Feeding Your Passion

Izzy's Restaurant

Franklin, TN

Serving: Feel Good Food

Brad & Harland left 5 Star Corporate dining in order to pursue a passion for their family and for Freedom on their own terms. They are serving their local community in their newly established Restaurant! Listen today to hear the areas that they are knocking it out of the park!

CHEF DRIVEN MENU

We are serious about good food and we love it, but we want you to love it too. Together with our talented chef, we are creating dishes that we would want to treat our own families with.

Join Us For Live Music

We love living in Franklin and can't wait to share with you the talented folks we have come to know and love. We regularly host local talent, young and old...and everyone in-between. Open mic night anyone?

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

Bring the kids, bring a date, bring Memaw! We can't wait to treat you to an experience filled with genuine hospitality. After working a few decades in the food industry, we know how to give guests 5-star service.

Siler Chapman

Owner of

King of Fire Pizza

Chef Siler Chapman’s goal is like no other: to offer a unique catering experience for any occasion, making only the very best pizzas he’s perfected from scratch. And perfected he has. He is a 3x World Pizza Champion, founding member of the World Pizza Champions and PerfectingPizza.com. In addition, He is a professional pizza acrobat and champion dough thrower and has appeared on the Food Network, the Today show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Steve Harvey Show, and Good Morning America.

His sleek mobile wood fire catering company, King of Fire, brings great tasting food across the Carolinas and beyond. It is a family run business which understands the importance of a well run event and great food.

If anyone is the King of Fire, it’s Siler Chapman.

Siler Chapman

Owner of

King of Fire Pizza

Chef Siler Chapman’s goal is like no other: to offer a unique catering experience for any occasion, making only the very best pizzas he’s perfected from scratch. And perfected he has. He is a 3x World Pizza Champion, founding member of the World Pizza Champions and PerfectingPizza.com. In addition, He is a professional pizza acrobat and champion dough thrower and has appeared on the Food Network, the Today show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Steve Harvey Show, and Good Morning America.

His sleek mobile wood fire catering company, King of Fire, brings great tasting food across the Carolinas and beyond. It is a family run business which understands the importance of a well run event and great food.

If anyone is the King of Fire, it’s Siler Chapman.

Anna Dolce

Hospitality Expert

Miami, FL

Anna Dolce is a life and business strategist, hospitality expert, writer and keynote speaker.

Originally from Georgia (Europe), Anna was an entrepreneur at the age of 17 and then by the age of 18 she had won 2 national titles as Miss Georgia and was nominated for the Georgia Business Mind Of The Year award.

Since then, Anna relocated to the United States and entered the hospitality industry, where she led multiple restaurant operations before owning her own.

Anna has spoken from the TEDx stage and is a freelance writer to several publications in the hospitality industry. She speaks at major conferences and industry shows on the topics of service vs hospitality, entrepreneurship, leadership, sales and organizational culture.

John Wilson

Sophie’s Cork & Ale

Lexington, NC

Chef John Wilson is 31 years old. He has lived in Lexington, NC since he was 9. He started out washing dishes at a local country club in high school when he was 16.

He was always intriguedby what was going on restaurant while he was scrubbing the dishes. Eventually a cook left and he asked if he could step up and learn that role.

He Instantly made friendships in that country club that would eventually help him get to where he is today as a restaurant owner.

He cooked at a coupleof country clubs, was promoted to sous chef, eventually landed another sous chef job in Greensboro, NC at the Iron Hen Cafe, then made he made his way to Willow's Bistro where his education flourished under Chef Travis Myers (2018 NC Chef of the Year).

Chef John lives in a very small town, that is trying to be more progressive these days and bring a spark back to the small town. He learned of a Wine bar opening in Lexington, NC and they would be serving food. He got his first Head Chef Job and after three years was offered to buy it from the original owners. Chef John has beenthe owner since April 2019.

He is also a graduate of Guilford Technical Community College with his associates in culinary arts. He won best chef under 30 in 2018 in the Piedmont Traid(NC).

Jason Collins

I Love Juice Bar

Franklin, TN

Jason Collins grew up in Nashville, TN, a veteran of Desert Storm & spent 15 years in Global product and business development with offices in Amsterdam and Los Angeles. Developed the first Snowboard boots for the Olympic snowboarding team. Jason has several product and method patents as well. In 2005 he moved his family back to TN settling in Franklin. Then in 2015 he launched one of the first Juice Bar Franchises.

Shawn Walchef

Owner of Cali BBQ & Creator of the Digital Hospitality Podcast

San Diego (Spring Valley), CA

PART 2

Shawn Walchef, Founder of Cali BBQ Media, Digital Hospitality Podcast Host, Restaurateur, New Dad and Sports Entertainment Fanatic.

As owners/operators of Cali BBQ in San Diego, Shawn Walchef and his wife Rositsa have evolved over the dozen year run of their restaurant to swiftly shift with the times, while always staying true to the community.

They opened Cali BBQ in 2008 at the height of the economic recession with the goal of making a family friendly sports entertainment destination. They’ve created a unique place where you can go and have Sunday brunch and watch NFL Sunday ticket, bring your wife, your kids and your grandparents.

After 12 years of business and even after COVID-19, the mission remains the same for Cali BBQ: help the community they’ve long called home. Now even more growth is on the horizon as Cali BBQ plans to expand outside of their first location in Spring Valley.

Giving back to their community is a huge part of the mission of Cali BBQ.

Donating time, money and equipment to youth sports programs and young athletes in need, Cali BBQ is a family fun sports bar built off BBQ and community.

www.calibbq.media

Shawn Walchef

Owner of Cali BBQ & Creator of the Digital Hospitality Podcast

San Diego (Spring Valley), CA

PART 1

Shawn Walchef, Founder of Cali BBQ Media, Digital Hospitality Podcast Host, Restaurateur, New Dad and Sports Entertainment Fanatic.

As owners/operators of Cali BBQ in San Diego, Shawn Walchef and his wife Rositsa have evolved over the dozen year run of their restaurant to swiftly shift with the times, while always staying true to the community.

They opened Cali BBQ in 2008 at the height of the economic recession with the goal of making a family friendly sports entertainment destination. They’ve created a unique place where you can go and have Sunday brunch and watch NFL Sunday ticket, bring your wife, your kids and your grandparents.

After 12 years of business and even after COVID-19, the mission remains the same for Cali BBQ: help the community they’ve long called home. Now even more growth is on the horizon as Cali BBQ plans to expand outside of their first location in Spring Valley.

Giving back to their community is a huge part of the mission of Cali BBQ.

Donating time, money and equipment to youth sports programs and young athletes in need, Cali BBQ is a family fun sports bar built off BBQ and community.

www.calibbq.media

Steven Smithing, Owner of Green Hills Grille in Nashville, TN & Mere Bulles in Brentwood, TN

Restaurateur Steven Smithing is the owner of Green Hills Grille in Nashville, TN and Mere Bulles in Brentwood TN. He is no stranger to hard work having worked at Green Hills Grille in the 90s as a server and bartender and ultimately as general manager. Steven has worked in the restaurant business since his first dishwashing job at age 16. He decided to go independent and bought his first Restaurant which was a well known and established hospitality icon in the Nashville Restaurant scene, Mere Bulles. Since the original had closed, Steven then decided to revitalize and re-open Green Hills Grille which had been a staple for many dates, anniversaries and business dinners in Nashville, TN over a period of 20 years.

http://ghgrille.com/

http://www.merebulles.com/

Josh Kopel, Owner of Preux & Proper in Los Angeles, CA

Josh Kopel is an entrepreneur, Michelin-rated restaurateur, and Podcast Host. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he was bred for the hospitality industry. Throughout Kopel’s 20+ year career in food and beverage he has managed venues ranging from dive bars to Hollywood nightclubs to fine dining restaurants. Kopel went independent in 2010, opening his first concept Five0Four, a New Orleans-inspired bar, on the Walk of Fame in the heart of Hollywood. Four years later he opened Preux & Proper downtown Los Angeles, CA. He is also the creator of the FLO virtual reservationist service and the host of the FULL COMP Podcast.

https://www.preuxandproper.com/

https://www.joshkopel.com/ = Full Comp Podcast

https://justcallflo.com/ = FLO virtual reservationist service