Memento Mori Hospitality

What Memento Mori Hospitality does

Memento Mori Hospitality is a privately held, founder-owned restaurant group headquartered in Venice, California, operating a portfolio of chef-driven restaurant concepts across Southern California. The company runs four distinct brands — Ospi (elevated Italian with locations in Costa Mesa and Venice), Jemma (Italian-American with California flair in Brentwood), Jame Enoteca (a neighborhood restaurant and bar in El Segundo), and ¡Jaime! Taqueria (California-Mexican in El Segundo) — plus a catering arm. Founded in 2018 by husband-and-wife restaurateurs Jackson and Melissa Kalb, the group sells directly to consumers through dine-in, takeout, and off-site catering, with revenue generated from restaurant sales and catering fees. Menu offerings emphasize hand-crafted preparation, market-driven ingredients, and proprietary recipes (e.g., an organic flour dough refined over four years).

The business model is a multi-brand direct-to-consumer restaurant group with no disclosed third-party delivery dependency, no technology platform, and no subscription or membership component. Go-to-market is purely physical-footprint-driven across a relatively tight geographic radius in the Los Angeles metro area. Marketing is conducted through the corporate website (mmh.co), individual brand websites, email newsletter, and social media. The group also operates a "give a meal for a meal" charitable program in partnership with Feeding America and No Kid Hungry. Approximately 30 employees are indicated across the portfolio, and the company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investment, parent company, or public-market activity.

Name

Memento Mori Hospitality

Legal name

Memento Mori Hospitality

Website

https://mmh.co

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Memento Mori Hospitality is a founder-owned, multi-brand restaurant group in Southern California operating four chef-driven concepts (Ospi, Jemma, Jame Enoteca, ¡Jaime! Taqueria) plus catering, serving local dine-in consumers with hand-crafted Italian and Mexican cuisine.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Restaurant Hospitality Services

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

All-Day Dining Restaurants (THAFACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Special Occasion & Destination Restaurants (THAFACAK), Wedding & Social Event Catering (THAHAKAE)

Keywords

• Italian restaurant dining
• Multi-concept restaurant group
• California-Mexican cuisine
• Event catering services
• Chef-driven hospitality

Headquarters

HQ city

Costa Mesa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Restaurant Dining Sales: Revenue generated from customer purchases at their four restaurant locations, including dine-in meals, beverages, and craft cocktails.
2. Catering Services: Catering services offered to customers for events and private gatherings, providing food and hospitality outside of regular restaurant operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Memento Mori Hospitality operates a portfolio of chef-driven restaurants across Southern California, offering dine-in food and beverage service at four concepts (Ospi, Jemma, Jame Enoteca, and ¡Jaime! Taqueria) along with off-site catering services for events and private gatherings. The restaurants serve Italian, California-Italian, and California-Mexican cuisine with hand-crafted, market-driven ingredients.

Product overview

Memento Mori Hospitality is a hospitality group operating a portfolio of distinct restaurant brands. The company manages four restaurant concepts: Ospi (elevated modern Italian), Jemma (Italian-American with California flair), Jame Enoteca (neighborhood restaurant with hand-rolled pastas), and ¡Jaime! Taqueria (California-Mexican). Each brand operates independently with its own identity while sharing the company's commitment to hand-crafted cuisine and gracious hospitality. The group also offers catering services across its restaurant portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ospi: An elevated celebration of a classic Brooklyn red sauce joint. Part modern Italian, part classic Italian, Ospi offers a casual lunch trattoria, familial dinner restaurant, and recovery brunch spot on weekends.
• Jemma
• Jame Enoteca
• ¡Jaime! Taqueria

Products and services

• Ospi

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Feeding AmericaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMemento Mori Hospitality partners with Feeding America as part of their giving back initiative. For each meal purchased at their restaurants (Ospi, Jemma, Jame), the company donates a meal to someone in need through this partnership.
• No Kid HungryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMemento Mori Hospitality partners with No Kid Hungry as part of their charitable giving program. For each meal purchased at their restaurants (Ospi, Jemma, Jame), the company donates a meal to help combat childhood hunger.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Fig & Olive: Multi-location Mediterranean-inspired full-service restaurant brand. Comparable as a chef-influenced casual-upscale concept operating in coastal U.S. markets with a focus on Italian/Mediterranean menu crossover.
• Eataly: Italian marketplace and full-service restaurant operator with multiple U.S. locations. Comparable overlap on Italian cuisine positioning, elevated casual dining, and multi-format retail/restaurant hybrid model.

Direct peers

• Hillstone Restaurant Group: Operates multiple restaurant brands including Hillstone, Houston's, and R+D Kitchen across the U.S. Comparable as a multi-concept private restaurant group with strong brand-level identity and a footprint concentrated in select regional markets.
• Tao Group Hospitality: Operates Asian-inspired and American restaurant/lounge concepts alongside nightlife venues. Comparable as a chef-influenced multi-brand hospitality group with elevated positioning and event-driven revenue mix.
• The ONE Group Hospitality: Public multi-concept hospitality company behind STK Steakhouse, Kona Grill, and Benihana. Comparable as a portfolio operator of chef-driven full-service restaurants spanning multiple cuisines and price points.
• Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises: Chicago-based multi-concept restaurant group operating dozens of distinct chef-driven brands. Directly comparable as a founder-led private hospitality group with a portfolio strategy spanning multiple cuisines and dining formats.
• Catch Hospitality Group: Operates Catch steak/seafood concepts in NYC, LA, Las Vegas, and other markets. Comparable as a multi-location, chef-influenced hospitality brand with strong SoCal presence and elevated positioning.
• Major Food Group: New York-based hospitality group behind Carbone, Torrisi, and Sadelle's. Operates a portfolio of chef-driven Italian-leaning concepts under one umbrella, mirroring MMH's strategy of launching multiple elevated dining brands from a single creative vision.

Broad incumbents

• Darden Restaurants: Large public multi-concept full-service restaurant operator (Olive Garden, LongHorn, Capital Grille). Comparable at the category level as a multi-brand full-service restaurant group, though Darden operates at vastly greater scale and with a value-leaning mix.

Others

• Toast (technology provider): Restaurant POS and operations platform serving thousands of independent and multi-unit operators. Relevant ecosystem player for any multi-concept restaurant group scaling operations and tech infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/memento-mori-hospitality

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Memento Mori Hospitality