Scott Evans on Staying Creative but Consistent at Front Burner Brands

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Front Burner Brands is a restaurant management company behind dynamic and niche-specific brands such as premier fondue restaurant the Melting Pot, known for its gourmet cooking styles, unique entrees, and interactive dining experiences. The company has long touted fondue’s power to bring people together.  

But in order for guests to unwind over artisanal cheeses, savory chocolates, and fresh salads in an unparalleled dining experience, other connections have to be made. That’s where Scott Evans and his team come in. As director of construction and design, he supervises the development of new design concepts while supporting the Melting Pot’s franchisees through the building process.

Coming off the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Evans and his team have helped transform the brand in ways that have led to increased sales and impressive growth. The Melting Pot has implemented a more guest-centric menu, bolstered marketing efforts, and revamped each store with a fresh new look.

“After COVID, we realized that we had a really loyal brand. That has culminated in a fantastic past two years and a ton of excited franchisees wanting to join us,” Evans says. “We’re on a roll.”

Currently, he and his colleagues are overseeing updates to the Melting Pot’s 94 stores across the US and Canada. The updates, known internally as Melting Pot Evolution, deploy lighter color schemes, fabrics, brighter lighting, and local artwork. The goal is to maintain design consistency across a diverse range of franchisees and locations while allowing each one to offer a unique experience. So far 36 out of 76 stores have been completed.

“We are bringing standards to the restaurant while also allowing each location to be unique. Almost all of our Melting Pot locations are run by franchisees who run it as if they’re local. So, in addition to working with a consultant who worked with brands like Starbucks and Holiday Inn, feedback from our franchisees has been critical to our success,” he says.

With the rebranding and remodel plans have also come innovative approaches to not only create more unique spaces but more efficient ones. In 2018, Evans’s team conducted a study and found that 58 percent of its customers were parties of two and 16 percent were parties of four, while nearly 2 percent were parties of six or more. That posed an obvious problem.

“We had these huge party rooms all over the restaurant with 8-, 10-, and 12-tops that were great for Christmas and our other holidays. But for the rest of the year, they’d sit there empty because no one wanted to sit at a 12-top table,” Evans says. “That drove us to take those large spaces and make better uses of them, taking away those large tables and just pushing together smaller ones if we need to.”

As a leader, Evans is a firm believer in what he describes as “hiring and keeping good people.”

“I let them run. They do their own thing, they’re the experts, they’re good at informing me of what they do, and I pass my knowledge back to them,” he says.

“Communication, having good people, and doing whatever you can to keep them on board is really important to me,” he says.

“Melting Pot is a unique brand that offers a special experience for the customer. Scott is skilled at blending creativity with practicality so that every design element resonates with purpose,” says Randall Rivers, CEO of Minnesota Millwork and a valuable partner of Evans. “Beyond aesthetics, his hands-on approach has been instrumental in creating functional experiences that work seamlessly for both the suppliers and franchisees.”

Leaders looking to thrive in the restaurant industry should start by spending a lot of time with their peers, Evans notes.

“Ask them a lot of questions and share. It’s a good source for understanding where the industry is. Right now, that’s been helping us navigate high construction costs. Rumor has it is that it’s starting to flatten out but if not, that’s where your peers come in,” he says. “Spend time talking to them and asking them about how they’re dealing with whatever is going on out there.”

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