Profile: Mohamad El Zein

MOHAMAD
EL ZEIN • 28
• General Manager/Beverage Director • Masa,
Boston

BACKGROUNDER
I came from Beirut, Lebanon in 1996 to study finance at
UMass Boston. When I was a kid in the United Arab Emirates,
my uncle had a restaurant like Shawarma King in Brookline –
fast Middle East cuisine like falafel sandwiches and grilled
meats. I began working at Aquitaine in 1996, just down
Tremont Street. I started as a host, went to waiting tables
and bartending, then covered management shifts. I soon
realized that investment banking was not as attractive as
the idea of owning my own restaurant, and that accounting
and management courses were good background no matter what
business you were in. When I told owner Seth Woods my idea,
he immediately offered me a management position. After 2OO3,
we moved to Armani Cafe, which I managed. Then I worked for
Jodi Adams at Blu, where I was F&B manager of cafe,
dining room and bar. When Philip Aviles, then working out of
Sports Club LA and a friend of Woods, bought Masa in 2OO2,
he approached me to become its manager and future partner,
and I’ve been here ever since.

WINE
TIME I got good wine
schooling at Aquitaine. Jerry Castleman, who ran a wine
distributorship, came in every single Saturday to give us a
wine-tasting, mostly French and American; he’d stay into the
evening on the floor as an ad-hoc sommelier encouraging
customers to try some of our 1OO listed wines. Our general
managers Mark Ramirez and Lindsay Shelf continued after
Jerry left. From those days, I started building on my
knowledge to appreciate and understand Italian and
Australian wines. Since 1996 I’ve done maybe 1OOO wine
tastings, met winegrowers and purveyors worldwide, read a
lot, but never took wine courses. In the trade, I’ve come to
trust Steve Riley, a senior manager at M.S. Walker, for his
opinions.

MEETING the
FOOD Since Masa serves
Southwestern cuisine – tortillas, corn, mole sauces – we
want to keep the wine focused on regions where the food
comes from, and that’s North and South America. Regular
guests also encouraged us to go to Spain, the source of many
of those culinary influences. These regions we feel
complement the flavors of our food best. We’re one of the
few restaurants in town with a strong representation of
Chilean and Argentine wines, which should be more available
than they are.

EXPLORING
DIFFERENCES Chile and
Argentina have come a long way in the last decade or two:
they and Spain are the backbone of our wines-by-glass and
main list. Chile used to field blend Carmenere into its
Merlot, but when they sorted that out, both wines showed
their true characteristics more clearly. Argentina
specializes in Malbec and great Meritages. Chile does an
even better job with individual red grapes: Cabernet
Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenere. The playing field is more
level with white wines: Chile excels with French grapes
(Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, even Viognier)
and Argentina tends to softer Italian-styled whites like
Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and roses. Just
as the Japanese migrated to Peru in the 18OOs, Italians
migrated to Argentina, and left their mark on the culture,
especially food and wine.

CALIFORNIA
STYLES For Californian
wines, it’s less a question of region than of style; we get
most of our wines from Central and North Coasts. We look for
smaller producers, not available in wine shops. We seek a
good price, and wines less sought after. I like Paul Hobbs,
Merry Edwards, Groth, Au Bon Climat. I like Swanson
Vineyards from Napa, Amity and Blanc from Oregon. Some
Alsatian-styled whites from Washington go great with our
cuisine, also Eroica Riesling (Dr. Loosen/Ch. Ste. Michele).
These cut right through the spice amazingly well.

HEAT vs
SPICE We have 1O
appetizers and 1O entrees on the dinner menu, plus the tapas
menu. We grade dishes by heat level, but instead of the
Scoville Scale (all those zeroes!) we measure 1 to 1O, and
try to keep dishes under 6 to 1O. For example, the tuna dish
and yellow mole are 5 to 1O. With that much spice on the
list, I don’t want too many Syrahs, a spicy wine that may
clash with them. But it is fine with a fruity, sweet salsa
that can use the spice. Most of our WBGs now are South
American: Montes, Trapiche, Portillo, Alamos, Casa Silva. We
also have beers [that complement our cuisine]: Red
Stripe, Negro Modela, Bohemia, Corona, Pacifico.

CATCH the
AGAVE An article in the
new york times recently mentioned tequila sales are up 19%
nationally since last year. So were tequila sales at Masa! I
think people are catching on to the fact that tequila is not
a bad spirit, and your experiences with it will not recall
bad memories! That’s because there are so many quality
tequilas out there. It’s not just for downing shots of 51%
agave like we did in college, where you’d wake up with the
worst hangover. We build trust by getting people to try a
classic margarita, making sure they like it, and moving on
to suggest other quality tequilas, ones they can also enjoy
not in mixed drinks, but neat, like a quality scotch, brandy
or bourbon.

BOSTON
PALATE The Boston
palate is absolutely becoming more sophisticated. Five years
ago, I would not have tried the creative cocktails we make
at the bar now. One is the Sangria Margarita, where we
incorporate red wine with tequila. Our regulars were not
ready for them then, as they were in New York, Chicago and
San Francisco. Today they’re more adventurous, trying
concept restaurants and trendy drinks.

MARGA-RIGHT-A!
For first time tequila drinkers, I recommend our Classic
Margarita, because we make it right. No pre-made sour mix or
Rose’s Lime Juice – they ruin a margarita. I want to regain
the trust of guests coming in by giving them a really great
margarita, with the true tequila flavor. We prefer Sauza
Gold for the Classic [with only Cointreau – light, dry,
refined – and lime juice] because it is balanced and has
a little oaky flavor. It’s not as aggressively spicy as the
Blanco tequila we use in the Mango-rita [pureed mangos,
Triple Sec – sweeter, heftier – and a dash of fresh lime
juice.] Here sweet fruit and spicy Blanco cancel each
other out, so the drink is still balanced and fluid. With
the Habanero/Watermelon Margarita, it’s back to the Gold;
this time we add a splash of simple syrup to counteract the
heat of a fresh habanero chile in the bottle for 24
hours.

NEW
MATCHES Diners at Masa
are at least as likely to sip tequila as wine throughout
their meal. They might order tequila neat, often reposado or
anejo, maybe a little water on the side. Usually not flights
or ‘tours’. That would go beautifully with a grilled, ancho
chili-rubbed cowboy-cut steak, with charred tomato salsa,
served with garlic mashed, onion rings and grilled baby
corn. That tequila, aged in bourbon barrels from Kentucky or
Tennessee, is going to go with everything on your plate.
Again, a snifter of anejo at the end of your meal might come
before, after or instead of a dessert. With banana bread
pudding, pecan tart, coconut tartlet or flan, tequila would
go fine; with chocolate and sweeter dishes, I’d say
not.

TEQUILA
MANIA Tequila bars are
cropping up all over: Ole, another Mexican one in Cambridge,
Cottonwood, Cactus Club, Avila, Casa Romero, and Ken
Oringer’s new place, La Verdad. Masa’s is one of the bigger
tequila collections in the city – 7O on the wall, 2 in the
well (Sauza Blanco and Gold). It’s catching on, there’s
synergy, the drink is a year ’round favorite, and the age
range is expanding from mid-2Os through 5Os. There’s an
openness to try tequila, and our staff plays a big part in
that.

CONSISTENCY
PAYS Part of Masa’s
popularity is our consistency. Our food and drink are always
dependably excellent. We’re building up our clientele and
being true to them; getting them in the door and keeping
them. I see a lot of new faces, but the regulars keep coming
back, and if they weren’t ordering tequila at first, many do
now.

FAIR
DEALS And our pricing
is fair: we’re not knocking our prices up a dollar every six
months. If a bottle jumps from $29 to $33, yes, we will have
to raise the price of a drink – but by a quarter! Philip
Aviles and I sat down and restrategized our whole list. Some
drinks went down, some went up, and the bottle prices creep
up every year. You often note little shifts in beverage
quarterly, say December to March. But for the last 2 to3
years, our food and drink prices have stayed pretty much the
same.

TOMORROW’S
CHALLENGES Once that
new building opens up over the Mass Pike by the Hard Rock
Cafe, we may open for lunch. Our company is looking at
opening a new location, perhaps at the B&D Deli in
Washington Square, Brookline. But we won’t open another
Masa, rather a Nuevo Latino place, with a Miami/Caribbean
feel.