Major Food Group Opens Dirty French Steakhouse in Brickell
The LES restaurant specializes in French fare, with the Miami menu also offering cuts of meat. According to MFG partner Jeff Zalaznick, the result is “if Dirty French and the Grill has a baby.” (
The result is a hybrid menu of French fare like Dover sole meunière prepared tableside, duck à l’orange, and a variety of delicate soufflés alongside prime dry-aged steaks that range from a New York strip to a 40-ounce porterhouse. The restaurant also will offer off-menu cuts of beef nightly.
Also setting the Brickell restaurant apart is its design by
Upon entering, guests approach the Jungle Bar, decorated with gold-leaf ceilings, leopard-print bar stools, and banana-leaf lighting pendants. Get there a bit before your dinner reservation to sip down a martini before entering a long, dark, gilt corridor where a friendly leopard lounging under a gold palm tree will help you find your way to the dining room.
A friendly cat greets guests at Dirty French Steakhouse.
Photo by Tamburello Studio
proud.
As is the case now, bathrooms must also be intriguing. The ones at Dirty French offer two-way-mirror stall doors — you can look out, but no one can see in.
In just over a year, MFG has managed to become one of the most prolific restaurant groups in South Florida. The company, cofounded by Jeff Zalaznick, Mario Carbone, and Rich Torrisi, works with classic restaurant tropes — red-sauce Italian (Carbone), New York deli and diner (Sadelle’s), and French bistro (Dirty French) — and reimagines them as whimsical destinations.
So far, MFG has opened Carbone and HaSalon in Miami Beach, ZZ’s Club in the Design District, and Sadelle’s in Coconut Grove and Boca Raton. In December 2021, MFG announced plans to build Major in partnership with JDS Development Group. Plans for the luxury tower in Brickell see it soaring 1,049 feet, making it the tallest building in Miami if it were completed today.
The group seems to be committed to Miami, with two of its cofounders, Jeff Zalalznick and Mario Carbone, living in the city. (Rich Torrisi remains in New York City to oversee operations there.)
“After making this paradise home, we realized that there was a tremendous opportunity to bring a sensational steakhouse to Brickell in true MFG fashion — a sophisticated, contemporary, high-energy culinary blockbuster fit for the most exciting city in the world today, says Zalaznick.
Dirty French Steakhouse. 1200 Brickell Ave., Miami; dirtyfrench.com. Tuesday through Saturday 5 to 11 p.m.
Major Food Group (MFG), the New York City-based hospitality company behind Carbone Sadelle’s , and ZZ’s Club , is opening its first Miami steakhouse today. Dirty French , which originated in NYC’s Lower East Side, is set to open its newest Brickell outpost tonight, April 19. The Miami location, however, will be called Dirty French Steakhouse.The LES restaurant specializes in French fare, with the Miami menu also offering cuts of meat. According to MFG partner Jeff Zalaznick, the result is “if Dirty French and the Grill has a baby.” ( The Grill is MFG’s chophouse, located in Midtown Manhattan.)The result is a hybrid menu of French fare like Dover sole meunière prepared tableside, duck à l’orange, and a variety of delicate soufflés alongside prime dry-aged steaks that range from a New York strip to a 40-ounce porterhouse. The restaurant also will offer off-menu cuts of beef nightly.Also setting the Brickell restaurant apart is its design by Ken Fulk , who has created a space that asks the question: What if Elvis’ Jungle Room was occupied by Scarface himself, Tony Montana?Upon entering, guests approach the Jungle Bar, decorated with gold-leaf ceilings, leopard-print bar stools, and banana-leaf lighting pendants. Get there a bit before your dinner reservation to sip down a martini before entering a long, dark, gilt corridor where a friendly leopard lounging under a gold palm tree will help you find your way to the dining room.The main dining room offers seating in zebra-print upholstery and burnt-orange velvet walls. Dirty French also has a number of private dining rooms. One is decorated with disco-ball-mirrored walls and colored-mirror tables that would make Saturday Night Fever‘s Tony Manero proud.As is the case now, bathrooms must also be intriguing. The ones at Dirty French offer two-way-mirror stall doors — you can look out, but no one can see in.In just over a year, MFG has managed to become one of the most prolific restaurant groups in South Florida. The company, cofounded by Jeff Zalaznick, Mario Carbone, and Rich Torrisi, works with classic restaurant tropes — red-sauce Italian (Carbone), New York deli and diner (Sadelle’s), and French bistro (Dirty French) — and reimagines them as whimsical destinations.So far, MFG has opened Carbone and HaSalon in Miami Beach, ZZ’s Club in the Design District, and Sadelle’s in Coconut Grove and Boca Raton. In December 2021, MFG announced plans to build Major in partnership with JDS Development Group. Plans for the luxury tower in Brickell see it soaring 1,049 feet, making it the tallest building in Miami if it were completed today.The group seems to be committed to Miami, with two of its cofounders, Jeff Zalalznick and Mario Carbone, living in the city. (Rich Torrisi remains in New York City to oversee operations there.)“After making this paradise home, we realized that there was a tremendous opportunity to bring a sensational steakhouse to Brickell in true MFG fashion — a sophisticated, contemporary, high-energy culinary blockbuster fit for the most exciting city in the world today, says Zalaznick.