Dan Bavaro

Dan Bavaro and the Bavaro family founded Bavaro’s in March of 2009. In 2008, at the age of 30, Dan Bavaro sold his first business – a successful transportation company in New Jersey – that he founded at the age of 19. He said goodbye to this business to pursue his new dream of owning an Italian restaurant after studying the craft of Neapolitan pizza under third generation Neapolitan chefs. Along with his wife, Anna-Maria, and their five children – Antonio, Lola, Niko, Gianni, and Santino – he moved to Florida and opened their flagship restaurant on the corner of Franklin and Twiggs in Downtown Tampa. The restaurant was developed under the concept of blending the Italian authenticity of Neapolitan pizza with an upscale atmosphere in the Tampa Bay area. The quaint restaurant has 50 seats and is accented by Italian porcelain, wood floors, and bricks salvaged from a demolished 100-year-old factory in Chicago.

The Bavaro’s menu is centered around a stunning, imported wood-fired brick oven, handcrafted in a process over 30 days by a third-generation Neapolitan craftsman in Naples, Italy named Stefano Ferrara. From every table, patrons can see and hear the crackling of the logs while flames flicker with blazing heat encompassing every handcrafted pizza. Our oven maintains temperatures in excess of 900° F. From Neapolitan pizza, to homemade pastas, antipasti, and classic homemade desserts, guests will truly love the authentic culinary experience.

Local guests constantly requested Bavaro’s gourmet sauces to be bottled and sold for home use. During 2010, after a canceled catering event, the restaurant was left with 20 gallons of pasta sauce. Anna-Maria suggested the sauce be bottled. Dan conjured memories of jarring sauce in his grandmother’s kitchen, and they began to bottle their first batch. Bavaro’s line of gourmet Italian products expanded into thousands of retailers throughout the country, including Whole Foods, Fresh Market, and Costco.

Fast forward to today, Bavaro’s operates four locations which are in downtown Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Tampa International Airport. Bavaro’s gourmet sauces remain on the shelves at some of the most reputable retailers throughout the state of Florida.

Bob Johnston

Bob Johnston, husband to Katina and father of Megan and Thomas, began his career at 14 washing dirty dishes for his two older brothers at the Melting Pot restaurant in Tallahassee, Florida in 1979. At the time, it wasn’t anything more than a part-time job for the youngest Johnston brother, and he didn’t see his future there.

Soon after, the brothers (whom Johnston attributes as mentors) opened another location in Tampa in 1981. By 1985, all three combined their resources and purchased the Melting Pot brand, establishing The Melting Pot Restaurants, Inc. There were only five restaurants at the time, and over a ten-year period it grew to nineteen.

As with most success stories involving hard-working entrepreneurs with a relentless drive and vision, the youngest Johnston stuck with it, learned on-the-job skills, and managed to work his way through every position in the restaurant until he rose to the ranks of President.

In 2012, Johnston left his post as President of The Melting Pot Restaurants, Inc. to become CEO and chairman of the board for Front Burner, the franchise management company for the Melting Pot brand. He has grown the “premiere fondue restaurant franchise” to more than 100 locations in 31 states and worldwide, including Canada and Mexico. Not bad for a teenage dishwasher.

As of 2019, the total sales for Melting Pot franchises domestically and internationally was near $182 million in revenue. In 2016, Nation’s Restaurant News, a top industry trade publication, awarded Melting Pot with “No. 2 Casual Dining Restaurant,” as rated by consumers.

Johnston states, “When I became a dishwasher at my brothers’ Melting Pot restaurant in Tallahassee, I would have never guessed that I would one day be the CEO of the restaurant management company for Melting Pot. It wasn’t until I was afforded the opportunity to provide service to guests that I fell in love with franchising and the restaurant industry. I engaged our guests and in return became more engaged with the Melting Pot brand and service model.”

Scott Squared

From their early years in the “creative trenches” to becoming trusted executive consultants, Scott Smith and Scott Jeffrey (known as “the Scotts”) have had the good fortune to partner with some of the world’s top retail brands spanning three decades.

They have created branded experiences for 500-square-foot boutiques to two-million-square-foot lifestyle stores – and everything else in between. 

In 2015, they said goodbye to the bureaucratic world of corporate consulting and got back to doing what they loved when they were young designers learning their craft and having a blast along the way.

They believe that “Old School” is their advantage and that when you hire ‘Two Scotts’, you actually work with Two Scotts and don’t get handed off to an inexperienced team.

Strategically working with a handful of clients at any one time, their goal is to become a trusted and integrated extension of internal teams. Both Scotts reside in the Cincinnati area.

After 35 years in the design business, they’ll be the first to admit that, “Time flies when you’re having fun!”