Sŏn

Korean · Multi-Daypart · Austin, Texas

Sŏn

The last true innovation in this era of hospitality.

EXPLORE THE OPPORTUNITY

Our Story

The Name Means Goodness

Sŏn (선) — the Korean word for goodness. A single syllable carrying the weight of a philosophy: that the act of caring for someone is an act of virtue. That hospitality, done right, is a moral practice.

We are building a Korean restaurant in Austin, Texas. Rooted in the culinary traditions of Korea, shaped by the ingredients and energy of Texas — experienced through the journey of a Seoul-born chef.

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THE EXPERIENCE

Seoul. New York. Texas.

Korean cuisine is multi-dimensional, so we built the menus to match. Morning ritual and late-night fire. Quick lunch in a dosirak box and a Michelin-starred dinner that changes with the season. Our lives in Seoul, New York, and Austin shaped every decision we make.

Culinary Program

Korean authenticity at fine dining execution. A point of view informed by a lifetime between Seoul, New York, and Texas. CIA training. Nearly a decade inside Jean Georges. A move to Texas to study barbecue and whole-animal craft. This is where it all converges.

Korean fine dining execution

Beverage Program

A Korean-Texan bar program spanning cocktails, soju, makgeolli, somaek, natural wine, and a non-alcoholic menu designed with the same rigor.

Coffee & Tea Program

Walk-up window. Seven days a week. The most beautiful drinks on your feed and the best cup of coffee in Austin — designed by a former top-ten barista in the country and built for speed, consistency, and volume. Specialty coffee, ceremonial-grade matcha, and visual specialty drinks that don't exist anywhere else.

OUR TEAM

Three Founders. One Vision.

Dominic Thomas

CFO · Business Strategist

CFO · BUSINESS STRATEGIST

Former Merrill Lynch wealth management associate on a top-producing Texas team managing $3B+ in assets. Barron's & Forbes "Best in State" 2024-2025. Builds the financial models, stress-tests assumptions, and structures capital with institutional rigor.

Brandon Acuña-Cardona

CEO · Operations & Strategy

CEO · OPERATIONS & STRATEGY

A career highlighted by experience across leading hospitality operations in the country — Emmer & Rye, Coqodaq (Simon Kim / Cote), Inday NYC, and the Alinea Group. Former top-ten barista in the United States. Strategy consultant for Pullman Market (Silver Ventures / Pearl). A career's worth of paid tuition inside the best operations in the country — and the strategic mind to design something none of them ever considered.

Jun Shim

Executive Chef · Culinary

EXECUTIVE CHEF · CULINARY

Seoul-born, CIA-trained. Nearly a decade inside the Jean Georges organization. Chef de Cuisine at Coqodaq — Simon Kim's Korean fine dining concept in NYC. A rare chef built by the speed, volume, and stakes of New York's most competitive kitchens and the rigor of Korea's culinary traditions — and captured by Texas.

THE OPPORTUNITY

An Open Market With Proven Demand

Korean fine dining restaurants in Austin

Fastest-growing cuisine category in American dining

Michelin stars awarded in Austin in the first two years of coverage

Of NYC's Michelin stars are Korean concepts

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Austin has seven Michelin stars — all awarded within two years of the guide's arrival. The city didn't wait to prove demand for ambitious restaurants. It was already there. Yet there is not a single Korean restaurant operating at fine dining execution anywhere in the market.

The fastest-growing food city in America. The fastest-growing cuisine in American dining. Korean is no longer emerging — it's being recognized at the highest levels in every major market it enters, driven by global cultural momentum and a generation of diners who know what Korean cuisine looks like when it's taken seriously. Austin's trajectory and Korean cuisine's trajectory are on the same curve. Sŏn is the intersection.

THE OPERATING SYSTEM

A Tech Stack Isn't a Moat. We Built the Connective Tissue That Is.

Every platform we use is commercially available. The moat isn't proprietary technology — it's that nobody in hospitality has ever wired them together. We built the connective tissue ourselves.

The capabilities that emerge from that architecture are structurally impossible for incumbents to replicate. Not because they can't buy the same tools — but because their success, their identity, and every signal from their value network tells them not to. By the time they decide it matters, the compounding data advantage has already closed the window behind us.

This is the informed late entry. Same industry. Different operating system.

Every platform we use is commercially available. The moat isn't proprietary technology — it's that nobody in hospitality has ever wired them together. We built the connective tissue ourselves.

This is the informed late entry. Same industry. Different operating system.

Total Platforms

Unified Data Layer

Data flows in from 18+ platforms via native sync, API scripts, and automation workflows into a single source of truth. Every operational metric, every guest profile, every labor insight — unified and queryable in real time.

9 platforms

Operations & POS

Core Spine

6 platforms

Guest & Revenue

Guest Data Spine

7 platforms

People & HR

Employee Lifecycle

4 platforms

Comms & AI

Voice Intelligence

4 platforms

Security & Access

Physical + Digital

5 platforms

Marketing & Brand

Brand Presence

10 platforms

Productivity & Data

Backbone

"45 commercially available platforms. Zero proprietary technology. The moat is that nobody in hospitality has ever wired them together — and the capabilities that emerge when you do are structurally impossible for incumbents to replicate."

REQUEST INVESTOR MATERIALS

FINANCIAL OUTLOOK

The Math Behind the Model

Dayparts

Services

Footprint

15+ hrs

Daily facility utilization vs. industry average of 5

$6.7M

Year 1 projected revenue

Traditional fine dining fights for dinner. One service. The facility sits empty 18 hours a day.

Sŏn fights for every hour.

Five services across four dayparts — all from a single infrastructure. The margin targets don't come from optimism. They come from utilization that no single-concept operator can access.

Traditional fine dining fights for dinner. One service. The facility sits empty 18 hours a day.

Sŏn fights for every hour.

Five services across four dayparts — all from a single infrastructure. The margin targets don't come from optimism. They come from utilization that no single-concept operator can access.

The margin lives in the gap between 5 hours and 15.

REVENUE ENGINE

Five Services. One Footprint.

Services

126

Seats

Footprint

15+ hrs

Daily Utilization

Dayparts

Daily, 7 days

Coffee

Walk-Up Window

Mon-Fri

Dosi QSR

Quick Service

Wed-Sun

Dinner

Full Service

Sat-Sun

Brunch

Full Service

Fri-Sat

Late Night

Bar Program

126 seats. Five distinct services. The facility works every hour the industry leaves empty.

Most restaurants fight for one seating. Sŏn fights for every hour.

SON VS INDUSTRY

Not Incremental. Structural.

Sŏn doesn't compete on the margins of the restaurant industry. It operates in a different category — one where multi-daypart utilization and integrated technology create structural advantages that single-concept operators cannot access.

Sŏn at Maturity

15+ hrs

Daily Facility Utilization

Services per Location

Industry Average

5 hrs

Daily Facility Utilization

Services per Location

The technology moat is 12-18 months for any competitor to replicate. By the time they wire together what we have already built, we will be two generations ahead.

INVEST IN SŎN

A $2.75M Investment Thesis

Built by operators. Structured by institutional finance. We are seeking partners who understand that the best restaurants are built on vision, operational systems, and the right team.

We are selective about our partners.

Built by operators. Structured by institutional finance. We are seeking partners who understand that the best restaurants are built on vision, operational systems, and the right team.We are selective about our partners.

Request access to our investor materials — financial model and operational white paper.

Every dollar allocated across six categories. 200+ line items in the CapEx model. Three scenarios modeled from stress test to best case.

The full breakdown is in the materials.

Request Investor Materials

We'll send you our investor materials within 24 hours.

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Austin, Texas — Opening 2027