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Joburg’s Mastrantonio is an outlier in the city’s restaurant space — an establishment that has lasted 25 years in a city with a short attention span.
In part, that success has been attributed to the sheer number of business meetings that have rumbled through the restaurant, and deals sealed at its tables. Over the years, Mastrantonio has cultivated a following that’s hard to match among political and business decision-makers in Joburg.
"We’ve had nights when we could have had a parliamentary sitting [here], with the opposition and the governing party [in attendance]," co-owner Gianni Mariano tells the FM.
The authentic Italian restaurant — conveniently situated in Illovo between town, Rosebank and Sandton — has catered for foreign and local presidents, business magnates and celebrities. Not that you’d think so from looking at it: the restaurant is pretty low-key, and the environment unpretentious.
"I think that’s given us a kind of ethos that people like," says Mariano. The service, too, is understated. Guests "are treated the same way, whether you are the president, a famous actor or just the friend next door", he adds. "There’s a subtlety about it."
Mariano and his business partner, Paolo Scalla, could both have gone in entirely different directions. Mariano holds a doctorate in management, people and technology, and has lectured in marketing. Scalla is an engineer who realised early on that he didn’t want to sit behind a computer all day, and preferred to work with people.
But while the two have very different academic backgrounds, they share a cultural home: Mariano’s father and extended family come from the small Italian village of Santa Maria (the "village of chefs"); Scalla hails from the Marche region. While Mariano was born in SA, Scalla came to the country as a boy.
Mariano’s heritage is steeped in food. His father came to work at the original Eloff Street Carlton in Joburg in 1954, and as a child he spent time in the family restaurant, Chez Mariano. At one point he and his brother-in-law franchised his father-in-law’s Brazilian-style eatery. It peaked at 27 stores before they sold the business.
In 1996, Mariano and Scalla decided to launch Mastrantonio. The idea was always one of simplicity: the personable Scalla in front-of-house, with Mariano taking care of the back end.
And, of course, it was about serving fresh, authentic Italian food.
"The thread when we started was the art of good eating," says Mariano of the brand named for his grandfather Antonio and father Paoloantonio. "Then it became the art of good living."
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As part of this evolution, the brand has reinvented itself several times over the years. There was the M&A brand, with franchises in Dunkeld and Umhlanga, which was around for a decade, as well as Mastrantonio outlets in Bedfordview and Sandton. Perhaps the most high-impact shift was into corporate restaurants and canteens — a division that started at Investec in Cape Town and grew to supply thousands of meals a day to corporate clients. It was bought out a few years ago by services group Bidvest, and now operates under the Bidvest Mastrantonio brand.
Still, the simplicity of Italian food culture remains the heart of the enterprise. "It’s about getting the best out of ingredients; it’s about the love around the table and good living," says Mariano.
The plan now is to roll out a greater product offering, including frozen and ready-to-eat meals, at the Mastro Deli & Foodstore in Craighall Park, as well as online options. That’s in addition to the Don Armando spinoff downstairs from the Mastrantonio mother ship in Illovo, and Cape Town’s Don Armando and Il Leone Mastrantonio restaurants.
Mastrantonio’s popularity has always grown by word of mouth rather than PR hype or social media. In fact, the restaurant doesn’t have a presence on social media — though in time it may place some of its products digitally.
"Paolo and I have this debate," says Mariano. "I think Paolo has more followers than any social media app — he is the app — because people have been following us for 25 years."
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Famous faces
What of all the deals done in the restaurant? "So many. It’s an avalanche of deals," says Scalla.
He tells an anecdote about an international footballer who played for France and was having a meal at Mastrantonio when he signed a contract with European club Juventus. The contract came through while he was eating, and Mastrantonio sent it to Nippy Print next door to be printed.
"We grabbed it and he signed it in the restaurant," Scalla says.
When some young fans heard the football star was in the restaurant, they came around in their pyjamas, asking for a photo with him. Though the representative from football governing body Fifa told them to wait, the player stood up, saying: "The meal can wait; I want photos with the kids first."
Then there was the former US president staying at the Saxon hotel. When he sought a recommendation for good Italian food, the general manager directed him to Mastrantonio. He ordered one of almost everything on the menu, to be delivered to his rooms.
Local presidents have been coming to Mastrantonio for years, the restaurateurs say. Several Italian prime ministers have also visited, and the restaurant once made a cake for Nelson Mandela.
Other well-known faces have included actor Morgan Freeman, model Naomi Campbell and entrepreneur Richard Branson.
"We had [U2 frontman] Bono for lunch one day … He said he was coming for lunch with his family, and said: ‘I’ll do anything for you, I just don’t do photographs,’" says Scalla.
"Our aim is [that] whoever walks through that door must walk out happier than when they came in. We see everyone just as customers, patrons, friends."
How do they feel about all the bright new things in the restaurant space, which attract such attention when they open? Scalla says everything affects the restaurant industry. "There have been a number of new entries in our catchment area over the years. We often have very similar clientele — people try it out and initially we feel a bit of a pinch, but they always come back even stronger."
Mariano has a cerebral approach to the industry. He’s studied what makes a good restaurant — the food, the décor, the service. "But what happens is you get a spiral. Someone eats well and then they want to eat better and better, so you land up with an upward spiral that is not really sustainable … It’s not about training your staff to match this client demand; it’s actually about educating your clients and making sure [they] see the place as home. That’s the key."
Keen to share his knowledge, Mariano is involved in several mentorship programmes, and he’s been working with Business & Arts SA for years. He’s also on several institutional boards, and has lectured for years at design, marketing and branding school Vega.
So what’s the key to lasting 25 years in an often unforgiving business? For Mariano, it’s about making the restaurant feel like a home from home for customers, having fantastic staff, and learning what your customers want and giving it to them.
He tells the story of an elderly gentleman from Bedfordview who used to drive to Pretoria to eat Italian. Now he comes to Mastrantonio once a month because, he says, the food is made the way his grandmother used to prepare it.
For Scalla, the secret is about value for money. That’s not to say "cheap" — a word he believes is thrown around too easily. "When people come here, they need to understand they’re going to have the real thing," he says. "Authenticity is the word that springs to mind."
That ultimately comes down to the menu. Mastrantonio’s pastas and veal are always winners, says Scalla, but there has been a shift in some food trends, so some gluten-free options have been included: zucchini pasta, for example, with fresh ginger. Dessert favourites include zabaglione, an egg-based dessert with a bit of liqueur inside; tiramisu; profiteroles; and crème brûlée. Fruit platters and homemade ice cream are also popular — as is affogato, a classic Italian dessert consisting of a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with hot espresso coffee.
It’s the simplicity of it that makes it such a winner, says Scalla.
But the most important thing, he says, is having an authentic Italian espresso to round off the meal. "You can’t underestimate that. It has to be perfect."
It’s that kind of attention to detail — underpinned by a carefully thought-out strategy and adept management — that makes Mastrantonio a firm favourite in a city where so many restaurants simply come and go.
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