Courtesy of Mastro's Restaurants
Restaurants often become known for a defining feature, be it their drinks, their presentations, or their hospitality. Mastro’s Ocean Club, a fine dining seafood and steak spot opening Downtown November 6, boasts a sensory experience with attention paid to not only the taste and appearance of the fare, but the sound as well.
Located in The CTR, the former CNN Center building, Mastro’s is all about luxury and indulgence. Two-foot-tall seafood towers set the tone, while lobster mashed potatoes contain a full pound of Maine lobster and Wagyu meatballs come topped with creamy, melted burrata. Steaks include Japanese A5 Wagyu and the signature 14-ounce filet, made from 28-day wet-aged Prime beef and served on sizzling, 450-degree plates. The wine list offers more than 250 bottles, with 8-ounce pours available.
“It’s about the presentation and wow factor,” says general manager William Warren. “We want to create an experience and entertain people.”
Courtesy of Mastro's Restaurants
Led by chef Richard Lee, formerly of Le Colonial, STK, and Le Bilboquet, the kitchen offers an extensive menu. Starters include raw-bar selections such as oysters and king crab legs, hot appetizers such as sauteed shrimp and Nueske’s maple-glazed bacon steak, a few sushi rolls, and steakhouse standards including lobster bisque, clam chowder, Caesar salad, and chopped wedge salad. The long list of starchy and green sides ranges from a one-pound baked potato with all the trimmings to wild mushroom and black truffle gnocchi. Steaks run from a petit filet to a 40-ounce tomahawk chop, while seafood choices include Chilean sea bass, Norwegian cold-water salmon, and sashimi-style tuna. Unique to the Atlanta location will be jerk-spiced grouper with mango butter sauce and pecan pie for dessert, giving both carnivores and pescatarians plenty of options.
“You can’t talk about Georgia without pecan pie,” Warren says. “It has a house-made graham cracker crust and comes with vanilla ice cream and a caramel sauce drizzle.”
Warren also recommends the butter cake, topped with brûléed raw cane sugar and a cheesecake-like crust. The dessert comes with vanilla ice cream, raspberry drizzle, and orange and strawberry segments. “It’s as decadent as it sounds,” he says.
Likewise, the bar program oozes decadence. The menu includes more than 30 cocktails, including three Mastro’s signatures: a lemon drop martini, a cosmopolitan, and an apple martini. Two additional drinks will debut with the restaurant: the tequila-based Watermelon Fiesta and the Dreamberry, a strawberry martini-style cocktail. The wine list spans domestic and Old World labels, with more than 50 selections available by the glass. A Coravin system also allows guests to purchase single glasses of high-end or rare wines.
Courtesy of Mastro's Restaurants
“Our motto is we create guests for life. We want to treat every person who dines with us like a friend or family,” Warren says.
For him, working in the historic building is a full-circle moment. He used to visit his father at work there when he was a child. “Downtown is where Atlanta began. The revitalization and growth of the Downtown area make it a perfect location for Mastro’s,” he says.
The brand has more than 25 locations across the country; this will be its first in Georgia. The 8,000-square-foot restaurant will seat 275 guests and feature two entrances, a white marble bar, private dining rooms, and a sunroom with a fireplace. Large windows overlooking Centennial Olympic Park and wood panels are designed to evoke Atlanta’s tree-lined landscape and give the dining room a warm, airy feel. Acoustic piano or guitar musicians will perform in the lounge during most of the restaurant’s open hours.
Courtesy of Mastro's Restaurants
