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Jennifer LeRoy, who grew up bringing schoolmates on tours of her dad's kitchen at Tavern on the Green and went on to become one of his top and youngest deputies, has been given the weighty task of carrying on his legacy.
In his will, Warner LeRoy, the theatrical restaurateur with a penchant for excess, officially named Ms. LeRoy the new chief executive of his dining empire. Mr. LeRoy died Feb. 22 of complications related to lymphoma.
The hyperenthusiastic 22-year-old will be in charge of two of the country's highest-grossing restaurants, Tavern on the Green and The Russian Tea Room. Combined, they raked in $54 million in sales last year.
Mr. LeRoy, who had been seriously ill for more than a year, had already entrusted much of his vision for his showy restaurants to Jennifer, the youngest of his four children and the one most enthralled by the complex task of running such massive eateries.
"She has his glamour and his flash," says Michael Desiderio, managing director of the Russian Tea Room, where Ms. LeRoy has served as director of operations since that eatery reopened after a lavish $21 million makeover in 1999. "She's very intelligent and bright. She's her father's daughter, to say...