Red Lobster's new CEO

Red Lobster is in a mess. But a 35-year old CEO wants a job there anyway. Damola Adamolekun, the new chief executive of Red Lobster is taking over a chain in trouble.

What’s the hardest part of his new job? He says, dealing with lobster tail, snow crab legs, garlic shrimp scampi, crispy dragon shrimp and cheddar bay biscuits.

The guarded good news is that customers are trickling, if reluctantly, into their remodeled store in Long Island, New York. The outlet mall is complete with a tank of lobsters at the entrance, a bar and friendly waitstaff.

Adamolekun, a Nigerian born of a neurologist and a pharmacist, was raised in Zimbabwe and the Netherlands before moving to Springfield, Illinois.  He was nine.

Red Lobster was one of the first chain restaurants he visited in the United States, and it became one of his favorite haunts. It was there that he dined on lobster and crab legs for the first time.

Why the fascination with the chain? Red Lobster is the first successful casual dining chain with seafood fare. That explains its “cultural impact.” Chis Rock and Nicki Minaj worked there before they became famous. Beyoncé sang about the restaurant in her 2016 hit song “Formation.”

Red Lobster emerged from bankruptcy last month under new ownership, led by Fortress Investment Group. Fortress committed $60 million to revitalize the chain. Adamolekun plans to make “incremental changes,” not a massive overhaul.

Adamolekun wants to improve the atmosphere to appeal to younger customers, who, he says, are more loyal to casual dining than rival Olive Garden.

This calls for dishes that sizzle on hot stone plates and cakes with sparklers. In this regard, he will follow the playbook of P.F. Chang. He calls it a “theater at the table.”

R. J. Hottovy, a business analyst, has a five-year outlook: the chain will have fewer locations, but be more stable with a more upscale image.

New owners recognize that its going to be a steep climb out of the, previously described, “toxic and demoralizing environment” under Thai Union, the previous owner.

If the previous owner was not a restaurateur, then it was a vendor of shrimp, said Adamolekun.

He graduated from Harvard Business School in 2017 and joined Paulson & Co., the investment firm founded by hedge-fund billionaire John Paulson.

Adamolekun saw an opportunity with P.F. Chang. He grew their delivery business. Then he took a seat on the chain’s board of directors.

He has not ruled out bringing back endless shrimp, but they won’t lose money on it.  And it will be managed differently.