Carbone owners open chic restaurant in historic Miami chateau. Can you get a table?
A Miami historic estate has just been turned into one of the hottest restaurants in the city.
Chateau ZZ’s from Major Food Group and Ken Fulk Inc. is now open at the former Petit Douy, a two-story European chateau on Brickell Avenue.
Even more surprising: Major Food Group, the force behind such culinary juggernauts as Italian hot spots Carbone and Contessa and Dirty French steakhouse, is opening its first upscale Mexican concept at the chateau.
The restored chateau, which was built in 1931 by architect Martin L. Hampton, was constructed as a private residence for local attorneys and community activists John and Ethel Murrell. They had visited France and wanted a model of a chateau near the town of Douy for their new Miami home.
The chateau, which features octagonal towers and a crenelated roof, was designated as a historically protected building in 1983.
Jeff Zalaznick, one of the co-founders of Major Food Group along with Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi, said in a statement that the property “has never looked more glorious.”
“There’s no mansion in Miami that comes even close to matching the uniqueness of this property,” he said, calling the spot “an unbelievable destination that feels as if it was built for Major Food Group and the creation of Chateau ZZ’s.”
The first floor will be home to the Mexican restaurant, with indoor and outdoor dining, a bar, a solarium and gardens. The menu is the sort of menu without prices — if you have to ask, you probably don’t want to be here.
And you really will have to ask: Reservations are already hard to come by, unless you want to eat on a Tuesday at 5 a month from now. Reservations open 30 days in advance and disappear swiftly — at least this time of year. If you can’t get the day or time you want, you can add your name to a “Notify Me” list, and you’ll get an email if a table opens up.
Don’t expect chalupas on the menu: This is fine dining (as you may have suspected from the word “chateau”). Tostada choices include caviar and crema; wagyu and truffle; and lobster and jalapeño. Also on the menu are grilled octopus, spicy calamari and shellfish appetizers, with entrees like green mole lamb chops, whole fried snapper, branzino rojo y verde and crispy porchetta, as well as several steak choices.
The second floor is a members-only space for ZZ’s Club, which started in 2021 at the original ZZ’s Club in the Miami Design District (a New York ZZ’s Club recently opened in New York). We can’t go up there, but we can report that that there’s a cigar terrace upstairs as well as a lounge featuring rare tequilas, a fireplace and vaulted ceilings.
ZZ’s Club members also have access to a private Japanese restaurant on the first floor.
Chateau ZZ’s is the eighth Miami venture for Major Food Group, which also owns Sadelle’s in Coconut Grove, Sadelle’s at Kith in the Design District and HaSalon in Miami Beach.
Chateau ZZ’s
Where: 1500 Brickell Ave., Miami
Reservations: Resy; reservations become available at the beginning of each month
More information: chateauzzs.com
