Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Nicholas Braun has a new bar. Some people come to our restaurants because they love one dish. This suggestion was ignored. He then struck out on his own and conceived, developed and sold two highly . Were not doing the sandwich, but wed already had matchbooks made, Zalaznick said. It sold for $15 million. I realized that I didnt really want to be talking about restaurants, I wanted to be doing my own.. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The three of us are the Major Food Group. When we first opened Torrisi, it was all about the food. Everybody laughed. We knew we could tell the Carbone story the way we wanted to tell it in that space, Zalaznick said. Nor is there a fear of making money. Most of your restaurants are downtown or in Chelsea. Kevin Kim, Jeff Zalaznick, Mario Carbone, Masa Ito. Carbone called that a stretch. Very important. Zalaznick called the project a dream come true and something Major Food Group has wanted to do for a long time. He and his partners plan to work on more residential projects in the future. Niccolini says that a number of his old customers are among the 20 investors in his new venture, which will be smaller. Culinary titans Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick opened the doors to Carbone Miami last month and ever since, the legendary Italian eatery has been the hottest reservation in town . I love that because Im kind of similar in that way. I dont feel it yet, Torrisi said about Carbones early-American corn pudding. The Pool Room at the Four Seasons restaurant. "No one has done that," Zalaznick said. In its heyday, it was the sort of place where Barbara Walters, Sandy Weill, and Calvin Klein knew they could run into one another and get a plate of crab cakes ($56). With [Jeff], it was quite the opposite. 26) says. At Torrisi wed work until 11 p.m., then wed meet at 8 a.m. at Richs apartment, with Jeff, culling over old menus, looking through archives in the New York library, trying to find gems of creativity, Kulp said. Tomorrow, Major Food Group (MFG), the globally acclaimed hospitality brand Vogue recently described as carrying Miamis decadent dining scene practically single-handedly will debut the refined, widely celebrated Italian concept Contessa in the Miami Design District. All Rights Reserved. I have the mind of a chef but not the training, he conceded. Ardent Carbone fans will recognize menu favorites with subtle updates like stone crab from the raw bar or coconut-lime confections for a local touch. Youll get everything you want and more in this latest addition to the Carbone repertoire. Mr. Niccolini and Mr. von Bidder have said they are scouting out a new location downtown. What was next was the original Carbone. Theyre going to do a 50s design, but it will be retro, like a theme park. . It helps that the two have similar styles, Stern said. But its also a quixotic quest, attempting to install a food-centric restaurant in a venue where food was always beside the point. Click below to see everything we have to offer. 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. Meat is definitely the specialty at The Grill, but done very elegant, very refined. These guys, theres no fear of change.. Parisians flocked to the store at brunch hour, keen for a taste of bagels served on an Instagrammable three-tier tower. Its how many times they want to come back. By the time I was 14, Id made a firm decision that my life would be in the kitchen, Torrisi says. Carbones spring chicken with kings hash came next (two plates, in different brines), followed by potato dumplings (Strategically, its good to have, he said). I went to the Bowery to buy blue tiles that afternoon.. Rich Torrisi, Jeff Zalaznick and Mario Carbone on, Design-wise, the sprawling dining room transports. Prior to becoming a restaurateur, Jeff worked as an investment banker for J.P. Morgan and then a manager at the Mandarin Oriental. It was in California, New York, France. All four tasters shared a single salmon fillet in Chartreuse sauce. By 2015, there were several branded outposts in Las Vegas and Hong Kong, and a Parm counter at Yankee Stadium. Our less famous pizzerias are in danger of getting gobbled up. Their most casual enterprise, Parm, has been replicating at a rapid pace, with outposts from Battery Park City to the Upper West Side, and the chain appears poised to grow into a red-sauce analogue to Shake Shack. Piazza and his wife also own a unit at the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach, which they acquired in 2019 for $5.6 million, according to property records. But now Id say our identity is about so much more. This has lost the group some admiration from foodies and critics (Like the average New York bagel, the Times Pete Wells wrote in a mixed review of Sadelles, an upscale boutique of Yiddishkeit and caviar, its growth needs to be reined in.) But the mens broadened ambitions were hardly accidental they just occurred at a higher velocity than any of them envisioned. Restaurateur Major Food Group Expands To Miami - The Real Deal South Having planted their flag all over the city, Rich Torrisi, Mario Carbone and Jeff Zalaznick, the restaurateurs behind Major Food Group, are going back to their roots. Miami, FL - December 28, 2022 - Lebron James enjoyed a surprise early birthday celebration with a Godfather themed dinner at ZZ's Members Club last night, hosted by The Major Food Group: Alex Pirez, Mario Carbone, and Jeff Zalaznick. It makes a kind of sense that they would assume the mantle of a project as grand as this. Designed by Snarkitecture, the statement store occupies three stories in the historic Pershing Hall as well as its courtyard. It is zoned for high density mixed-use development. He also said there is enough space for them to expand their fund-raising effort, Major Good, a series of dinners and other events to benefit Robin Hood, which they have been running from the original Torrisi location. The idea of raising the renovation money from investors was so we can have a similar effect so that there are patrons who feel an attachment. He has 98 investor-patrons so far. This is the best fucking room, Rosen said of one. Theyll say we got rid of too much, but the only memorable thing we threw out was those four shitty fake trees in the four corners of the Pool Room. He notes that although Phyllis Lambert, the daughter of Seagrams founder and the guiding force behind the buildings construction, was initially critical about any changes to the interiors, she toured the new restaurants in January and was so pleased she decided to hold her 90th-birthday party in the Pool. The first chef of The Four Seasons, Albert Stockli, was Swiss, so we spent a day in Zurich, Carbone said, where they ate beef stroganoff at Kronenhalle. I just followed what I loved to do., Torrisis parents worked at the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan. We do everything as it pertains to wine at the highest level. 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.. They agonized over every dish, Rosen said. Even the physical plant felt as if status, rather than luxury, was what the architects had in mind. It has been very successful, and it still is one of the busiest restaurants and one of the hardest reservations in New York. Bar Mario is a month old. It is planning three separate menus and experiences: one for the Grill Room, another for the Pool Room and a third for the space that now holds Brasserie, a more informal restaurant in another part of the building. Youve got to create an environment where people enjoy themselves, feel relaxed, and are not intimidated. Both chefs come from middle-class bridge-and-tunnel households Carbone grew up in Flushing and, later, Bayside; Torrisi in Dobbs Ferry. A battalion of service trolleys had been commissioned from a small family business in Brooklyn with a machine the size of a studio apartment that stamps the silver, Carbone said. Since then, they have opened outposts of Carbone in Hong Kong and in Las Vegas. As two underlings in chefs whites worked deftly between the giant Molteni oven and range burner, Carbone stood flexing his thumbs expectantly, like a point guard waiting for a time-out to end. Since its opening, Sadelle's has become a New York brunch institution, serving more than 700 guests per day every weekend. If theyre not, their nose gets out of joint.. Even though the Carbone-Torrisi team can boast of considerable success and experience, the arrival of such newcomers may come across as a jarring shift in tone for power-lunch regulars, many of them in their 70s or 80s, who have grown accustomed to nibbling on salmon in the Grill Room. The Dinner Parties Happening Inside New Yorks Restaurants, How do you capture the warmth of a people?, What to Eat at Flushings New Tangram Food Hall. Rare stroganoff. Theres still plenty more where that came from, though, on the Grills menu: filet mignon la mode, Amish ham steak pineapple chow chow, Dover sole prepared Neptunes Roast style, larded squab.. It was absolutely, immediately embraced, said John Ellis, a Miami retail broker at Newmark. Soon it was nine cases, then 14. Its a masterpiece of mid-century architecture. Clearly the most striking aspect of the news, though, is the changing-of-the-guard aspect of the restaurateurs youth, which might strike some observers as a gamble. And they were hot.. In 2014, it was nominated as the Best New Bar in America by Tales of the Cocktail. En route from the studio, hed decided to cram in a ten-minute lunch at the Parisian steak chain Le Relais de Venise LEntrecte. And he was going to preempt it. Zalaznick jumped into both, building and selling a food content site that started as a restaurant search portal called Always Hungry. Later, Carbone mentioned he was planning to offer only five salads, and the group considered them all in relationship to one another. Baldor is struggling to fix a weeklong system outage. Once he and Mr. von Bidder have moved out next summer, the new team says it will sweep into the space with hopes of sprucing it up and reopening it in a matter of months. Crains New York Business is the trusted voice of the New York business communityconnecting businesses across the five boroughs by providing analysis and opinion on how to navigate New Yorks complex business and political landscape. The Vegan Chocolatier Who Wants to Turn Edible Butt Plugs Into a Business. I think midtown is coming back because new young exciting people like us are coming to midtown. Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Zelnick surname lived. 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. It did video content, it did written content, it did reviews and it did news stories. Regardless of whether the indulgent business lunch is endangered, Zalaznick says that midtown is on the verge of a full renaissance. Youve got a bunch of high-end residential towers being built, a lot of wealthy international customers coming to what was always a commercial area. He points out that other restaurateurs, including Jol Robuchon and Daniel Humm, have signed leases to open places near the Landmark Rooms as did, of course, Niccolini and von Bidder. entry before youre led into the main dining room, fashioned in a palette of terracotta and emerald green with damask-upholstered walls and leather banquettes. Shortly thereafter, a family feud ended in a split between the real estate and finance sides of the business. Martha Stewart, too. 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 concept, which first opened in downtown Manhattan in 2016, is a lifestyle as much as a restaurant. He likes to tease her about Brazilians eating habits. 5), the former publisher of Random House and a regular. The opening galvanized the surge in Florida-bound migration, and many more New York institutions began to follow Major Food Groups lead. March 10, 2021. | Designed by Mor. Theres a comfort in the familiarity of what we do that I believe is part of why people keep coming back to us.. The only thing we took was the plaque on the building, on 52nd Street. The idea is to restore and reinvigorate the greatest restaurant space thats ever existed, Mr. Zalaznick said. I was able to pursue that dream when I met my partners Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone, who had opened a restaurant called Torrisi Italian Specialties. "And they're all quite significant.". We saw this jewel box restaurant turn into an overnight success, Kulp said. Major Food Group (MFG), led by the creative forces and Co Founders Mario Carbone, Jeff Zalaznick, and Rich Torrisi of some of Americas most celebrated restaurants, is partnering with powerhouse developer and builder JDS Development Group, led by Chief Executive Michael Stern, to conceive, build, and operate MAJOR. Dishes that you would have found in New York in the 1950s at American restaurants: fillet steaks, different steaks, chops and birds; squabs, ducks, pheasant. Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series Statler Hall Cornell University 106 Statler Drive Ithaca, NY 14853-6201 At the end of the day, there were only about 20 people who felt welcome under the previous regime, Zalaznick says. About Us | MAJOR FOOD GROUP | A NY Based Hospitality Company This is it, Mr. Carbone said. We started building restaurants and our first big one was Carbone in 2013. The naming was a whole thing in itself, says Richard Pandiscio, the founder of a luxury-branding agency that Rosen hired to work with the restaurateurs on everything from logos to uniforms to the sturdy doggy bags (the Grills will be cordovan-colored on the outside with a rose-hued interior, not unlike a steak). A few weeks ago, in an empty dining room of what used to be The Four Seasons restaurant, Jeff Zalaznick arrived late to a meeting with his business partners, the chefs Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi. 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 deposit will go towards the total of your final bill. PROFILEmiami takes no ownership of any imagery unless otherwise noted. I mean, I love the creamed spinach and Dover sole, but theres more to a place. (It hardly helped that Niccolini was charged with sexual assault for forcing himself on a woman at a party at The Four Seasons in 2015; he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to no jail time. Accept Reservations About Menus & Locations Events Delivery Catering Email Signup Major Food Group Accessibility Terms of Service Privacy Policy Press Reservations Gift Cards powered by BentoBox The company has more than 30 restaurants, hotels and clubs in the U.S. and abroad. Half in the kitchen and half front of house. His family dined weekly at Shun Lee and celebrated his grandparents anniversary every year at The Four Seasons. Was it the most expensive restaurant when it opened? Torrisi asked Sheraton. Next door at The Pool will have very modern desserts. Depends on what restaurant, so per person if you look at all of our restaurants we have everything from $35 all the way to a hundred and fifty dollars. Jeff Zalaznick May 14, 2017 "The most famous restaurant space in America." Jeff how many restaurants do you and your partners in the Major Food Group have today? He began affixing them to the walls. Is it your intention to bring back the celebrity customers that went to places like the Rainbow Room? His father is a prominent private-equity investor, and his maternal grandfather was Paul Milstein, a titan of New York City real estate (an uncle, Edward Milstein, has one of the great wine collections in New York). For Rich, its the lobster ravioli and octopus, for Mario its the Veal Milanese (which is not on the menu, but theyll make it for anyone who asks), and for Jeff, its the beef carpaccio and Lobster Fra Diavolo. It is simply impossible to get in unless you know who to ask, so much so that the Infatuation has penned a roundup of where to eat when the Carbone matre d expectedly turns you down. Velvety jewel-tone nooks define the bar area upon entry before youre led into the main dining room, fashioned in a palette of terracotta and emerald green with damask-upholstered walls and leather banquettes. Major Food Group did just that at the Seagram Building, mixing an obsession with the past and a flamboyant twist on the future in their take on the space, which was divided into The Grill and The Pool Lounge. We try to consistently tell our story and our message and make sure that the food, the experience, the service and every different element tells that story. 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. Even before the migration started in earnest in the fall of 2020, Zalaznick could sense the building momentum. I worked at J. P. Morgan for two years, and learned a lot about finance and numbers that still helps me today, but I realized I had to pursue my passion if I was going to be excellent at something. Those men the chefs Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi and their business partner, Jeff Zalaznick, all in their 30s say they have signed a contract with Aby J. Rosen, who owns the Seagram. He has also tried dozens of versions of foie gras and, with his deputy chef, came up with a presentation that involves slicing it thinly on a girolle and arranging it like coral or a blossoming flower. As a scion of the Milsteins, the prominent New York real estate family, Zalaznick initially followed the typical track for monied heirs of his generation: he went into finance, landing an investment banking job at JPMorgan after graduating from Cornell University in 2005. We had very long discussions with Aby, and at the end of the day a lot of our vision for the space and our dream was similar to what Aby wanted. The new tenants expect some resistance. Carbone is New York style Italian food that we all three of us grew up with. New York was enraptured. jeff zalaznick parents. 35) because for years it was an article of faith that he wanted a simple baked potato with olive oil (not listed on the menu). Terms of Service apply. He and his wife, Alicia, listed their waterfront home at 1401 West 27th Street on the Sunset Islands for $18.5 million in late 2017. Can the New Four Seasons Be a Food Destination? Torrisi Bar & Restaurant is a new Italian concept from Major Food Group and its co-founders Rich Torrisi, Jeff Zalaznick, and Mario Carbone. We were three talented chefs in a 500-square-foot kitchen cooking as hard as we could, as creatively as we could, said Kulp, who later founded his own restaurant group, High Street Hospitality Group. 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. The usurper to Heinzs throne is no more. What makes the space so special for restaurants? We are a fine dining restaurant but not in a formal setting. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Jeff Zalaznick may appear to be the business brains of Major Food Grouppartners Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone are chefsbut the three work so closely together that Zalaznick can no longer isolate which part of Major Food Group's resounding success belongs to him. In addition, Jeff and his partners believe strongly in giving back, and have pioneered an exciting charity partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation. When I met with Jeff, I asked him only a couple of questions: What does the architecture mean to you, and where is this place going? When Rosen asked Zalaznick to name his ten favorite restaurants in the world, he was delighted that nine of them were also on his list, including LAmi Louis and Le Duc in Paris. It was a matter of asking, Whats the most Grill-like way to have pasta? Carbone says. Major Food Groups Miami adventure is just getting started. The trio set about transforming the space into Carbone, an upscale red-sauce joint that paid homage to Carbones Italian American roots. They cut the steak into small pieces, which they ate with their fingers. In Miami when youre hot youre hot, and when youre not youre not. The new owners seem less concerned with antagonizing the old crowd than with cultivating a new one. In 1920 there was 1 Zalaznick family living in Massachusetts. Sticker shock: Ranking South Floridas priciest residential rentals, Here are Chicago's top 10 construction permits issued in May. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. It was built in 2001 and has a library, home office and a master suite with a private balcony. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. New York had the highest population of Zelnick families in 1920. Zalaznick rerouted his family to Miami, where they checked into the Surf Club resort. More and more are coming now that we came in. We want to bring great food and great fun back to the greatest restaurant space. The group had also branched out to new markets, with properties in Las Vegas, Hong Kong and Paris. People care about fun. That was right about the time that Zalaznick graduated from Cornell, and started his short-lived stint in finance. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. This new property will offer high-caliber cuisine with a traditional omakase experience and la carte menu spanning Tokyo-sourced seafood and premium beef. Receive small business resources and advice about entrepreneurial info, home based business, business franchises and startup opportunities for entrepreneurs. Aside from their ritzy new zip code, they successfully opened their doors at the peak of New York to Miami migration. Then in Seattle. (It includes eventually opening a third Major Food Group restaurant, in the home of Brasserie, which occupied the basement level on the opposite side of the building.) These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. In September 2020, he went to see the vacant space that had once been Stephen Starrs Upland in South Beach. I think its a sense of familiar nostalgia, Mario Carbone chimes in. Jeff Zalaznick - Commercial Observer jeff zalaznick parents This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The company, led by founders Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Zalaznick, has expanded rapidly in South Florida since opening Carbone in Miami Beach a year ago. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. They and Mr. Zalaznick, 31, have been unapologetic about their appetite for expansion, and like Mr. Rosen, they do not shy away from ruffling feathers. City Council One Step Closer to Really, Finally Making Streeteries Permanent, A New Bakery With Legendary Baguettes and Overlooked Egg Tarts. We try to spend as much time as possible. Their restaurant will not be called the Four Seasons; a new name has yet to be chosen. Brooks Headley Loves Every Inch of the New Superiority Burger. The ascent of Mr. Carbone and Mr. Torrisi, both 35, has been fast and heady. It was a beef tenderloin with truffle sauce, basically, Torrisi said. That went back to their early days together. Theyre too talented on their own, too hardworking and dedicated to the craft, Kulp continued. Theres also a renewed Torrisi, a collaboration with Kith in Paris, a hotel in Boston, and for its newest move: a branded condominium with Michael Sterns JDS Development in Miami. In March 2013, they opened Carbone, an homage to the great Italian-American fine dining establishments of mid-century New York. 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