CLIENTS

Need help with a project? We are your squad. Our capabilities are vast, our bench is deep, and our passion is high. We can move fast and nimbly to get things going right away.

INVESTORS

We hold equity positions in a number of our projects, and we are always on the hunt for more. Interested in being a part of what we are building?
Reach out!

EXPERTS

Are you just awesome at what you do? Looking to share those skills with more people? Maybe we could use your help! Send us a note with who you are and what you can do.

Nick Freshman

Founder

For more than 20 years, Nick Freshman’s heart — and stomach — have been committed to a singular passion: gathering good people around good food and drink.

Nick has worked in every aspect of the restaurant industry, from leading a successful franchise (Five Guys) to creating an acclaimed farm-to-table restaurant (Eventide), to launching one of the DMV’s top-grossing bars (Spider Kelly’s).

Throughout his career, he’s been drawn to the challenge of building a concept from the back-of-the-napkin phase to a thriving hub — the kind of place that connects people, creates memories, and serves craveable food and drink. That desire led Nick to found Mothersauce Partners, an investment and advisory company whose mission is to help great ideas turn into profitable ventures.

Mothersauce Partners helps budding restaurateurs by filling in the gaps of their expertise and connecting them to the capital and business acumen they need to succeed. The portfolio encompasses a variety of companies in the sector, including the James-Beard nominated restaurant Thompson Italian, craft brewery City-State Brewing Company, and the innovative catering technology company, HUNGRY.

Nick’s latest venture, his namesake The Freshman, represents the culmination of his two decades of passion and experience. The coffee-to-cocktails concept gives people a place to gather and connect all day. Located in a stunning space in National Landing, The Freshman was the first lease announced on the heels of the Amazon headquarters news. Nick’s goal is two-fold: make The Freshman an integral part of the community and give National Landing residents and visitors a local spot to meet, eat, and drink. From there, he plans to grow the concept to do the same in other areas around Washington, DC and the US.

A native of the Washington, DC area, Nick is the former board chairman of La Cocina VA, a nonprofit dedicated to workforce development through a culinary training program and small business incubator. He is a vocal advocate for the restaurant industry and the people that work in it. Nick regularly volunteers his time to causes that support the industry, including efforts during COVID-19 aimed at helping out-of-work restaurant staff.

Nick lives in Arlington with his wife and daughter — where most nights you'll find him relaxing with a Rye Manhattan or a glass of Sancerre.

ALEXIS J. THORNLOW

Creative Director

With over 20 years of experience in the design and branding field, Alexis executes projects on a wide range of visual and digital materials. As Creative Director, she enthusiastically creates logos, websites, print collateral, internal/external corporate signage, advertisements, pitch decks, sell sheets, trade show booths, social media/menu/packaging/brochure/print collateral/apparel design, holiday cards, animations and infographics.

Before joining Mothersauce Partners, Alexis worked as Lead Designer at TIG Global where she developed, refreshed and maintained restaurant and hospitality brands for Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott Hotels. Her experience with the restaurant industry has allowed her to create the branding for many restaurants in the Washington, DC area including Toki Underground, Reverie, The Freshman, The Eleanor, Bar Elena, Red Light, Songbyrd Cafe, Pow Pow, and Dirty South Deli.

Adam D. Stein

Partner

Adam Stein is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Eleanor DC and The Eleanor Silver Spring. He is also an in-demand consultant providing services to a number of clients in the Washington, DC area.

A dynamic and seasoned veteran of the industry, Adam brings a skill set to projects that is unmatched in the industry. Chef, owner, general contractor, designer - just a few of the hats that he wears and the resources he can bring to bear.

Adam earned a liberal arts degree from Antioch College and sharpened his culinary chops at Johnson & Wales, which gave him the educational foundation to dive headfirst into his passion: food. He has nearly thirty years of experience in the business with more than twenty years as an executive chef. He is particularly skilled at restaurant openings, with more than 16 project launches over the course of his career.

Adam also brings eight years of hands-on general contracting experience, which helps him see a restaurant through design and construction and offers him the ability to act as project manager, and even does the finish work on some projects himself. Given the frequent challenges in restaurant construction, this is a uniquely valuable asset.

Over his career, Adam has built an extensive network of valuable connections from construction, maintenance, food and beverage purveyors and equipment suppliers, to architects, PR reps, and graphic designers. He has strong ties to the DC bar and restaurant scene as well as with restaurant press, blogs and business organizations.

HAYLEY SCHELLHAAS

Associate

Hayley is a seasoned hospitality expert with a passion for creating memorable experiences inspired by the culinary arts. She has a love for all things food and beverage, a weakness for Doritos and red wine, and a passion for helping others. 

After working front and back of house in many restaurants her studies earned her a degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management and The Culinary Arts. Although she is Pluto height, she instead chose to cook at the Contemporary Resort in Walt Disney World as a cast member creating globally inspired seasonal fare.

Over the past 20+ years she has worked in Corporate Services in the Business & Industry sector feeding hungry people in the workplace. There she became an expert controller, developing a keen eye for finance and accounting. She then pivoted to sales where she perfected client relations and enterprise program development. Using all the talents she has honed, Hayley can offer clients a full suite of services on her own.

She currently resides in the greater Philadelphia area and when she’s not feeding people at work you can find her traveling, entertaining others at home or checking out the newest brewery in town.

SAM GROH

Director of Operations

Samuel Groh has over 20 years of operations, sales, and senior management excellence in the food service and hospitality industry.  He is a versatile, profit-driven senior executive with a unique ability to redesign customer experiences and operating models to increase growth and customer satisfaction. An expert communicator and strategist with a long history of turning around business operations to reduce waste, improve sustainability, and boost employee morale.

He has worked for larger corporations and smaller start-up companies. At NoVa startup HUNGRY, Sam developed and opened Hungry’s Café & Coffee Bar locations in multiple markets. This work included creating operational SOP’s for all facets of the business (revenue, POS structure, marketing, equipment, labor, financials) that focus on efficiencies as well as overall profitability including an emphasis on working closely with clients.

As the general manager for Restaurant Associates, Samuel headed the development and execution of the operations and account management for several premier DC accounts: The United States Senate, The World Bank and George Washington University. His responsibilities and expertise have included overseeing P&L, strategy, HR, finance, sales, marketing, equipment management, and general operations.

As an onsite operations expert and point of contact for clients, tenants and landlords, Sam offers these stakeholders singular comfort and expertise.

PETER A. DELISO

Counsel

Since late 2008, Peter has practiced law with Executive Counsel PLC, focusing on corporate, commercial, corporate finance, and mergers & acquisitions for early stage to mid-stage clients as well as private equity and venture capital firms that specialize in investing in early to mid-stage enterprises. Peter’s clients range from high-tech ventures, government contractors, services businesses, to firms active in the restaurant and hospitality business. Prior to joining Executive Counsel PLC, Peter served for over 14 years as Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary for LCC International, Inc. (NASDAQ-listed), a leading provider of engineering and network deployment services and related software and hardware products to the wireless telecommunications industry on a world-wide basis. While with LCC, Peter also served in a variety of business and operations roles and led the company’s corporate development and strategy functions. He identified, structured and closed a number of acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate divestitures in the U.S., Latin America, Europe and Asia. Prior to LCC, Peter served as Corporate Counsel to Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp., also known as SkyTel, an early pioneer in wireless data messaging.  While with SkyTel, Peter handled the company’s in-house legal affairs during a period of rapid growth and international expansion.