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Restaurant chain leaders win execution award

Chain Leader magazine announces winners of its first Chain Leader Execution Awards: Brinker International Founder Norman Brinker, P.F. Chang's China Bistro CEO Rick Federico, Which Wich Founder and President Jeff Sinelli.

August 18, 2004

OAK BROOK, Ill., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/-- Chain Leader magazine, the only business-to-business publication written exclusively for chain restaurant executives, has announced the winners of its inaugural Chain Leader Execution Awards. Designed to honor leaders in the chain restaurant industry, the program comprises three separate awards:Legend:All of the chain restaurant executives who have appeared on the cover of Chain Leader since its debut in August 1996 were asked to name the industry leader who has inspired them the most in their career and has the greatest influence on today's chain leaders and the chain restaurant industry at large. The winner is Norman Brinker, founder and former chairman of Brinker International. Brinker founded Steak & Ale in 1996 and was named president of Pillsbury Restaurant Group in 1982. In 1983, he became chairman and CEO of Chili's Inc., which was renamed Brinker International in 1991. Brinker retired his position as chairman in 2003.Chain Leadership:The executives who have appeared on the cover of Chain Leader also voted for the person who currently has great influence on their company and the industry, taking into account his or her leadership, financial results and restaurant industry participation. The winner is Rick Federico, chairman and CEO of P.F. Chang's China Bistro. Federico began his restaurant career at 19 as a dishwasher at Steak & Ale. In the early 1980s, he co-founded Grady's, which was acquired by Brinker International in 1989. At Brinker, he served as president of the Italian concepts division. Federico joined P.F. Chang's as president in 1996, became CEO in 1997 and chairman in 2000.Protege:Chain Leader's readers were invited to nominate a young up-and- comer who is under 40 years old and has shown measurable achievement, strong leadership and great promise. Chain Leader's editorial staff selected the winner. The winner is Jeff Sinelli, founder and president of Which Wich. A former owner and operator of Dallas nightclubs, Sinelli founded the Mongolian stir- fry concept Genghis Grill in 1998. He sold the concept in 2003. Sinelli opened his first Which Wich sandwich shop in Dallas in December 2003. The Chain Leader Execution Awards will be presented on September 14, 2004 as part of Chain Leader Live, an educational and networking conference for chain restaurant executives. For more information about Chain Leader, the Chain Leader Execution Awards or Chain Leader Live, visit http://www.chainleader.com/ or call 630-288-8250.About Chain LeaderChain Leader magazine, which debuted in August 1996, delivers strategic insight and business analysis to headquarter-level executives of chain restaurant companies. Chain Leader is published monthly by Reed Business Information (http://www.reedbusiness.com/), the largest business-to-business publisher in the U.S., and a member of the Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE:RUK and) (NYSE:ENL).source:Chain Leadercontact:Mary Boltz Chapman of Reed Business, +1-630-288-8250, mchapman@reedbusiness.com