MEET THE CHEF

Mario Carbone

Born and raised in Queens, Mario Carbone has spent the majority of his life studying the culinary arts. At fifteen years old, Mario was cooking fried calamari and red sauce in neighborhood restaurants in Queens. At 22, he graduated from The Culinary Institute of America. At 32, he and his partners at Major Food Group opened Carbone on Thompson St in the legendary Rocco’s Restaurant space. 

In addition to the restaurants' numerous accolades, Mario has been awarded Best New Chef in America

by Food & Wine Magazine and nominated for several James Beard Awards. Mario currently lives in the

Tribeca.

"The little things, as Mario says, are beautifully simple but impossibly difficult to do. Like bringing the world’s best-tasting tomatoes, grown in volcanic ash and picked by hand in Italy to a table in America. Crafting a recipe with the right ingredients. Slow batch cooking the sauce. After all, anybody who knows how to do things right (and we do), knows what matters. It’s what makes the best sauce. It’s what sets the scene.

Major Food Group cofounders Rich Torrisi, Jeff Zalaznick, and Mario Carbone

In 2010, he and partner Rich Torrisi, teamed up with Jeff Zalaznick, a fellow restaurant visionary who

shared their passion. They formed a restaurant group, called Major Food Group (MFG), and have not

looked back.

Major Food Group (MFG) brings its iconic Carbone concept to Atlantis The Royal.

When the original Carbone location debuted in New York just over a decade ago, it was hailed as an instant classic. The Italian-American restaurant has gone on to expand globally and cement a reputation as one of the world’s most influential contemporary restaurants.

CARBONE RESTAURANT

Carbone is an Italian-American restaurant created by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick. The restaurant pays homage to the essence of the great Italian-American restaurants of mid-20th century in New York, where delicious, exceptionally well-prepared food was served in settings that were simultaneously elegant, comfortable and unpretentious. The food nods to that same history, but takes its culinary cues from the great talents and techniques of the present and of the future. Familiar dishes like Seafood Salad, Linguini Vongole, Lobster Fra Diavola, Chicken Scarpariello and Veal Parmesan elevated to a new level.