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Ken Fulk led the recovery and design of Château ZZ’s, a Mexican restaurant and club.
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Major Food Group plans to open a new Mexican restaurant and private club at a historic Brickell château in Miami that developer Yamal Yidios’ Ytech acquired last year.
Chateau ZZ will open its doors later this month. Major Food Group, led by co-founders Jeff Zalaznick, Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi, hired Ken Fulk to renovate and design the 6,400 square feet at 1500 Brickell Avenue.
Château Petit Douy, built in 1931 on a 0.4-acre corner lot, was inspired by the Priory of Saint Julien in southern France. Florida architect Martin Hampton designed the building, which was designated historic in 1983. Miami-based Mast Capital sold the property to Ytech by selling the company that owned the real estate for an undisclosed price.
Major Food Group will have a Mexican restaurant on the first floor, with a solarium, bar and lounge and gardens, according to a press release. The second floor will be a private club for ZZ’s members. ZZ’s Club opened in the Miami Design District in 2021. A second ZZ’s opened in New York last month.
The Brickell building has been closed for years. A previous owner planned to open a dining spot with chef Clay Conley, according to the Palm Beach Post, but it never opened. Conley is chef and owner of Buccan in Palm Beach and Grato in West. Palm tree beach.
Major Food Group signed a 20-year lease with two five-year extensions with the previous property owner in Brickell, an agreement that remained in place after the sale of the LLC that owns the real estate.
A year ago, Brickell-based developer Ytech revealed plans for The Residences at 1428 Brickell, a nearby luxury condo tower that will be solar-powered.
Major Food Group expanded into South Florida and new markets. The New York-based restaurant organization owns Carbone, Sadelle’s, Dirty French, and Concepts, among others.
In Miami Beach, Major Food Group is partnering with hotel company Boucher Brothers to take over the Nikki Beach Club site in the city’s South of Fifth neighborhood. In September, the City Commission voted to allow the city to negotiate a new 10-year lease with the joint venture to take over the city’s assets at 1 Ocean Drive when the agreement with existing operators, Jack and Lucia PenrodArray, expires in 2026. Group (formerly known as Restoration Hardware) and Tao Group Hospitality were also competing for the assets.
In South Florida, Major Food Group will have eight concepts when Chateau ZZ’s opens. The restaurant group opened its first Miami outpost, Carbone in South Beach, in 2021. Earlier this year, it canceled a lease for a Sadelle’s at Crescent Heights’ mixed-use project under construction just west of Lincoln Road.
Major Food Group also has the luxury condo tower brand called Villa Miami, which Terra and One Thousand Group plan to expand in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood. The restaurant company worked with expander Michael Stern on a branded condominium building in Brickell, but the deal fell through. Stern’s JDS is now partnering with Dolce