Front Burner Restaurants rebrands itself as FB Society as Jack Gibbons is named CEO

Front Burner Restaurants LLC, the Dallas-based multi-concept operator, has rebranded itself as FB Society and has announced executive appointments that were made earlier this year.

Front Burner Founder and former CEO Randy DeWitt is chairman of the newly branded company, and Jack Gibbons, who was president of Front Burner, is now CEO of FB Society.

Additionally, the company has teamed up with marketing consulting firm R Circle and named its owner, Rae Phillips-Luther, chief brand officer.

Phillips-Luther is the former chief marketing officer of Jamba Juice and Zoe’s Kitchen, and she also owns a fast-casual breakfast and lunch restaurant in Frisco, Texas, called UP Inspired Kitchen.

In a release announcing the rebranding, DeWitt said the relaunched company reflects lessons learned during the coronavirus pandemic and will emphasize the experiential nature of the group’s restaurants.

Among those restaurants are nine-unit Whiskey Cake, focusing on craft cocktails and locally sourced comfort food; four-unit wine-forward restaurant Sixty Vines; two-unit Mexican Sugar, featuring Mexican Food and tequila-based cocktails; three-unit Southern restaurant Ida Claire; Texan cuisine-focused Haywire; The Ranch, which has Texan cuisine and live music; and a slider concept called Son of a Butcher, which debuted this month.

Related:Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar names Ray Risley president and chief operating officer

It also operates a food hall and restaurant incubator in Dallas called Legacy Hall, a catering company, an event venue called Bingham House, a craft brewery called Unlawful Assembly Brewing Co., a non-profit organization called Furlough Kitchen, and The Ranch at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.

“While so many brands were forced to retract, or even shut down during the current crisis, we made a decision that Front Burner would not only survive, but emerge smarter, stronger and more cohesive,” DeWitt said. “I couldn’t be more excited about the future of our company, the brands we have created and those we’ve yet to dream of, especially knowing that my great friend and partner, Jack Gibbons, is at the helm as CEO. Jack has long been recognized for his unmatched creative energy and operational expertise that push culinary and hospitality boundaries. FB Society is in extraordinary hands.”

The company said that FB Society would expand Whiskey Cake and Sixty Vines in 2021, and would also launch a new chicken tender concept to be called Buttercup.

As part of its rebranding, FB Society is launching a podcast, BTS: Behind the Society, “designed to engage both the team and guests and to showcase innovators, disruptors and haymakers in the restaurant space,” the company said. 

Related:2018 RH 25: Front Burner Restaurants L.P.

Gibbons said he was looking forward to leading the rebranded company.

“While we are fully aware that the pandemic is far from over, I’ve never been more excited about the future of our company, our brands and our team,” he said. “Randy and I have long seen our mission as designing experiences never imagined, and while we have made tremendous strides already, I’m confident in saying ‘you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!’”

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected] 

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