A neighborhood woodfire restaurant, built around pizza, hearth cooking, and a disciplined operating model.
Designed for 32–36 seats and operating across two service periods — a daytime counter service and a full-service evening.
Both run out of the same kitchen system, sharing ingredients and production to maintain efficiency and labor control.
Neighborhood search focus — Creston · West Grand · Eastown
Counter-service sandwiches, pizza, salads, and sides. Simplified and volume-supported, designed for steady, manageable throughput.
A dinner built around pizza and hearth cooking, served to a full dining room with bar-rail seating.
Both services operate from the same kitchen system, sharing ingredients and production to maintain efficiency and labor control.
Homage is a woodfire restaurant built around a simple system: pizza as the anchor, with the hearth supporting the broader menu.
The restaurant operates from one primary heat source — creating a focused kitchen, streamlined prep, and efficient execution.
Pizza as the anchor. The hearth supports the rest.
Homage reflects the places and experiences that shaped how we cook and think about hospitality.
Influences include rural restaurant work in Michigan, farm kitchens, Great Lakes food traditions, preservation, seasonality, and cooking over fire.
The restaurant is also informed by Joseph's heritage as a citizen of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians — expressed through approach and technique rather than theme.
The result is a neighborhood restaurant grounded in restraint, seasonality, and repetition.
The focus is long-term consistency, and becoming a reliable Grand Rapids staple.
Woodfire-first production integrating pizza and hearth cooking into one workflow. The oven and hearth operate as a shared system supporting all hot production.
A seasonal menu operating within a fixed structure. Ingredients carry across pizzas, hearth dishes, sandwiches, and lunch items to reduce waste and simplify prep.
Homage is led by operators with experience spanning kitchen leadership, hospitality operations, agritourism, guest experience, marketing, and restaurant execution.
A chef and kitchen leader with 15 years working with pizza and woodfire systems and more than five years in leadership — currently leading kitchen operations at Roberta's Nashville. A citizen of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, his cooking is informed by Great Lakes regional identity, seasonality, preservation, and fire-based traditions. At Homage, Joseph leads culinary operations, menu development, kitchen systems, and staffing.
A hospitality operator with experience across guest experience, agritourism, event operations, hospitality programming, brand development, and marketing. She has led experiences ranging from intimate dinners to agritourism events and banquets serving up to 350 guests. At Homage, Lia leads hospitality strategy, guest experience, partnerships, marketing, and front-of-house operations.
Positioned around repeat use, weeknight traffic, and long-term customer retention.
Revenue is distributed across lunch and dinner to stabilize weekly performance.
Growing residential density and increasing hospitality activity.
Independent business concentration and neighborhood retail activity.
Walkable district with established restaurant, retail, and wine culture.
Fire visibility → service efficiency → controlled movement.
Reduced equipment, shared production, high repetition.
Seasonal, rotating within a fixed structure. Pizza is the backbone; the hearth rounds out the table.
A counter-service model built from the same ingredients and prep as dinner.
DirectionDesigned to feel familiar while allowing for seasonal variation.
Lunch rolls out approximately two months after opening. Additional pickup orders via Toast.
Efficiency comes from fewer SKUs, shared prep, and overlap between services.
Small inventory with seasonal alignment and operational simplicity.
Cross-trained team with flexible roles.
Closed Mon–Tue
Lunch rolls out approximately two months after opening.
Year 1 margins expected to remain tighter during ramp.
Seeking a lead investor.
Capital is prioritized toward kitchen infrastructure, fire systems, and operational functionality.
A warm, material-driven space centered around fire, simplicity, and longevity.
Good food. Consistent execution.
A restaurant built for repeat visits.
Homage is a neighborhood woodfire restaurant built around pizza, seasonal cooking, and restrained operations — designed around a compact footprint, shared production systems, and a menu that supports long-term operational stability.
Grand Rapids, Michigan · Opening Summer 2027