CALABASAS HILLS Calif. After only nine months on the job, Russ Bendel is stepping down as president and chief operating officer of The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants to pursue another opportunity, effective immediately, officials said Wednesday. Bendel would not disclose his new position, but he described it as "entrepreneurial."
Bendel said he plans to start his new job within a couple weeks. He said it was an “entrepreneurial opportunity that just came along suddenly, and I felt it was best for me going forward.”
Bendel would not say whether his new role would be in the casual-dining segment, though he said it was not competitive with The Cheesecake Factory.
“I think Cheesecake Factory is the greatest brand there is in casual dining, and I have tremendous respect for [chief executive] David Overton and the management team there,” Bendel said. “It was a great experience.”
Bendel left his position as president and chief executive of Mimi’s Cafe, based in Tustin, Calif., last August to take the executive role at Cheesecake Factory in September 2007. Previously, Bendel served as head of operations for OSI Restaurant Partners Inc., and as a joint-venture partner in the Outback Steakhouse franchise group in California. Later, he was president of OSI’s fine-dining Roy’s restaurant chain.
Bendel's day-to-day responsibilities at Cheesecake will be handed by the company’s four regional vice presidents of operations.
In an unrelated move earlier this month, Howard Gordon, Cheesecake's senior vice president of business development and marketing, said he was leaving the company later this year to launch his own consulting firm.