Chief Executive Officer, President and Director

Wood has served as Clean Plate’s President and CEO since inception. Much of his investment experience has been focused on the causal dining, fast casual and quick serve restaurant industries. In 2018, QuantumShift, a joint program between KPMG and the University of Michigan, identified Wood as one of the Top 40 Entrepreneurs in the country.

Prior to Clean Plate, Wood spent 13 years researching, analyzing and investing in discretionary consumer companies. He was a Partner and Sector Head at Alyeska Investment Group, managing the consumer sector portfolio for five years. From 2002 to 2008, Wood was a Managing Director on the highly successful consumer team at Maverick Capital. He was also a consumer sector analyst in the Global Investment Research Division at Goldman Sachs. In addition, Wood has served as a board member of FreshDirect, a New York Metro internet grocer.

Wood graduated from the School of Public & International Affairs at Princeton University.

Executive Chairman

Informed by his career in both private and public market investing, Tony’s focus at Clean Plate is on acquisitions. Tony has served previously as Chairman of the Board for Real American Restaurants as well as CEO of its flagship brand, Tomatina International, an Italian causal dining chain created by Top Chef Master Michael Chiarello. In addition, Tony is President of Eastwood Investment Management. He also served as a Venture Partner for Venture Strategy Partners from 1998 to 2003, helping the firm launch its original operations.

Tony graduated from Tufts University and went on to earn a Master in International Relations with a concentration in International Law from Yale University.

Chief Financial Officer

Mike joined Clean Plate as CFO in November 2015, bringing with him over 15 years of CFO experience in the restaurant industry at companies ranging in size from $30million to $400million in annual sales.

Prior to Clean Plate, Mike was CFO for Roti Mediterranean Grill, a Chicago-based fast casual concept that he helped grow from five to nineteen units. He has also served as CFO for two large, private-equity-sponsored Burger King franchisees and for Lettuce Entertain You, the renowned Chicago restaurant group. Additionally, he has held a variety of strategic and finance roles with Sears. Mike began his career at Arthur Andersen in the areas of M&A, due diligence and damage claim analysis.

Mike earned his finance degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

Marketing Director

Kathryn has been with Clean Plate since 2018, bringing with her over ten years of marketing experience in the restaurant and start-up industries.

Kathryn was Regional Marketing Manager for Noodles & Company, executing marketing strategy for over 130 restaurants in the midwest. Prior to that, she worked for Chick-fil-A in Chicago, and was on the national corporate traveling team at Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches.

Kathryn earned her communications degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Director of Concept Development

Allen joined Clean Plate as General Manager of Lola’s Burger & Tequila Bar in early 2021 and went on to serve as Multi-Unit Leader of the Atlanta market. Now the Director of Concept Development, Allen has over 20 years of hospitality experience across multiple industries, including hotels, country clubs and restaurants. As an Atlanta native with deep ties to the local hospitality industry, Allen takes pride in his commitment to the surrounding community. Allen specializes in brand growth, operations, and menu development.

Allen studied hospitality management at Georgia State University.

Operations Manager

David brings over twenty years of restaurant management experience in casual dining to Clean Plate, along with an extensive background as General Manager of high volume units.

Before joining Clean Plate in 2021, David spent 11 years with J. Alexander’s Holdings and another 11 years at Hillstone Restaurant Group, where his responsibilities included implementation of new software platforms, integration of acquisitions, menu development, corporate training management, and new store openings.

David graduated with a Business Administration degree in Hospitality Management from Georgia State University.

Restaurant & Construction Development Partner

Steve joined Clean Plate as Restaurant & Construction Development Partner, in September 2020, after working for over two years on the creation of Lola’s Burger & Tequila Bar for the restaurant group.

Steve began his career in commercial construction management, integrating those skills with his passion for food and restaurants when he created Traveler’s, one of the first sports bars in ATL, featuring great food and live music. With six successful locations of Traveler’s, Steve went on to found SAR & Associates, building hundreds of luxury custom homes, commercial offices and shopping centers, as well as the Royal Lakes Golf & Country Club.

Steve uses his unique skillset to provide valuable perspective to the Clean Plate management team, evaluating both existing restaurants and prospective acquisitions.

Steve graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in finance and construction management.

Multi-Unit Leader

Virgil joined Clean Plate in 2016 as the General Manager of our Monterey Grill restaurant. He was then promoted to Area General Manger over our Port Orange, FL locations, and in 2019, Virgil became Clean Plate’s Multi-Unit Leader for the entire Florida market.

Virgil has over 25 years of restaurant management experience spanning various roles—General Manager, Managing Partner, Regional Manager—with companies such as Landry’s Restaurants and Carrabba’s Italian Grill. He has always been active within the community, receiving such accolades as the South Lake Chamber of Commerce’s Gem of the Hills Award for community service, as well as a Proclamation of Philanthropy, Creativity and Community Service from the Mayor of Clermont.

Virgil graduated with a bachelor of science in restaurant and foodservice management form the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida.

Multi-Unit Leader

Chad joined Clean Plate in the summer of 2022 as a Market Area Manager. He began his Clean Plate journey at North End, where he brought a polished casual fine dining concept to life and efficiently managed operations. Subsequently, Chad assumed the role of interim General Manager at Zest, which he held until 2023. Following the successful redevelopment of Zest, Chad transitioned into the role of Multi-Unit Leader for the Roswell market, overseeing North End, Zest, and Lola’s Burger and Tequila Bar.

With over 30 years of restaurant industry experience, Chad's career began alongside his father, managing Sonic Drive In’s in Arkansas and Tennessee. After relocating to the Alpharetta area in 1998, he transitioned to managing local bars. He dedicated over a decade of his career to the private club sector, with the last five years of that spent at the County Club of the South. Before his current position, Chad opened and managed privately owned casual dining concepts in the North Atlanta area.