Arby’s To Acquire Buffalo Wild Wings and OpenTable’s Open Heart for Hungry Kids

The #GivingTuesday edition of MRM’s Daily Bite features Arby’s and Buffalo Wild Wings, OpenTable and No Kid Hungry, The American Culinary Federation, Legacy Hall as well as Chicago Faucets and The Handwashing Leadership Forum.

Send news items to Barbara Castiglia at bcastiglia@modernrestaurantmanagement.com.  

Arby’s Makes Deal for Buffalo Wild Wings 

Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. will acquire Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. in a transaction valued at approximately $2.9 billion, including Buffalo Wild Wing’s net debt.  The companies entered into a definitive merger agreement for $157 per share in cash which has been unanimously approved by both companies’ Boards of Directors and represents a premium of approximately 38 percent to Buffalo Wild Wing’s 30-day volume-weighted average stock price as of November 13, 2017, the latest trading day prior to news reports speculating about a potential transaction. Following the close of the transaction, Buffalo Wild Wings will be a privately-held subsidiary of Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. and will continue to be operated as an independent brand. Paul Brown will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the parent company.

“Buffalo Wild Wings is one of the most distinctive and successful entertainment and casual dining restaurant companies in America,” said Brown. “We are excited to welcome a brand with such a rich heritage, led by an exceptionally talented team. We look forward to leveraging the combined strengths of both organizations into a truly differentiated and transformative multi-brand restaurant company.”

“We are excited about this merger and confident Arby’s represents an excellent partner for Buffalo Wild Wings,” added Sally Smith, CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings. “This transaction provides compelling value to our shareholders and is a testament to the hard work and efforts of our talented Team Members and franchisees. We are confident that the strength of our two industry-leading brands, under the sponsorship of Roark Capital – an experienced restaurant and food service investor – will enable us to capitalize on significant growth opportunities in the years ahead.”

The transaction is not subject to a financing condition and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2018, subject to the approval of BWW shareholders and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals.

Arby’s is majority owned by affiliates of Roark Capital Group (Roark), an Atlanta based private equity firm that focuses on investing in franchised and multi-unit businesses in the restaurant, retail and other consumer sectors. Affiliates of Roark are committing all of the equity that, together with the proceeds of debt financing, will be necessary to complete the transaction. Certain funds advised by Marcato Capital Management, LP, which own approximately 6.4 percent of the outstanding shares of Buffalo Wild Wings, have entered into an agreement to vote in favor of the transaction.

Barclays is serving as financial advisor and White & Case LLP is serving as legal counsel to ARG. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor and Faegre Baker Daniels LLP is serving as legal counsel to BWW.

Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. is the parent company, owner-operator, and franchisor of the Arby’s brand. Arby’s, founded in 1964, has more than 3,300 restaurants in seven countries. Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc., founded in 1982 and headquartered in Minneapolis has more than 1,250 Buffalo Wild Wings locations in 10 countries. 

OpenTable Diners Can Donate Points to Help End Childhood Hunger 

In the spirit of the holiday season, OpenTable diners will have the opportunity to donate their OpenTable dining points to No Kid Hungry®, a campaign of the national anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength.

Every 100 OpenTable points donated can provide up to five meals to children in need.

Through OpenTable’s relationship with longtime non-profit partner Share Our Strength, points donations made beginning on Tuesday, November 28th through Monday, December 11th, will benefit the No Kid Hungry® campaign, which provides nutritious meals to children struggling with hunger in America. Every 100 points donated can provide a child in need with up to five healthy meals. To deepen the impact of this effort, OpenTable will match donations.

“While the holidays are a special time for dining with friends and family, we cannot forget about those who don’t have that opportunity or know when they’ll receive their next meal,” said Scott Jampol, OpenTable Senior Vice President of Marketing. “We, along with our restaurant partners, hope diners embrace this opportunity so that together we can make a real difference in supporting hungry children this holiday season.”

To donate points, diners can simply visit their profile page to view their points and select “donate my points.”  From there, they’ll have an opportunity to donate a portion or all of their points in support of No Kid Hungry®. OpenTable will match the first 100,000 meals donated by diners. 

Eight Chefs Selected to Represent the U.S. on ACF Culinary Team USA

After a rigorous selection process, eight talented chefs from across the United States have been named to the The American Culinary Federation (ACF) Culinary Team USA 2020, the official representative for the United States in major international culinary competitions.

“This impressive group of professionals has earned the opportunity to represent American chefs and cuisine on the global stage, and we are more than confident that they are up to the challenge,” said ACF National President Stafford T. DeCambra, CEC, CCE, CCA, AAC. “We look forward to following their progress as they train, and to cheering their successes in the coming years.”

The chefs, who were chosen after completing a multi-part application and competition process earlier this year, gathered for the first time on Nov. 11 and 12 for a practice session in Madison, Wisconsin. The inaugural gathering, sponsored by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, included a fundraising dinner with support from Mad City ACF Chapter. The team prepared a four-course menu in a competition-style format.

In the practice sessions and fundraisers over the coming year, the chefs will work with the team’s coaches and managers to prepare their first competition at the Culinary World Cup/EXPOGAST 2018 in Luxembourg. The team will go on to compete in a variety of international events culminating in the 2020 Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung, commonly referred to as the “culinary Olympics,” in Stuttgart, Germany.

“Not all chefs are great competitors, but the skills that lead to success in competition are valuable to all chefs,” said ACF Culinary Team USA Manager Reimund Pitz, CEC, CCE, AAC. “In assembling this Culinary Team USA, we looked for culinarians who demonstrated consummate skill and creativity, the ability to work as part of a team and a fierce dedication to the craft. As experienced competitors ourselves, the leadership team and I will endeavor to pass on our wisdom to these chefs, and to ensure that each of them has the resources they need to hone their abilities even further.”

The eight chefs of the 2020 ACF Culinary Team USA are:

• Stephen Bush, CEC, team chef, sous chef at The Club at Mediterra in Naples, FL
• Andrew Corrao, CCC, CEPC, team pastry chef, banquet/pastry chef at Bambara Restaurant in Salt Lake City, UT
• Gerald Ford, CMC, team chef, senior sous chef at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, FL
• Thomas Haggerty, CCC, team chef, sous chef at the Gasparilla Inn in Boca Grande, FL
• Geoffrey Lanez, CEC, team chef, sous chef at Somerset Club and CEO/owner of Burrd Productions in Boston, MA
• Robert Marilla, CEC, team chef, chef instructor at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC
• Kelsee Newman, CEPC, team pastry chef, pastry arts instructor at Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College in Cincinnati, OH
• Lyn Wells, team chef, sous chef at Cowboy Kitchen/Club in Wellington, UT and adjunct instructor at Utah Valley University Culinary Arts Institute

ACF Culinary Team USA began competing in international competitions in 1956. The 1960 team captured the first world championship honor at the IKA and repeated the distinction in 1980, 1984 and 1988. In 2012, Team USA won a silver medal in cold-food presentation and a silver medal in the hot-food kitchen, placing sixth overall. At the last IKA in 2016, the team earned the top score and the overall gold medal in culinary art in the cold-food competition and ranked fourth in the world among 30 teams.

ACF Culinary Team USA is currently sponsored by Browne Foodservice, Friedr. Dick, NewChef, Southbend, Turbo Chef and Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. Team managers are accepting applications via the website for the ACF Culinary Youth Team USA 2020 until December 1. To learn more about ACF Culinary Team USA, including how to support their efforts, visit click here.

 Legacy Hall: Dine + Drink + Discover

Legacy Hall debuted in Plano, TX on Wednesday, Dec. 6. The three-story, 55,000-square-foot European-style food hall, brewery and live music and entertainment venue is located at 7800 Windrose Ave. in the Legacy West development.

“Legacy Hall is the first of its kind, and it’s one of the most extraordinary food halls on the planet,” said Jack Gibbons, President & COO of Front Burner Restaurants. “Legacy Hall offers the very best in food theater, showcasing the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of delicious cuisines presented by a blue-chip collection of culinary experts who are passionate about turning each meal into an experience. Conceiving, designing and building a concept of this magnitude takes a lot of work – including visits to many of the top food halls across the globe – and we can’t wait to show off the results at this incredible dining and entertainment destination.”

Gensler designed Legacy Hall. Raw wood, concrete, steel, modified shipping containers, exposed ductwork, conduits and pipes are all carefully and purposefully arranged to create a functional artistic expression of what a building is.

Legacy Hall will open with an eclectic collection of 20 artisanal food stalls featuring everything from elevated Neapolitan pizzas, gourmet burgers and Baja-style tacos, to worldly selections like shawarma, yakitori and bao steam buns. As guests explore the modern industrial first floor, they will encounter a natural wine and charcuterie bar, a rotating food stall with an ever-changing menu and a sprawling craft cocktail bar called Bar Main.

The second floor comprises Legacy Hall’s main seating area, comfortably accommodating 250 or more guests. A single food stall, Sea Breeze Lobsta’ & Chowda’ House, can also be found here, along with an indoor/outdoor bar – the Good View Bar – that opens onto a balcony overlooking the Box Garden.

The third floor houses a fully functioning craft brewery – Unlawful Assembly Brewery & Tap Room – featuring classic pub fare and 21 operating tanks used to crank out its portfolio of premium year-round beers, along with a rotating tap selection of highly creative, collaborative and seasonal beers. The brewery will open with six premium beers – The Antagonist Amber Lager, Public Dissent Pale Ale, Deviant Behavior Belgian Wit, Real American Brown Ale, Idol Time Passion Pineapple Wheat and Barrel Aged Brown Ale. Starting in January, UABC will commission the canning line and prepare for distribution off-site.

Gensler’s strategic architectural design had to accompany the beer tanks’ atypical placement on the second and third floors. “The weight of the brewing tanks is equal to supporting roughly 100 elephants,” explained Gensler Principal Barry Hand. “The load-bearing requirements and codes for a brewery of this capacity were an interesting puzzle to solve.”

Guests will also enjoy the tap room within the brewery that serves as an ideal gathering place for people looking to enjoy the sights and sounds of a working brewery while hanging out with friends. The UABC Tap Room will host private parties and acoustic live music shows in a unique and intimate setting. Tours and tastings will be available for private events.

The Box Garden – opening spring 2018 – will be located ground level adjacent to the food hall. Constructed from reclaimed shipping containers, this expansive courtyard will hold more than 1,500 people and house Carlton Provisions BBQ along with multiple bars including a tiki bar, Texas stillhouse bar, margarita cantina, rotating pop-ups and even a Hawaiian shaved ice stand. The heart of the Box Garden will be the 600-square-foot event stage with an LED screen that will provide constant entertainment for Legacy Hall’s guests.

Legacy Hall has accommodations and event packages available for groups from 25 to 2,000.

Chicago Faucets Joins Handwashing Leadership Forum

Chicago Faucets accepted an invitation from The Handwashing Leadership Forum^®, an alliance of advocates who are invited to join based on their demonstrated leadership and commitment to lowering the risks of nosocomial and foodborne illnesses. Poor handwashing (plus poor gloving) has been found to be the number one risk factor in the spread of foodborne illness.

“This is an important initiative for Chicago Faucets,” said Richard Nortier, Director of Marketing, “and accepting it emphasizes a philosophy that is at the core of our company: the safe delivery of water.”

Jim Mann, Executive Director for the Handwashing For Life^® Institute, the organization behind The Handwashing Leadership Forum, points out that members agree that by thinking and working together, they can replace risk with integrated solutions. “Our intent is to fill the gaps in the science of hand hygiene and the cleanliness of high-touch surfaces,” Mann says. “Chicago Faucets earned the invitation by a combination of innovation and customer satisfaction. We are honored to have them with us.”

Mann’s organization, The Handwashing for Life Institute, has been the leading advocate for improved hand hygiene in the healthcare and foodservice industries for many years. By advancing science and technologies that promote, educate and improve hand and high-touch surface hygiene practices, Mann and the Institute strive to reduce infections and foodborne outbreaks caused by poor handwashing.

“Like Mann’s organization, Chicago Faucets tries to see beyond individual products to change behaviors,” Nortier explained. “The right faucets make cleaner hands possible, promoting wellness and protecting not only the individual, but our brand values. Our ‘applied science’ approach increases hand hygiene, lowers rates of foodborne illness and minimizes operator risk, demonstrating that food workers will actually wash their hands and change their gloves…frequently!”

The Chicago Faucet Company is part of the Geberit Group, a European market leader and global provider of sanitary technology. Since 1901, The Chicago Faucet Company, located in Des Plaines, Illinois, has offered commercial and residential products built to stand the test of time. A combination of the best engineering, finest materials and quality workmanship has made Chicago Faucets the specified choice in many of the finest building projects throughout North America.