The Restaurant Genius Behind Carbone, ZZ’s, Torrisi & More | Jeff Zalaznick

About this episode

Jeff Zalaznick discusses his journey in the restaurant industry and the success of Major Food Group.

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…

People in this episode

Host: David Senra

Guest: Jeff Zalaznick

Topics covered

• hospitality
• restaurant industry
• entrepreneurship
• food culture
• business success

Keywords

• Major Food Group
• Carbone
• restaurant success
• hospitality
• entrepreneurship

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Major Food Group, Carbone, ZZ's, Torrisi, The Grill, The Pool, J.P. Morgan, Mandarin Oriental

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