The Modern Restaurant Group:
Innovative dining concepts for the hip and modern aficionado
Bar managers- turned-restaurateurs-turned idea moguls Brandon Belluscio and Brian Albe know what it takes to form a dynamite restaurant concept. “It’s all about the energy, the vibe, the pureness of product, and the genuineness of guest service,” they explain.
Having worked for years as bartenders in South Florida’s sexy bar scene is what’s given the duo a natural intuition when it comes to deciphering what ‘new’ Floridians really want out of their night-out experience.
With that goal in mind, they formed The Modern Restaurant Group in 2007. Their initial success story began with a localized restaurant + wine bar concept called Vertical 114. Designed to be a contemporary mix for the twenty-something to thirty-something year old, Vertical 114 quickly turned heads and became an overnight sensation delivering a unique Soho-style vibe as well as an exceptionally vast wine selection and creative cuisine to east Boca Raton.
Now the duo is banking efforts on a second nouveau dining concept- Cut 432, a bold, high-energy, modern steakhouse dining concept slated to launch this spring in Delray Beach.
Cut 432 will be anything but your typical steakhouse. Modern in concept, design and service, Cut 432 will offer guests a welcome departure from the conventional and “stuffy” classic steakhouse environment.
Offerings will include genuine USDA prime grade steak selections, handpicked by the duo for exceptional tenderness, age and flavor. Boutique vintages and pure quality spirits, delivered in a uniquely hip, modern aesthetic are part of Cut 432’s commitment to delivering an outstanding modern culinary dining experience.
Headquartered in east Boca Raton, The Modern Restaurant Group shortly plans to continue to expand the modern dining concepts of Vertical 114 and Cut 432 into new markets beginning with South Florida, eventually branching out to key national locales.
The Modern Restaurant Group: The Who’s Who
Brian Albe, Managing Partner, Aged 30 years
Modestly sincere with a killer sense of style and an infectious sense of charm, Yonkers-born Brian Albe is as sweet and sexy as they come with luck seemingly on his side. At age 18, the Los Angeles Dodgers pursued him as a draft pick, although at the time he decided to forgo the opportunity to pursue his collegiate studies.
An avid golfer, Albe moved to South Florida in 2000 from Boulder, Colorado after being sponsored to compete in two professional golf tours including the Golden Bear Tour. When perfecting his game became less of a professional pursuit, Albe took to bartending the Miami nightlife scene.
A natural hit with guests, Albe moved on to exercise his bartending talents at more reasonable work hour locales including Aruba Beach Café, Houston’s and finally situating himself at Pranzo’s at Mizner Park. It was there he met fellow bartender and Bar Manager Brandon Belluscio along with Chef Tony Pizzo.
Brandon Belluscio, Managing Partner, Aged 33 yrs With a no-nonsense attitude and a thorough commitment to making things work, Long Island born Brandon Belluscio is a natural self- starter with a knack for all things entrepreneurial and the restaurant industry in his blood. Growing up in the restaurant business, he stuck with what he knew best, starting ideas he would later grow into successful business concepts. Belluscio began his first at age 17, a boat detailing company that would later expand into the boat servicing arena.
At 26, he reverted to his roots and opened a successful seafood concept called Catch 22 along with his father, Ron Belluscio. Catch 22 became nationally recognized for its eclectic seafood selections as much as it did for its notable guest list and prominent investors. Always drawn to where the action was Belluscio worked as director for many of the South Florida restaurant greats with tenures at Dennis Max’s Maxaluna, Maxwell’s Chophouse and Pranzo’s Mizner Park.
Bar managing at Pranzo’s was where he met bartender Brian Albe and Chef Tony Pizzo. The trio instantly took to one another, vowing to one day form a unique venture seeking to offer the modern day diner, like themselves, a departure from all things routine.
Anthony Pizzo, Operating Chef/The Modern Restaurant Group, Executive Chef/Cut 432, Aged 37 yrs
Dedicated to delivering a pure sensory experience for the palate, Anthony Pizzo’s food philosophy is simple and all about what he terms to be ‘clean’ eating. Utilizing the best quality ingredients available in its rawest of forms, Pizzo sticks to innovation without over-complication.
At Cut 432, the flavors are anything but typical. Steak sauces range from a mango and blood orange barbeque to a truffled red wine chive reduction. Cut 432’s homegrown signature sauce- boldly spiced with a subtle Asian influence leans towards the sweeter, aromatic with just-right combinations designed to enhance the natural flavors of the steak. Innovative sides including buttered edamame, blue cheese tater tots, truffled mac and cheese and cinnamon sweet potato puree embody Pizzo’s interpretation of modern day steakhouse cuisine.
Specializing in USDA prime certified beef with abundant marbling, all offerings at Cut 432 are hand selected and quality tasted to ensure the highest flavor profile possible. Delicacies include duck liver pates and the rare A5 grade Japanese Kobe. “Cut will offer a truly different dining experience for those who are or want to become connoisseurs of modern steakhouse cuisine,” says Pizzo.
A three-time Florida Golden Spoon Award winner and Zagat rating of “excellence”, Pizzo is looking to break the conventional steakhouse mold when it comes to Cut 432.
