Adam Rochman

Adam Rochman is a Partner and the Executive Vice President of Human Resources

Adam’s appreciation for food began at an early age. He fondly remembers watching Jacques Pepin, Julia Child, and Martin Yan on Saturday afternoon television as a child. That appreciation for food grew into an interest in cooking, and soon after, a recognition that working in the restaurant industry was what he wanted to do. Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, he knew Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants and wanted to gain experience with the company to enhance his restaurant industry education.

In the spring of 1998, as a freshman in the Hospitality Management program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Adam secured an internship at Shaw’s Seafood Grill in Deerfield. His experiences with Lettuce’s Internship program formed the foundation for his career. He immediately felt welcome and began to understand Lettuce's Culture of Caring, which would soon define his personal management style.Upon graduating in May 2001, he returned home to Chicago. A meeting with Lettuce Partner Bob Loeschorn and Wildfire President Howard Katz proved pivotal in Adam’s life. He became a Manager at Wildfire Chicago and began to develop his own approach to management, taking on as much responsibility as possible. Two years later, he joined the opening team for Wildfire’s fifth location in Schaumburg, Illinois. He spent the next three years in Schaumburg as an Assistant General Manager, mastering Wildfire systems and operations. In 2006, Adam was promoted to General Manager of Wildfire Glenview. Over the next six years in Glenview, he created long-lasting relationships with hundreds of regular guests while guiding a skilled, polished, and professional team. In late 2012, Adam was promoted to Partner and Vice President of Wildfire Restaurants.

As a divisional leader, he was instrumental in the growth and operation of all Wildfire and Big Bowl locations. In addition to food and beverage programs, operations, and guest experience, Adam focused on further developing his management teams and coaching them to ensure they were the strongest candidates for advancement when company opportunities became available.

In 2019, Lettuce asked Adam to lead a digital transformation to evaluate the technology supporting the enterprise, sunset aging systems, and elevate the employee and guest experience through best-in-class cloud-based solutions. Under Adam's leadership, the cross-functional team of internal leaders and subject matter experts successfully upgraded Lettuce's Point of Sale, HRIS, Time and Scheduling, Payroll, Enterprise Resource Planning, Online Ordering, Guest and Reservation Management, Applicant Tracking, and Benefits Administration systems.

After partnering with Lettuce Human Resources for six years, Adam officially joined the team in November 2025. Today, leveraging years of restaurant operations and people management experience, Adam focuses his leadership on Lettuce's 7,500+ employees, committed to Lettuce's Culture of Caring and sustaining its well-earned reputation as a great place to work.