David Overton, President/CEO of The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants Answers Internet Users' Questions in RestaurantBeast.com's First ``Industry Leader Q & A''.

Business Editors & Food Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 2, 2001

"Restaurant professionals work long hours and don't always have time to sift through food trades for specific information," said Anastacia Gibbs, Cheesecake Factory(R) veteran and president of the site: http://www.restaurantbeast.com, which debuted March 8, 2001.

In addition to working for The Cheesecake Factory(R) for nine of 20 plus years in the industry, Anastacia also held director positions in Human Relations, Operations and Marketing before starting a restaurant services company to support companies such as California Pizza Kitchen(R), Legoland(R), Wolfgang Puck Cafes and Oscar's(R) Family Restaurants.

"Our industry is over a 300 billion dollar industry. Yet, 90 percent of newly opened restaurants fail and a large percentage of companies trying to expand to the next level fail as well. Any support or authentic resource is valuable," stated Gibbs.

In an industry filled with 70 plus hour and six day workweeks, RestaurantBeast.com's users can take advantage of the immediacy that the internet provides, and access Industry Leaders' answers to their submitted questions, plus information on food safety, cost savings, product options in a searchable VirtualFoodExpo(TM), time management, wine buying and other topics free of charge.

The site's mascot is an octopus-like logo holding a pencil, a fork, a frying pan, a computer mouse and other tools because, per Gibbs, restaurant operators are always "multi-tasked." While the name and monster-like logo imply that the site is a job site, Gibbs stresses that RestaurantBeast.com is designed to attract working professionals, as those are the candidates recruiters want to reach.

The site's philosophies are like that of a well-run restaurant. "Respect people's privacy (no flashing hot sauce banner ads on the home page), make them feel at home, provide excellent service, have answers to all their questions in an active and fun atmosphere," Gibbs reiterated.

RestaurantBeast.com's users are moving up in the industry and interested in what a key industry leader like David Overton has to share. Overton's public company of 40 locations (with 11 more scheduled to open in 2001) did over $450 million in combined annual sales last year.

"Only a handful have been as successful as David has in the industry," Gibbs added. "The first-hand knowledge he has to share with our users is priceless -- yet we are offering it free of charge." Because, you never know who the next David Overton may be.