Dry Heat Projects

A New F&B Operating Model

We redesigned F&B around employee ownership and centralized infrastructure to reduce burnout, stabilize operations, and outperform traditional hospitality economics.

Request Pitch Deck

$1.5T

food-away-from-home market — and families are still being left out

86%

of millennials are now parents — visiting restaurants 5% more than non-parents

23M

Americans live in food deserts — SNAP acceptance in quality F&B remains rare

5 of the 10 lowest-paying jobs in America are in food service 75%+ turnover drives constant rehiring and margin erosion Most F&B workers earn under $35K with no benefits Little upward mobility — no ownership path Burnout is the norm, not the exception Over half of F&B workers are people of color We built a model to change all of it 5 of the 10 lowest-paying jobs in America are in food service 75%+ turnover drives constant rehiring and margin erosion Most F&B workers earn under $35K with no benefits Little upward mobility — no ownership path Burnout is the norm, not the exception Over half of F&B workers are people of color We built a model to change all of it

What We're Building

Three Ideas.
One Model.

The franchise model, with worker ownership instead of franchisee debt. Centralized systems. Local concepts. Equity from day one.

Family Social Halls

Indoor/outdoor spaces where adults AND kids belong. Craft beer, wine, and elevated casual food. Built for millennial parents who've been left out of the brewery boom.

Fresh Food Markets

SNAP-enabled grocery and grab-and-go. Fresh, frozen, packaged goods and lifestyle items. Solving food desert gaps in transit-oriented communities across regions.

Employee-Owned Operations

Workers own equity from day one. Centralized back-office — finance, HR, procurement, training — shared across all locations to cut costs 30% and reduce turnover by half.

The Team

Behind the Play.

Founder · Brand & Growth

ArchitectureBrandF&B Experience

Amelia Falco

Architect and Experience Creative Director with 20+ years leading award-winning brand environments, hospitality concepts, and large-scale capital projects across culture, retail, and food & beverage. Now applying that experience to build a more equitable and scalable F&B model.

Co-Founder · Operations & Culture

OperationsHospitalityCulture

Beau Rapier

Beer, wine, and hospitality expert with 20+ years leading operations, procurement, and team development across high-volume restaurants, specialty retail, and multi-location growth. Co-founded and scaled hospitality concepts from startup to regional success.

For Investors

Patient Capital.
Predictable Returns.

Lower risk than PE-backed F&B. Built-in exit through ESOP buyback. A return profile designed for investors who want to do good and do well.

$5M

Raise Goal

Fuel five locations in five years — and prove that employee ownership can reshape an entire industry from the inside out.

2×

Target Return

A structured buyback built into the term sheet — plus first-look rights on every new concept we bring to market.

Yr 5+

Buyback Begins

Quarterly payments from operating cash flow begin as each location stabilizes — no exit event required, no waiting on M&A.

Why This Model Wins

Generational wealth for the people who do the workA part-time teen barista who stays four years can build $25,000 in ESOP equity — growing to $400,000 by retirement. A career bartender who stays 25 years can accumulate $875,000+. The difference between a job and a life-changing opportunity.

Built-in exit for investorsBuyback agreement is structured into the term sheet from day one. Quarterly payments begin Year 5 and accelerate as locations scale. Predictable, not speculative.

50% lower turnover than the industryESOP equity vesting creates "golden handcuffs." Centralized systems save $35K per location annually. Workers who own the business run it like they own the business.

A wide-open competitive opportunityEmployee ownership at scale is structurally rare in F&B — nearly nonexistent. No one has paired a differentiated FOH concept with a scalable ESOP back-end. We're not following a model. We're building the category.

Ready to Learn More?

Reach out directly to Amelia and Beau. We're actively seeking aligned investors who believe business can be a vehicle for both returns and lasting community impact.

Three Ideas.One Model.