James Mazzuto Was Six Months Away From Law School Until Working At A Restaurant Made Him Completely Pivot

This conversation made me hungry AND inspired, which honestly is the best combination. James Mazzuto spent 20 years in the corporate world, earned an MBA from Tulane, lectured at universities, ran a nonprofit, launched a solar startup, and was literally about to go to LAW SCHOOL on a chancellor's scholarship at Seton Hall when something completely unexpected happened. He walked into a restaurant to kill time for six months and got hooked. Like hook, line, and sinker hooked.

Now he's overseeing three restaurants across New Jersey, Allendale Social, Charlie's Place, and Saku — alongside partner Daniel Gray and Michelin-star chef Joey Sergentakis. And the way he talks about hospitality, about the trust that goes into something as intimate as sharing a meal, about why you can train someone to make a cocktail but you can't train them to CARE, that hit different. He also calls himself a "recovered MBA" which might be the best self-description I've ever heard on this show.

If you've ever wondered whether it's too late to completely pivot your career or whether that thing scratching an itch you didn't know you had might actually be your calling, this one's for you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You know that moment when you realize the people you admire just didn't wake up successful. They figured it out as they went. That's the part no one really talks about. So I am talking about it. I'm Jeannie Walden, and this is Lift Off Journeys. This is where I sit down with leaders, founders, and executives to talk about how they actually became the people they are today. We skip the titles, we skip the bios, we focus on the choices, the detours, and the instincts that shape their journey. Because when you understand how someone else navigated their career, it changes how you think about your own. Let's see where today's journey takes us. Oh my gosh. James, I am so excited to have you on liftoff. For everyone that's watching and listening, let me just tell you that James Mazzuto is an entrepreneur, but even more than that, my favorite, he's from Jersey. So he's a Jersey boy that returned to Jersey and teamed up with Daniel Gray, also a serial restaurant entrepreneur and New Jersey native, along with the Michelin starred chef Joey Sergentalkis. We had him on the show before, so you know it's incredible. And this is a conversation that's gonna make us all hungry. All three of them have traveled the world and returned to New Jersey to share their love of international foods here at New Jersey's finest restaurant. So if you are in Jersey or close to Jersey, you are going to love this conversation. Hey James, welcome so much.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

James, we're thrilled to have you on liftoff because not only are you gonna make us hungry, but you are talking about two of my favorite things, food and New Jersey. So my understanding is you are not overseeing and involved with just one restaurant, but three different restaurants all throughout New Jersey. Tell us about all three of them.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Yeah, so uh there are three restaurants I oversee. One is in Allendale Social, which is in Allendale, New Jersey. There's Charlie's Place, which is the town over in Waldwick, New Jersey, and then Saku, which is down in Hoboken. Um, Allendale Social is probably tends to be our closest to fine dining that we have in our portfolio. However, we uh we wanted to take it a little bit differently. We want to make it a little bit more approachable, a little bit more uh friendly, a little bit friendlier service. So we do things like we have live music on the weekends, we have uh no tablecloths. We're not big fans of tablecloths here. And um, but we just have killer food. Joey's really like swung for the fences as far as the food goes. And you can really see his background with his fine dining, you know, between his Michelin star, his just eccentric background and eccentric history. Uh Charlie's place is a uh family-friendly sports bar and gastro pub. Uh Joey's over here, he did the food as well. And what we did is we try to take comfort food, so whether it's wings or burgers or something like that, and elevate it as well. We have a uh across all of our restaurants, the one common is that we have killer cocktail programs everywhere. So we really want people to walk in and forget that they're in northern New Jersey while still having that sort of northern New Jersey feel, if you will. And then Saku is an Asian fusion restaurant down in Hobogan. Um, it's got a wonderful cocktail program, as I said, and it's uh great sushi, fun vibe. All of our restaurants, we feature live music on different days, and it's just like a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

You know what's so interesting is I live in Rumson, New Jersey, and Joey actually came when he was on the show to my kitchen in my house, and it will never be the same. And we talk about wow, if only Joey was here cooking for us again. But he made some some just delicious food. And, you know, when he was here and he left, I was telling some friends about it, and they were almost fanboying over Joey and and just his just the appreciation that they have for his approach to fine dining and just the quality of food. So, do you find across all three of these restaurants that you get people who are fans of the approach that you have to creating an amazing dining experience?

SPEAKER_01 4:23

So for sure. I think um, not to bring up a sore subject, but I think COVID changed a lot. I think we became uh really used to sitting in front of the TV and being comfortable, but still having that sort of good food, good experience. And as you as I know that you've been to Allendale Social, you know it's got that warm home feeling. And we try to make it uh that's common across all of our restaurants, no matter how elevated or you know not elevated it is, it's it's always approachable between our focus is on both the quality of food and the friendliness and warmth hospitality. And we really push on embracing that.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

How do you keep the restaurants exciting and timely so people keep coming back? You mentioned the cocktails, but do you do different themes? Do you want to buy-in?

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Of course. So we do seasonal menu changes at all the restaurants. We try to source what's local, what's fresh, what's in season. As well, we do events as well. So we do, you know, at Allendale Social, we'll do a wine dinner. At Charlie's place, we have we have this live karaoke that's a lot of fun. We have these musicians come in. You can sing along. It's so much fun. And at Saku, we do uh sushi rolling classes. So we actually close off one of our dining rooms and we bring one of our sushi chefs out and we he preps all the ingredients and he teaches you how to roll. And there's nothing better than making sushi when you can pair it with a cocktail that we provide as well.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Absolutely. Absolutely. And now, are you good at sushi rolling? Because I tried it once and I am Snap my calling.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

You know, I am a better sushi eater than I am maker.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

That is so well said. I will love to use that next time. I I love it. So tell us about some of the upcoming events. Do you keep it fresh? Do you have seasonality tied into events?

SPEAKER_01 6:24

So for sure, we have seasonality tied into events, whether it's holidays or you know, sports seasons at Charlie's place. We run specials uh depending on how the well, I guess there aren't too many New Jersey teams left anymore than like when I was a child, but like when the different local teams are playing. So if it's playoff season, we'll run different drink specials or food specials. And certainly I think Valentine's Day across all of our restaurants and every restaurant in general is a uh a big event where we do special menus and really go out for it.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

It sounds like so much fun. You you must love your job.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

I absolutely love my job. I call myself a recovered MBA because I was in the corporate world for 20 years. And so it's a lot of fun. I I very much it is a perfect segue.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

So let's let's talk about that. How do you find yourself? First of all, where did you go? Well, I understand in your bio, you were in Jersey, you left Jersey, you came back. It's like a Bon Jovi who says you can't come home song. I just, you know, kind of mentioned that since we're talking Jersey, but tell us about your background. How did this all come to where it is today?

SPEAKER_01 7:33

So I actually went to high school in Allendale, where Allendale Social is located, and I had played Little League with Danny's older brother. So we've known each other for I'm not gonna say how long, because I'm not gonna tell you how old I am. I I'm told that I look younger than I am. But um when I got out of college, I did worked in New York City uh for three years, and then like every good person who's working in New York City, I went and got an MBA. Um rather than staying in the New York area, I moved down to New Orleans and received it at Tulane. And what was supposed to be a two-year stop to get a degree and come back and become a master of finance turned into a 15-year uh adventure all through New Orleans. So while I was there, I did all sorts of eccentric stuff. I lectured at universities, I ran a nonprofit, uh, I ran a solar startup. It was just a lot. And so uh after a few years of COVID, um, I realized I just really missed New Jersey. Like my family's all here, everybody was here, and uh, you know, New Jersey is home for me. So I moved back with a life plan, um, which like every good plan always works until you get hit in the face. And uh I had gotten in touch with Danny about doing something, and uh, we decided to jump all in and we opened Allendale Social together. And then right after we opened Allendale Social, he bought Charlie's place and he asked me to come on board and help him open that, and then Saku, and it's just been a snowball effect since then. Um super fortunate to have such a great partner.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

What's what's the biggest challenge is in running restaurants?

SPEAKER_01 9:16

In running a restaurant, I think the biggest challenge that we have run in, and I think it's common across all restaurants, is um finding quality staff that care. I think you can train anybody to make a cocktail or cook a dish or to, you know, serve a serve a uh a plate of food. But what you can't train is like the care, the passion, the and the compassion for our guests. I mean, we really embrace that hospitality end and we want everybody to feel welcome. We know that they're taking time out of their busy schedules to come share what is probably one of the most intimate uh, you know, moments in life, which is eating. There's so much trust that goes into that. And we appreciate that trust that they put in us, and we want to just like make it beyond their expectations every time they come.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Oh, I I love hearing that. I was just at a dinner last night and we were talking about the difference in service quality around the world. And when you, you know, dine in Europe in a f in a high-end restaurant, they're they're trained to kind of uh assume what you're going to need next so that you never even have to ask for it. And that's very different than the service that you see many times in the US or you know, in Asia, it's also a very different server experience. And the fact that you put so much care into your restaurants is is so great. And it's also obviously, you know, one of the biggest challenges to get people to understand that from the server side. Um, but I I also believe that unless you've been a server or a cocktail waitress or bartender once in your life, you don't appreciate a day in the life until you've done it for that group of people.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

For sure. For sure.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

So tell me a little bit about uh what it was like making the transition for you to go from corporate world to restaurant entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

So I never uh I never meant to be a restaurant entrepreneur. I thought I honestly I moved back up to New Jersey because I was turning 40 and I kind of wanted a change in my life, so I took my LSAT and I was gonna go to law school, and I'd actually gotten a uh the Chancellor's Scholarship at Seton Hall Law School. And I had um I had the opportunity to move back up, which was what I wanted to do. And so I had six months to kill, and I had reached out to Danny and I was like, Hey, I know you own all these restaurants. I'm dying to get out of the house. Let me let me get out of the house and do something. And he said, Yeah, why don't you come? He's got another restaurant around the uh the corner, which is a little Mexican restaurant. He's like, Why don't you just come there and we'll, you know, you'll figure it out. And I gotta tell you, I just got like hook, line, and sinker, just bit into that. Like, I love the the interaction with the customers. I love the like providing good service, providing the good food. And like it just it was a it was scratching an itch that I didn't know that I had. And so That's great. So go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

I was gonna say it it's it's like like your authentic self inspired you to do something that you just completely related to.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

Yeah. If you'd asked me five years ago, would I be running, you know, a handful of restaurants in New Jersey? I think I would be like, I think you might be on drugs.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

I think the answer would be never. I know. I'm I'm from Pittsburgh and and uh you know people always ask, you know, would you move back to Pittsburgh? And and uh I think like are you out of your mind? I I love Pittsburgh and I talk about it all the time, and I will be a lifelong Steelers fan, but um, you know, the New Jersey's kind of become my home now. So I I love when we have people from New Jersey on, and especially a lot of our viewers and listeners are in New Jersey, and I know they're looking for their next great place to have a meal and celebrate.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Yeah, I mean I think for me, New Jersey is home. And I didn't it took me a while to realize that, but it kind of always will be.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

You are like the Bon Jovi song. It all comes back.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

It's like uh what is it, Godfather three? As soon as I think I'm out, they pull me back in.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

That's right. That's right. Yeah. I can't can't believe that you that you made that reference. You're like the third person uh that's made that reference in in a very short time, which is pretty interesting. So uh, you know, I'll this interview is running on the business side of our show, talking about business and entrepreneurship. So, what three pieces of advice would you give a rising entrepreneur or somebody looking to, you know, improve their business trajectory about how to think about being successful?

SPEAKER_01 14:14

So I think that the biggest I don't know if I have three pieces of advice, but the one piece of advice that I always live by is that you have to celebrate the small wins. Being an entrepreneur is hard. A lot of the times you're swinging for the fences, and when you're oh and I played baseball growing up. So when you're swinging for the fences, you tend to overswing and it tends to take off your mechanics. So what you really have to do is kind of put your chin down, keep your eye on the ball, make contact. Take those small wins and make sure you're always making progress every day towards it. And if you're doing something that's not making progress, figure out why you're doing it.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

So smart and so simple and really powerful. I love that advice. And James, thank you so much for being on liftoff. I can't wait to meet you at all three of the restaurants. We'll have to do three dinner dates coming up. Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

We can't wait to have you.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Send everybody else for everyone that's watching and listening. When you go to Allendale Social, Charlie's Place, or Saku, mention that you're there because of liftoff. Say that you saw James answering the door during the interview multiple times because his places are so busy, he can't sit still and have a great meal. Thanks so much, James.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

Thank you so much. Have a great day.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

That was awesome, right? I thought so. And I totally wasn't expecting half that conversation. And like always, I learned something new. One of the things I hope you can take away from today's conversation is this there is no single path to growth, but there are great ideas that you can integrate into your own style. You know me, I'm a big fan of the air method, authenticity, inspiration, and relatability. And those are the patterns that will lead you to success. When you start noticing how people make decisions, how they pivot, lead, and handle those very real bumps along the way, the ones we all call life, you get much clearer about your own next move. And that's what we explore here on Liftoff Journeys and across everything we do at Liftoff Enterprises. We look at conversations, we do it through media and experiences designed to help leaders grow with more trust and confidence every day. If this episode resonated with you, there is more waiting for you. Whether it's another journey, a liftoff with Genie Weldon TV interview, or one of our liftoff spotlight episodes, find what speaks to you and use it to cross that trust threshold and go from stuck to unstoppable. Thanks so much for listening. Until next time.