Sponsored By

Jessica Breslow promoted to chief operating officer of PJW Restaurant GroupJessica Breslow promoted to chief operating officer of PJW Restaurant Group

Former Aramark executive to lead day-to-day activity at Delaware Valley company

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

April 21, 2021

2 Min Read
Nation's Restaurant News logo in a gray background | Nation's Restaurant News

Jessica Breslow has been promoted to chief operating officer of PJW Restaurant Group, a multi-concept operator based in Westmont, N.J., the company announced Wednesday.

Breslow has led the group’s information technology and marketing departments since 2016 and now will oversee day-to-day operations to help prepare the company to expand its six concepts as the economy reopens.

Breslow will continue to report to CEO Jim Fris, who has been CEO sincce late 2018.

Jessica-Breslow.jpeg“Jessica has been my strategic partner leading the essential planning, innovation and operations for us for the last five years,” Fris said in a release announcing Breslow’s promotion. “While we may not take the same road, we are in complete alignment in the direction, which is critical and healthy for our organization. Her vision, experience, and shared passion for customer service and building future leaders will be key to fostering a culture of operational excellence in the next phase of our restaurant group. I could not think of a more fitting candidate for the role.”

Since Breslow joined the company, leading the implementation of systems, technology and marketing innovation that helped the group respond to the coronavirus pandemic with online ordering and third-party delivery, PJW has grown from 19 to 26 units and has launched two new concepts: Central Taco and Tequila, a modern Mexican restaurant in Haddon Township, N.J., and ChopHouse Grille in Exton, Pa. — a more casual version of its steak-and-seafood concept, The ChopHouse.

Related:Parent of P.J. Whelihan’s names new CEO

PJW’s other concepts are wing specialist P.J. Whelihan’s pub and restaurant; Treno Pizza Bar, a casual Italian concept; and craft beer concept The Pour House.

Before joining PJW, Breslow was an associate vice president at onsite foodservice company Aramark, where she was involved in marketing and operations in the education sector, and before that she oversaw Ford Motor Company’s dealer’s network in the Mid-Atlantic.

“I’m thrilled and excited to take on this expanded role partnering with Jim, as we take on our next challenge to build, invest in our people and improve the customer experience,” Breslow said. “Our ability to collaborate, innovate and execute at scale will help drive the future growth of our organization.”

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected] 

Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage. 

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

Subscribe Nation's Restaurant News Newsletters
Get the latest breaking news in the industry, analysis, research, recipes, consumer trends, the latest products and more.