Savory Fund has overhauled the board of its newest restaurant chain and it features a few interesting names.
Chris Tomasso, CEO of First Watch, and Barry McGowan, CEO of Fogo de Chao, are both joining a new board for Hawkers Asian Street Food, the casual-dining chain Savory acquired last month.
In addition, Savory Managing Director Andrew Smith along with Taylor DeHart, a principal with the firm, are both joining the board, which will also feature Kaleb Harrell, Hawkers’ cofounder and CEO.
Private-equity firms will often stack boards with current and former chain executives, along with their own principals, to provide expertise to emerging companies. Savory said the new board members were selected “not just for their pedigree, but for their alignment with the brand’s mission, culture and trajectory.”
“The board we’ve built at hawkers isn’t just high-caliber—it’s high conviction,” Smith said in a statement. “Each member brings unique strengths, but what unites us is a belief in the power of this one-of-a-kind brand.”
Tomasso has more than 30 years of leadership experience, including the past seven as CEO of First Watch. He previously worked with chains like Cracker Barrel and Hard Rock Café.
McGowan is a 40-year industry veteran. He has been CEO of Fogo since 2019 and had been company president since 2013.
Hawkers was founded in 2011 and operates 15 locations that each average $4.6 million in revenues per year. The company filed for bankruptcy last year but canceled it after reaching an agreement with its lenders, which was soon followed by a sale to Savory. “It’s such a good business,” Smith said in an interview last month. “It does monster AUVs. It has great margins and sales and traffic that are beating the odds.”
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