables, more seafood, less saturated fat. And as owner of BLUM Enterprises, he wove the Mediterranean mantra of low-fat flavorful cooking and respect for the environment into two casual New York City restaurants, Dogmatic Gourmet Sausage Systems and Green Canteen.

Respect for the European way of doing things goes back to 1975, when the Cincinnati native spent his junior year of college living in Copenhagen. Before moving to Orlando in 1994, he resided in Switzerland for four years, and he traveled extensively throughout Italy. So when he did a quick area tour before joining Olive Garden’s executive team here, he found that Winter Park “had the most European feel of any of the Central Florida communities, even a little New England type of feel to it.” He designed a house overlooking Lake Virginia and eventually expanded the property to include a private park. “It has a brick street out front, you can see Rollins College with its Mediterranean architecture, it’s a short walk to Park Avenue … it feels like a little Italian environment.”

Although business keeps Blum in Dallas much of the time because that’s where the chain is headquartered, he visits the Winter Park house periodically, mostly to unwind. He shops for groceries in Whole Foods and enjoys casual meals at Antonio’s Café in Maitland and more formal ones at Enzo’s on the Lake in Longwood.

Now “a young 55 ☺,” as he wrote in an e-mail, Blum lives the healthful lifestyle he preaches. In a separate building, which was designed for entertaining and business meetings, he frequently uses a treadmill that overlooks the park and Lake Virginia. He also does cardio and weight training exercises at the city’s Wellness Zone. Winter Park is his place of relaxation. “It’s quaint and comfortable and friendly with interesting people,” he says. “I get good exercise, I eat good food, I get some rest and spend time with friends.”

Now that Macaroni Grill is boosting flavor while slashing calories, why doesn’t Winter Park have its own? “Because I haven’t been [with the chain] long enough,” Blum laughs.

David Manuchia
President and CEO, Restaurant Partners Inc., Orlando

Manuchia, who has an MBA in Finance from Rollins College, joined what was then the General Mills Restaurant Group (now Darden Restaurants) in 1981 as a Red Lobster accountant and then helped create Olive Garden in 1982. In 1992 he founded Restaurant Partners Inc., which currently owns or operates nine restaurants in Florida and Alabama. They are Market Street Café, Upper Crust Pizza, Grille 29 and Sloppy Joe’s.

These days David Manuchia spends his time at home quietly, sitting on his 50-year-old house’s covered back deck overlooking his pool, perhaps reading one of the 300 spy novels in his library or Sunday’s The New York Times. “That’s my escape,” the energetic entrepreneur explains. “That’s where I do my thinking.” When he takes a break to swim, Jimmy Buffett tunes play through the speakers.

This house didn’t start out so quiet. When Manuchia first moved into the 1958 “Key West feel” home (with a 1990 expansion) eight years ago, his entourage included four children in middle and high school. In fact, Manuchia chose Winter Park for his new Central Florida home because he’d heard the public schools were good. (He previously lived in the Conway area.) After moving into the 3,000-square foot home near Windsong, they ended up mostly in nearby private educational facilities, including Trinity Preparatory School and Lake Highland Preparatory School. “They made a lot of friends here,” he recalls. “And it was like a melting pot because the neighborhood kids went to so many different schools, and each has a different culture. That diversity gave them all a broader sort of perspective.”

The Manuchia hideaway is in part about charm. “The thing I like most is that I can stand at the foot of the street and see a canopy of trees,” he adds. “The houses are a bit older and 1,200-square-foot homes with carports are near new $2 million houses with tile roofs. It’s an eclectic mix. It has the feeling of a lived-in neighborhood, not manufactured.” His house’s front porch railing adds to the local color, as does his backyard banana tree. “I have quiet neighbors, which is perfect, and I’m near everything: the hospital, shopping and restaurants. I love to run through Windsong and around the lakes.” He works out regularly at the Crosby Wellness Center YMCA.

When it’s time to eat locally, Manuchia – despite his devotion to eating healthfully – is quick to indulge in the fried seafood at Boston’s Fish House on Aloma Avenue. “I’m from up north, and Boston’s Fish House has fresh seafood with a touch of ‘up north,” such as scallops and Ipswich clams, he says. “It’s all fried, but that’s OK. That’s where I cheat.” For those less-fat and more upscale meals, he drives to Hemingway’s at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Lake Buena Vista. He insists that has “some of the best and freshest seafood.” Out of town, he’s a frequent guest at the Council Oak Steakhouse at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa. Five days a week, the restaurant imports Alaskan king crab legs from the Bering Sea. “Those crab legs are just fantastic,” he says.

He can often get his children to join him at Houston’s, which Manuchia likes so much that he used the concept as a foundation for his more-upscale Grille 29 chain. But the seasoned restaurateur often ends up eating at lower-end chain restaurants he doesn’t love on Thursdays, when he lets whichever of his three sons is available choose the locale for a one-on-one dinner. “I don’t want to mention the restaurants’ names because we sometimes go,” he laughs. When Manuchia is out on the town with his father, only Olive Garden will do. “He just likes it,” the dutiful son concedes.

Manuchia may be holed up on his deck when he’s in town, and his house may be fenced in, but at 53 the single dad is still one of the gang. For years, a politically active neighbor has hosted a Thursday evening happy-hour in his driveway. “Everyone brought a folding chair, coolers and their own bottle, and they sat around and shot the breeze,” Manuchia says. “Sometimes, still, he’ll invite a local politician and all of us.” Manuchia always traveled too much to attend often, yet the social coordinator called with reminders just the same.

That kind of camaraderie goes a long way. “Everyone looks out for each other,” Manuchia points out. When his garage door was broken and open all day, neighbors called in case he didn’t know. And after the hurricanes five years ago, his sons cleared fallen trees from area driveways.

So pleased is Manuchia with his locale that four years ago he moved his father to nearby Baldwin Park. “It’s close to us, and I shop there, we eat down there once in awhile, he can get around easily … it’s clean and it’s safe.”