Design-wise, the sprawling dining room transports you to Miami in the 1950s lush mid-century Miami [+] glamour with an Italian-American twist, brought to life by the inimitable Ken Fulk. How Jeff Zalaznick Built the Major Food Group Empire We drove here just for a chance to meet you. Parisians flocked to the store at brunch hour, keen for a taste of bagels served on an Instagrammable three-tier tower. MFG's restaurants are conceptualized to uphold the highest level of food quality and fine dining service in a fun and inviting atmosphere for the guest. The outdoor patio feels more laidback, with rattan ceiling fans, eclectic furniture and lush greenery as a nod to Havana, bringing a distinct Miami flair to theCarbone experience. Prior to becoming a restaurateur, Jeff worked as an investment banker for J.P. Morgan and then a manager at the Mandarin Oriental. Inside Wealth-Conference Con Man Anthony Ritossas Wild Web of Lies, Inventing Ivana Trump: Her Improbable Rise and Tragic Death. No offense to Jersey though. Wink wink. While MFG grows, it continues to celebrate the history of New York. You dont understand, the fan says. Eaters Ryan Sutton made The Grill the rare nontasting menu in the city with four stars. But then the Move could not account for the fact that in the back rooms corner booth sat Aviv Vivi Nevo, the berwealthy Zelig-like investor with a self-fashioned mystiquefor years, his top Google searches said that he was ungoogleable. The stars aligned for Carbone Miami. The opening galvanized the surge in Florida-bound migration, and many more New York institutions began to follow Major Food Groups lead. In 2009, then president Barack Obama caused a stir by eating at Il Mulino with former president Bill Clinton, but theres no indication Obama ever went back. He is the co-founder and co-owner of Major Food Group (MFG). Speaking of the Kingdom: Theres also a new edition of Torrisi Italian Specialties, simply called Torrisi, opening in 2022 in the Puck Building, which is owned by Kushner Companies, the real estate empire once run by Jared Kushnerwhose firm recently took a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund. Property records show the Piazzas paid $10 million for the Tuscan-style home in 2008. Would you mind signing it?. Its laid-back aesthetic, consisting of rattan ceiling [+] fans, eclectic furniture, and lush greenery, nods to Havana, bringing a distinct Miami flair to the Carbone experience. I dont know if youd get in too much trouble, but I have some Our Lady of Rocco gear. They became roommates and spent each morning getting ready for work, bitching about their jobs, perfecting dishes by woodshedding on the tiny stovetop, and communing with the cooking god on the television, Bobby Flay. He has also been named 40 under 40 by Crains and a Rising Star Restaurateur by Star Chefs. The expansive patio space can seat 50 people. That was right about the time that Zalaznick graduated from Cornell, and started his short-lived stint in finance. And he was going to preempt it. He grew up in a sophisticated environment where he could dabble, and go to places that he loved, said real estate mogul Aby Rosen, owner of RFR Realty, who would later partner with Zalaznick at the Seagram Building. Sadelle's Dallas The Hottest New Brunch Spot in Highland Park Village By . Mr. Torrisi said he and his partners were happy to be returning to NoLIta and to be part of what they see as a resurgence of restaurant activity in the city. My grandfather would wake up, hed get dressed, and part of getting dressed, hed put an apron on, Carbone tells me. Even if this was set to be a huge weekend for the Magic City, this kind of ambitionthe kind that prompts one to prop up a cathedral of carbs in South Beachhas been in somewhat short supply since the pandemic crippled large swaths of the restaurant industry. When Zalaznick told . Wait a minute. He was very green at the start, Boulud says. Zalaznick quickly made it back to New York, where he got ready to take his family on a ski vacation to Aspen, Colo. By then a case of the COV-SARS-19 disease had been detected in Europe. Alain Elkann interviews Jeff Zalaznick of the Major Food Group Carbone jerks a thumb toward them and swings his head my way to shoot me a These your people? stare. I dont want to see what theyve done.. The property features a guesthouse, 100 feet of deep water frontage with a dock and boat lift, a pool and wet bar. Even before the migration started in earnest in the fall of 2020, Zalaznick could sense the building momentum. But you also get what you pay for, which a lot of times doesnt happen.. Speaker: Jeff Zalaznick, A&S '05, Restaurateur | Cornell Nolan It had all the things that we look for in real estate when we look for a space to tell a story, which is that it had the history and the soul of that story.. The idea to do what Carbone is, thats more acutely Marios particular dream as a young chef, says Torrisi, whose name graced their first restaurant, Torrisi Italian Specialties. Jeff said something interesting about people in New York, Torrisi says. We walk into the kitchen, where young guys in oil-slicked chefs whites are hammering away at their stations. At Torrisi, the gang had initially been known for their $45 tasting menu, a direct response to the type of insanely expensive bill that came after dining at Eleven Madison Park or Masa. We look to craft a story, and its a 100-year-old Italian American sign, a perfect location in the other Little Italy of Manhattan.. Piazza, who is considered one of baseballs best offensive catchers, played for the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, as well as briefly for the then-Florida Marlins. We saw this jewel box restaurant turn into an overnight success, Kulp said. Carbone went for drinks with him at the Jane Hotel. Mr. Torrisi said Wednesday that they plan to evoke the original Torrisi Italian Specialties. So, what exactly is the winning formula that has allowed Carbone to transcend the last decade in multi-city iterations, all the while remaining one of the most coveted dining destinations? It was devouring Italy. That one thing cost more than that whole menu you used to serve. And were like, Yeah, I know, but its different. Prior to becoming a restaurateur, Jeff worked as an investment banker for J.P. Morgan and then a manager at the Mandarin Oriental. NYC restaurant barons ride Florida pandemic wave to open new spots Despite such doubts, the party starts to heat up. Then another Move: Carbone takes out one of the cigars gifted to him, looks me in the eye, and lights it as Sinatra hits the last high note in My Way. Torrisi is standing nearby, downing a glass of wine. Jeffrey Zalaznick is 39. His grandfather was real estate titan Paul Milstein. I met everybody in town who was great; people from Europe came, Rosen said I always gravitated back to Jeff., He liked the mix of creativity, chutzpah and business acumen that the three partners offered, and how Jeff complemented the two chefs. hahahahaha!!! It was booked solid for the rest of the year. In Miami when youre hot youre hot, and when youre not youre not. And all three brought total dedication to the craft. Jeff Zalaznick Latest Miami Real Estate PROFILE Miami Carbone was born to Italian Americans in a residential part of Queens, and his grandparents, who came over from Italy as adults, were always around, always cooking. There was a lot of Good for you, kids! for a long time, the first couple of years. In Boston, Major Food Group worked with the developers of the Newbury Boston hotel, located in a historic downtown building on Newbury Street, to curate the food, beverage and other lifestyle elements of the hotel, including a rooftop bar called Contessa that opened last July. He approached me and said, Have you ever thought about doing a building? Zalaznick said. Zalaznick soon quit JPMorgan and went to work at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in guest relations, which gave him a frontline seat to the hospitality business, before turning to his own ventures. MFG has since opened outposts of Parm on the Upper West Side, in Battery Park and inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. As if Carbone Beach could get any more exclusive, the Italian eatery's $3,000-a-head . Major Food Group has 21 restaurants in New York, Las Vegas, Hong Kong and Tel Aviv, according to the company's website. From there, Zalaznick began to collaborate with Torrisi and Carbone, and his impact was immediately felt. Give. ), Dallas doesnt like to pay high prices for Italian unless they are in New York or Los Angeles or Italy, Nancy Nichols, a longtime local food writer, wrote after the spot closed. Jeff Zalaznick flew to Saudi Arabia to pursue the possibility of opening his companys first restaurant in the Middle East. The Florida governor is the Fox-loving, lib-owning successor-in-waiting to Donald Trumps cult of personality. Its going to be a very hedonistic experience.. Then the restaurant opened in March 2013, and Eater couldnt stop writing about it. The brick-and-mortar Carbone down the beach was booked from opening until closing. I get so excited when someone sends me a picture of their burger or something because I feel like all I post is Carbone.. And they were hot.. Its the ensemble of details that they cared about, and made sure that they did their way, consistent with whatever theme theyre going for, Stern said. And at the end of one service, he looks down the line at me. You can expect a deli and restaurant, highlighting our approach to cuisine, he said. glamour with an Italian-American twist, brought to life by the inimitable Ken Fulk. I dont get this. No idea what came next. When I started thinking about what kind of brand partner we would want to have to develop this building with us, I immediately thought of Jeff, Stern said. And people have contacts. So I walk up to him. People have a lot of fun atCarboneand if you mix all these things up, its why people come back again and again. And its true Major Food Group creates an environment that evokes the familiar elements you know and love, while devising an updated concept that feels local and inspired. In time, a 27-year-old regular named Jeff Zalaznick approached them about getting drinks. Just three months after signing the lease, Zalaznick and his partners, chefs Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone, were hosting A-list celebs, New York expats and real estate bigwigs including Barry Sternlicht, David Grutman, Craig Robins and J.P. Perez for a preview night at Carbone. I have zero issue with coming off as a villain in the press, he told Town & Country. What Carbone coming to South Beach did was validate that Miami was a vibrant community and a foodie scene, Ellis said. Chef Ed, whats going on with our great wall of bread?. MFG co-founders, Jeff Zalaznick, Mario Carbone, and Rich Torrisi with Michael Stern and renderings of their planned Brickell Tower at 888 Brickell Avenue (JDS, Getty) May 25, 2022, 2:40 PM By And Jeff Zalaznick, whod worked a bit in the industry, was looking for something new. Throughout the trip, murmurs of a contagious virus spreading in China began to percolate. Tux-clad waiters wheel around little tuna tartare bites and gooey rice balls, and at Carbone Vino is a cornucopia of treyf that exists at the end of a pork eaters dream: San Marco 24-month prosciutto di Parma, Elevation coppa, soppressata piccante, Leoncini mortadella, and herb-crusted lardo that melts on the tongue for a moment of porcine bliss. I name a lot of different restaurants, and for whatever reason, they just latched on to Carbone, its become so synonymous with the account, one of the founders of @deuxmoi tells me on a phone call. Once it was announced that Major Food Group would take over the countrys most famous restaurant and turn it into The Grill, the criticism leapfrogged several social strata up from the comments section. By the turn of the century, the Milstein familys holdings were worth about $5 billion, according to, The trio set about transforming the space into Carbone, an upscale red-sauce joint that paid homage to Carbones Italian American roots. But in 2011 the landlord reportedly informed Stanzianos grand-nephew Antonio DaSilva that his rent would be jacked from $8,000 to $18,000 per month, and the family balked. He was there every night. And its all thanks to this man. Zalaznicks only condition was that they be allowed to keep the glowing sign, which they left in place, tacking Carbone across the former lettering. Zalaznick rerouted his family to Miami, where they checked into the Surf Club resort. Some of them we know through the years now. On the evening of Carbones first service in the Lone Star State, Lamborghini Murcilagos peel into the tiny Design District strip mall and their owners hop out, throw the keys to the valet, and walk into the cocktail party, which straddles both Carbone and the new restaurant concept next door, Carbone Vino, a wine bar that will serve Carbone staplesthe Caesar, the rigatonialong with, in a first, pizza. Main content starts here, tab to start navigating. Rich and Mario would have been successful on their own. Major Food Group and JDS Development Announce 'MAJOR' As The In 2015, RFRs Rosen, ever the provocateur, angered New Yorks most powerful by announcing his intention to replace the fabled Four Seasons restaurant at the base of his Seagram Building, when its lease was up the next year. About as intimidating a human being as youre going to find, Carbone says of Lee. Jeff Zalaznick is a restaurateur and entrepreneur. Prior to becoming a restaurateur, Jeff worked as an investment banker for J.P. Morgan and then a manager at the Mandarin Oriental. Halegua and Zalaznick headed over to Thompson Street and stopped in front of Roccos, one of the longest-running Italian restaurants in the city, known by its distinctive neon sign. LeBron James alone managed to stop by Carbone Beach on four consecutive nights. From Leonardo DiCaprio, Rihanna, and Jay-Z to Kim Kardashian, Barack Obama, and secretive millionaires, its as if the rich and powerful simply are not aware that other places exist to get dinner. It doesnt look ready, but he is. Tell us more about the concept behind this project. Asia was masking up. That was a huge coup, said real estate lawyer Jonathan Mechanic, who used to frequent the Four Seasons. Estimated Net Worth: $770,000 Estimated Salary: $254,660. I was trying to get a job here, blah, blah, blah, blah. It received a glowing two-star review from The New York Times and was named one of GQ's Most Outstanding Restaurants of 2015. However if you are graced with a table, you immediately understand what makes the Carbone brand so unequivocally enduring. Jeff Zalaznick Net Worth. And were all listening to Frank. Hes yelling at other French chefs in perfect French. We recently caught up with Jeff Zalaznick, one of the managing partners of Major Food Group, alongside Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone the team behind Sadelle's. Run by Julian Niccolini and Alex Von Bidder, the Four Seasons was a bastion of power in New York, where the whos who of media, finance and politics mingled, and regular guests could count on being courted. So they started looking around. In the 1980s, the brothers developed a Madison Avenue building for Bank of America, were instrumental in revitalizing Times Square, and branched out into finance, acquiring the Emigrant Savings Bank New Yorks oldest savings institution. This sort of critical appraisal is something of an important marker in the evolution of fine dining in New York. Also a Move: that time the waiter handed over comically large menus and then rattled off the nights oysters, a list as long as the names of who begat whom in the book of Genesis, ending with New Brunswickand thats Canada, not Jersey! Its a simple ribbed white tank for guys that has been called a wife-pleaser.. That Nevo held court at a table in the back room wasnt reported anywhere. For Carbone, that was a project with Chang, but things got scuttled during the Great Recession. Or that a tablemate came back from the bathroom to announce he had just been introduced to Olivia Rodrigo, the stratospheric 19-year-old pop star, who was sitting with, among others, the actor Sebastian Stan and Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli. Carbone had worked at Lupa right across the street. The family left for Aspen. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. It started as an ordinary work trip. About Us | MAJOR FOOD GROUP | A NY Based Hospitality Company by FameRanker April 3, 2022, 1:11 am 2k Views. We walk out, and two guys, one older and one younger, have been standing on the restaurants asphalt. But in 2011 the landlord reportedly informed Stanziano's grand-nephew Antonio DaSilva that his rent would be jacked from $8,000 to $18,000 per month, and the family balked. In September 2014, MFG opened Dirty French, an edgy New York bistro that takes its cues from the great legacy of the neighborhood and relevant worldly influences, in The Ludlow Hotel. He knew the food, and he loved the food, but he was there to make money.. Jeff Zalaznick - Commercial Observer He was born and raised in New York City and is a graduate of Cornell University. Major Food Group And JDS Development Part Ways at MAJOR, Rebranded As 888 Miami. Johnson designed the Four Seasons to be soft and relaxing, unlike the hot spot destination restaurants that dominate Manhattan. Nevertheless, a weeks worth of opening dinners were attended by titans of business and real estate, among them Robert Kraft, Jonathan Tisch, Leon Black, Steven Roth, and Henry Kravis. We handled the food and beverage, but we also did all the concepting around the hotel itself, Zalaznick said. When Zalaznick told his two new partners that he had heard about a space at 181 Thompson, both knew exactly what he meant. Jeff Zalaznick, Rich Torrisi, & Mario Carbone WRE: ZZ's Club is your newest restaurant and membership club opening in the Miami Design District. The first Move is a meta one: leading us past the main dining room with tiles reminiscent of those in the restaurant in which Michael Corleone accepted his destiny in The Godfather, through the kitchen la Scorseses direction en route to the best table at the Copacabana in Goodfellas. On a brisk Texas morning on the last day of March, I am sitting with Carbone at the new Carbone in Dallas, in the bones of a restaurant set to open, alarmingly, that night. Every detail was considered. From left, Rich Torrisi, Jeff Zalaznick and Mario Carbone in a 2013 photo. 1401 West 27th Street on the Sunset Islands (The Jills Photography by Luxhunters). The commenters kept at it too. Instead, Zalaznick and Major Food Group shifted their focus to Miami, which had become a destination for Northerners freed from the office and fleeing lockdown. The creators know this and relish the hell out of it. A month after Carbone opened in Miami in January 2021, the group opened Sadelles inside the flagship of streetwear brand Kith in Paris. One would figure this opening was strategically expedited once Carbones core clientele starting flocking south, though the team already had Carbone well underway. Carbone's famous rigatoni dish, tossed in a spicy vodka sauce. The space had an earned-through-the-decades patina that could actually fulfill the trios spaghetti-wrapped dreams. This is really the evolution of what has been the building of an incredible restaurant business, Zalaznick said. I said, Not only is this gonna be Carbone, I know how were gonna get this open in the fastest time anyones ever opened a restaurant.. Roccos dated back to 1914, containing within its walls nearly a century of Italian American cooking and culture. Upon opening, Parm received two stars from The New York Times and was named as one of the 101 Best Places to Eat in North America by Newsweek. Of course, nothing can outrival the famed spicy rigatoni and veal parmesan, but the Major Food Group gents will encourage you to try their favorites. The role that space plays for Major Food Group properties goes back to the beginning, to the tiny storefront where Torrisi and Carbone joined forces to open an Italian eatery that quickly became the talk of the town. The chef happened to be Alex Lee. Then in Seattle. But this very often tends to be Italian Italian food, which means the food the wealthy eat in Milan or Genoa, not Italian American food. In December 2021, the two companies confirmed that they would be collaborating on MAJOR, a 259-unit condo in Miamis Brickell where Major Food Group would curate the entire lifestyle aspect of the property, as well as operate its food and beverage options. The cocktail party becomes a full-on party, Ol Dirty Bastard and Biggie Smalls blasting on the speakers, and eventually Carbone joins Torrisi and Zalaznick by the front, and they tell me that the place is booked out already for two months. Our plan as Major Food Group is to not only expand geographically as a restaurant group, but to expand into other verticals, like hotels and real estate, where we thought that not only was there a huge opportunity for our style of hospitality, but also where we thought our restaurants would play a huge role in the value of those properties, Zalaznick said. In the same year, MFG opened Sadelles, a bakery and restaurant that celebrates some of New Yorks greatest food traditions. The establishment opened its doors in March 2013 to much acclaim per The New Yorker, an impossible reservation almost instantly cementing the reputations of the already lauded restaurateurs. The best food, the best drinks and the best people. Kanye West and Julia Fox went on their first date at the Miami outpost on New Years Day, and then followed up three days later with another dateat Carbone in New York, as they vamped for the paparazzi. Shortly thereafter, a family feud ended in a split between the real estate and finance sides of the business. New York was enraptured. It has to be us. That was our thought process back then. At one point, a friend who represented the building at 181 Thompson Street told Zalaznick about the site, that they were renting the retail space, which for 90 years had been held by a legendary but bygone Greenwich Village red-sauce joint called Rocco Restaurant. Right there, were going to build our first Carbone hotel., See All the Outfits From the 2023 Met Gala Red Carpet, Why Tucker Carlsons Exit From Fox News Looks Like an Execution, Prince Harry and Prince William Reportedly Still Havent Talked After Spare, Dune: Part Two: An Exclusive First Look at the Sagas Epic Conclusion, The 25 Best Shows on Netflix to Watch Right Now, From the Archive: Seduced and Abandoned (2014). You may opt-out by. I think its a sense of familiar nostalgia, Mario Carbone chimes in. Shes the only one in the family, before me, that could cook, Zalaznick said. As Carbone bends down to sign it, I get the uncanny feeling like this is something rehearseda Move. Were very blunt, borderline offensive blunt, when we dont like something.. I landed in an incredible place that was making a shit ton of noise, he says. Jeff just brings a different level, through his relationships with people, through his eye for whats next.. His build is stocky, shaved head. We had a test kitchen built; they tried a dish 30, 40, 50 times before it was perfected.. That story got more than 100 comments from angry anti-gentrifiers and supporters alike. When he got back to the States, he thought he had the stuff to make it in the kitchens stacked with chefs who would come to define the next two decades of restaurants in New York. So when Stern of JDS Development floated the idea of working on a branded condo, it fit neatly into the direction Major Food Group was going. Its decisive moves like the swift Carbone opening that have made Major Food Group one of the most recognizable restaurant groups in the world. I have no interest in going back, she said. And hes sitting next to Jay-Z. The new as-yet-to-be-named project will move into the back of the Puck Building in the former location of Chefs Club, which closed during the pandemic. It was like a 16-year-old and Taylor Swift right there, Carbone says. Major Food Group, Michael Stern Plan Miami Condo Tower - The Real Deal There was definitely a large group of naysayers, all of a sudden, that had never existed, Carbone says. Soon they found a former blue jeans store on Mulberry Street, spent months gutting it, and opened Torrisi Italian Specialties. And then we came out with $50 veal Parms and tuxedos and they were like, Wait a minute. But I was like Rudy Ruettiger at fucking Notre Dame. Carbone Beach Pop Up Coming to Miami - Ocean Drive I was not surprised at all personally, Torrisi says about the immediate success. and Alex Von Bidder, the Four Seasons was a bastion of power in New York, where the whos who of media, finance and politics mingled, and regular guests could count on being courted. Jeff Zalaznick | Crain's New York Business The couple sold the property to Major Food Group co-founder and co-owner Jeffrey Zalaznick and his wife, Alison, who were renting the mansion prior to closing on it in mid-April, records show.. The dining room garners plenty of attention, from tableside Caesar salads to towering platters of desserts whisked around the room by Captains dressed in custom Zac Posen tuxedos. When talking about the restaurant, Carbone and Torrisi often bring up a concept they have dubbed The Move. The Moves are wink wink mini performances pulled off by the servers that weave together into a narrative, a series of over-accommodation that will charm and overwhelm and crescendo until you have been pomodoro-pilled. First up was the flagship space of Boulud, who is in Carbone parlance one of the LeBron Jameses of this thing. Carbone had a surefire plan to get a gig.