Jeff Zalaznick is co-founder of Major Food Group, the hospitality company behind Carbone, ZZ's, Torrisi, The Grill, and The Pool. He has opened 77 restaurants and bars and 76 are still operating and profitable. He is now building Major Food Group into a fully vertically integrated hospitality company spanning restaurants, private members' clubs, hotels, and branded residential towers.

Zalaznick was obsessed with food from childhood, watching cooking shows on PBS while other kids watched cartoons and memorizing the Zagat guide. His first job out of college was as an investment banking analyst at J.P. Morgan, but he knew it wasn’t his dream. He walked out on his birthday, talked his way into any job at the newly opened Mandarin Oriental, built a restaurant website, and eventually partnered with restaurateur Joe Bastianich to get a front-row seat to the business. Watching Joe work, he realized: "I can do this, and I can do it my way." He quickly sold his companies and set out to open his own restaurant.

The idea was Carbone — elevated Italian-American food built on a simple thesis: take something everyone already loves and make the best version of it ever done. He found his partners, Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi, and opened Carbone in March of 2013. It’s now one of the most recognizable restaurant brands and sought-after reservations in the world. From there, they’d go on to launch Major Food Group, and the success has continued.

Show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/jeff-zalaznick

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(00:00:00) Seventy-Seven Restaurants, Seventy-Six Still Winning

(00:03:16) The First American Menu Written In English

(00:04:41) JFK's Cream Of Asparagus

(00:09:49) Fifty Years Of Smoke, Forty Million To Restore

(00:13:32) One Text: "Four Seasons?"

(00:16:17) Always Bet On Who Wants It Most

(00:19:13) Kill Lunch To Own Dinner

(00:24:00) The Only Thing That Matters Is If They Come Back

(00:29:37) Going Viral Isn't The Same As Being Good

(00:36:39) Watching Cooking Shows Instead Of Cartoons

(00:41:47) The Men At The Top Were Miserable

(00:43:21) Walking Into The Mandarin To Beg For Any Job

(00:49:40) A Front-Row Seat To His Hero

(00:53:06) Belief Comes Before Ability

(00:55:35) Burning The Boats

(00:57:31) Marry The Chef, Don't Hire Him

(00:59:25) The Best Version Of Something You Already Love

(01:03:56) The Hail Mary Call At Ten O'Clock

(01:08:29) "A Piacere" — Whatever You Want

(01:13:24) The Broken Neon Sign That Became An Icon

(01:18:17) Go With Whatever Feels Natural

(01:22:27) A Ten-Dollar Jar Of The Restaurant

(01:24:15) Your Mediocrity Is My Opportunity

(01:27:34) Netflix With A Restaurant

(01:32:11) The Club Where The Food Comes First

(01:37:07) Miami Was New Year's Eve Every Night

(01:40:45) Carbone Miami In 100 Days

(01:46:08) The Greatest Beach Club In America

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