Roger Berkowitz, President/CEO

The Big Fish

  Roger Berkowitz is the President and CEO of Legal Sea Foods, Inc. He started working in his family's fish market at the age of 10 and learned every aspect of the business. He began as a fry cook in Inman Square, moved to front-of-the-house manager, marketing maverick and then to industry innovator. Whether you dine in his restaurants, or order a meal by mail to enjoy at home, he wants to "wow" you every single time. And it’s working - Bon Appetit magazine touts a meal at Legal Sea Foods as among America’s “Top Ten Tried-and-True” dining experiences. Legal is also included in Patricia Schultz’s popular guidebook, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.

Familiar to many audiences

A graduate of the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Harvard Business School's OPM program and University of London School of Business SEP program, Roger exercises his background in journalism to great effect as chief spokesperson for Legal. His face and voice are familiar from television and radio, and he frequently offers his expert opinion on network news segments (CNN, ABC News, NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News) about the fishing industry. He is a guest speaker at colleges and institutions, and he chairs and organizes conferences and events related to the fishing and restaurant industry, both in the US and on a global scale. The scope of his business management expertise earned him inclusion in a pair of 2004 books, Dare to Lead! Uncommon Sense and Unconventional Wisdom from 50 Top CEOs by Mike Merrill (Career Press), and Leadership Secrets of the World’s Most Successful CEOs by Eric Yaverbaum (Dearborn Trade Publishing). Often the subject of writing by others, Roger deftly took an author’s turn himself when he co-wrote The New Legal Sea Foods Cookbook, published in 2002 by Broadway Books.

Sharing his expertise

Roger serves on the boards of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston’s Children’s Hospital, UNICEF, the Boston Children’s Museum, Environmental League of Massachusetts, Century Bank, Blue Frontier Campaign and the Northeast Seafood Coalition. He also serves on the leadership council at the Harvard School of Public Health and its Nutrition Roundtable and he is a member of the Board of Overseers, Brandeis International Business School. Since 2004 he has served on the Regional Selection Panel for the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Reaping the rewards

In addition to numerous industry awards and community distinctions, Roger holds an honorary master's degree from the Culinary Institute of America, an honorary doctorate from Johnson and Wales University and an honorary from Newbury College.