Anthony Scotto III left a real-estate private-equity career at BlackRock to help his family build Pelato, a Brooklyn-style Italian restaurant business that has expanded from one Nashville location into a three-city operation employing 300 people. The company expects to serve roughly 450,000 guests this year, forecasts another 10% revenue increase, and has committed to opening two more restaurants in 2027. Scotto spends about 95% of his time in the restaurants, applying his finance background to property selection, leases and financial modeling while personally training hosts. Pelato reached break-even in its third month and its three locations have not recorded an unprofitable month since stabilizing, according to company figures provided to Fortune.