ORLANDO, Fla. – Darden Restaurants Chief Executive Officer Gene Lee isn’t looking for a revolution to fix what’s ailing at flagship chain Olive Garden.

Five months after starting as permanent head of the company, Lee said he has been trying to hammer home to Darden’s 150,000 employees that the focus needs to be on customers and food.

“Every time I get a platform to speak, I say, ‘Let’s go back to the basics,’ ” Lee said. “Are we executing our recipes, do we have great service and how are our atmospheres?

“And I don’t really want to get far away from that. I think our brand is strong enough to win if we continue to execute better than the competition.

“It’s just executing and evolving, but it’s not a revolution,” Lee said.

Lee stepped in as interim chief executive in October after activist investor Starboard Value persuaded shareholders to replace Darden’s entire board of investors. That battle also led to the ouster of chief executive Clarence Otis. Lee got the job permanently in February.

Olive Garden is one of the seven chains in Darden’s portfolio, but its 840 locations make it the most important in the company. It’s also been the poorest-performing, only recently turning back years of declining same-restaurant sales.

After a menu revamp in early 2014, Olive Garden has been introducing high-profile items such as breadstick sandwiches and more classically inspired dishes such as sausage rigatoni.

“I think that from a menu standpoint at Olive Garden, we have focused back to our core,” Lee said. “What’s really resonating with consumers at this point is pasta, meat, cheese and sauce, so how do we put those ingredients together in ways that get the consumer excited?”