Meet Xavier and Mari Godoy of Mastrantos in The Heights

Today we’d like to introduce you to Xavier and Mari Godoy.

Xavier and Mari, please share your story with us.
As a high school’s lovers couple from Venezuela, we have both had the great opportunity of dreaming and sharing each others passion to a greater detail. After moving to the U.S (each for different reasons), we met again in Houston. Thanks to Tennis we ended up going to the same school for the first couple of years in college. Xavier completed his degree in Electrical Engineering and I decided to move to Houston Baptist and complete a dual degree in Business Management and Spanish.

Immediately after graduation, Xavier joined a global corporation (Chicago Bridge & Iron, or CB&I) for about 8 years; his initial career steps took him places with several expat assignments, including Chile, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, among others, and then back to Houston. During his first assignment in Chile, we both decided to get married and start a family. After moving back to Houston (2010), Xavier was based in The Woodlands’ headquarters of the company but traveling 70% of his time from Mexico to Argentina handling Sales and Business Development for a business unit of the company.

I was home raising Lucas and Sebastian at this time. In 2012, I started my career in Human Resources and joined a Venezuelan Family own business (Lindsayca) that had a fabrication shop in Houston Texas. I started as the first HR representative the company ever had and developed a full HR program before I left the company to raise our last baby, Natalia. That program now guides and manages more than 150 employees with many international backgrounds. I actually hired Xavier into the company in 2013 where he stayed and lead many groups till 2016.

After 3 kids and a wife ready to get back to the outside of the home working world, we both started to flirt with the idea of starting something together. At that point, we did not care which industry to get into, as we’ve always thought that an organization is not just the profits it takes, but the environment it creates for more than just a few people to discover his/her own potentials; therefore, industry type was not our focus.

At this point, we used to discuss under a few wine glasses at night how we would like to manage any specific situation either of us was going through at work. We always asked each other: how would you have handled this employee during today’s meeting? What would you have done differently to plant a seed inside this or that employee that seems to have a fantastic hidden potential? so forth and so on.

After being able to save what we thought was good enough money to convert an idea to a project, we started discussing more details about our potential future company. During 2015’s trip to Spain (4th visit to the country), in the town of Ronda, Xavier told me he was quitting on his return and we were going to start a brand new restaurant.

Food has always been in the center of our conversations and if we’re going to change our lives and start a long-lasting venture, it had to be something we loved to do. Food was it.

Xavier’s brother (Luis) had already advanced a restaurant project for the previous 2 years in which Xavier was joining as a passive investor and a support role for a financial organization with that project; However, Luis had placed the project on hold indefinitely till Xavier asked him to continue it. After carefully evaluating Luis’s business plan, we both included our DNA into a brand new Business Plan that allowed us to fully understand how and what we wanted to do.

After 4 months of hard thinking work and Xavier wrapping up what his employer had asked him to finish, the business plan became a landlord package and soon after an investor’s package (project actually required a greater investment than initially thought). The investor joined us 2 months after that and the project ramped up to a reality right after that.

It took us 6 months to find the right place we identify ourselves with and that was willing to support our idea (without the Food industry background or huge pockets of money to invest in). The Heights became a no-brainer and fortunately, our realtor was actually developing a brand new mixed-use development in the heart of it all. The lease was signed mid-2017 and the plan was to open by Q1-18; however, the building construction has not moved as fast and we should now be opening by mid-summer 2018.

Mastrantos is our 4th baby (or at least that’s the way we refer to it) and it is only a reflection of our life. A young hard working couple with a passion for developing people’s potential and providing a great alternative to food. The motto of the concept is Global Tastes, however, the 3 fundamental legs of the restaurants are Transparency, Balance food & Global flavors. With a full open kitchen (no windows or walls between the chef and the client, only a countertop similar to a home kitchen top) and a see-through dough lab (we call it the Cristal Cube), clients will be able to fully see how the fresh pasta is being made, the bread dough is being worked out, or how the chef is actually decorating a dish in a simple, yet beautiful way.

No secrets; nothing to hide. Transparency at its core. We not only talk about it, but we influence our daily meals with balance ingredients where anyone in the family is having a plate balanced off between the carbs, protein, vegetable, fruits, grain, among other ingredients; this will be no different in our concept, even within our pasta section of the menu. Finally, after leaving in more than 6 countries in the last 15 years, we are definitely eager to offer a variety of flavors to the most diversified city in the United States.

Even when the concept will have its own Master of Execution (name for our Chef role), during 2017 we took the opportunity to make one more trip to Italy (4th in total) where we spent months together working inside Trattorias and Family Homes learning and making traditional Italian dishes. From Milan to Campora San Giovanni, we were able to learn from individuals and businesses with more than 100 years of tradition making fantastic dishes.

Also, the skills of a cook were developed early enough at home from Xavier’s Amuma (grandmother in Basque), from a fantastic Squid Ink Calamari dish to an original Tortilla Espanola or just the amazing Arroz con Guacucos (Clams Rise). Also, my side influenced me since my teen ages into the Venezuelan traditional cuisine, from Arepa with Carne Mechada (slow-cooked shredded beef), to Muchacho Negro or simple yet fantastic Cachapas (corn-based pancakes).

With all that, Mastrantos ends up being a place where clients will be able to enjoy food made with the finest ingredients possible, yet in a casual ambiance. Over the counter services will be at the restaurant’s core, even when dinners may offer the opportunity to experience a more sit down opportunity. Ingredients will be shipped from many parts of the world, for example, the Semolina and Tipo 00 Flour will come from southern Italy.

Coffee will come from a fabulous roaster outside of Florence; tomatoes are being selected from a family own producer in Campania in Italy; the 4th best Olive Oil is already being imported from Cordoba in Spain; other products will also be directly selected by us and imported directly to Mastrantos. A strong coffee bar will accompany the few pastries options offer and individually selected worldwide wines and beers will also be offered within the bar area of the restaurant.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Depending which eye you see it with. Considering how excited we are to continue with this new life journey and how much we have learned in the past 2 years, we can’t wait to open Mastrantos. No matter the obstacles or learning experiences, the light is shining brightly every day when you see it that way.

Truth be told, it seems like academia does not lie and that most of the books you read about starting a business or successful entrepreneurs you talk with, are all right about the bumps you face. We could list a few very important mountains we’ve had to climb, but if we were to point the most difficult would be the schedule or timeframe allowed to open the business. From 12 months since the investor joined to almost 24 months is a long way for a family of 3 beautiful kids that continue to grow as the seconds go by. Deciding on a brand new building slide the project to the right in a way not anticipated.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Mastrantos started as a Kitchen concept with the idea of organically scaling it to multiple location levels, however, it has branched out to become an Importer as well as a Kitchen concept. Both business lines seem to have great potential and time will tell which one of the two will actually support the other better.

As the founder, Xavier (titled Creator of Opportunities), will lead the day to day operation of Mastrantos. His background is consolidated into project base executions (working to build billion dollar processing plants) and later specialized into the Business Development arena. With these 2 solid skills, his focus will be to grow the business into markets that are thirsty for Mastrantos DNA.

As the Co-Founder, Mari (titled Chief Troublemaker), will bring her natural potential for spotless operations will allow Mastrantos to run each department with a laser focus towards quality and the highest standards of seamless operations. Her passion for helping others and the human side of any business will also allow Mastrantos to tap into individual’s potential that even them are not aware of its existence.

What were you like growing up?
Xavier: outgoing sporty guy. Predictable rather than spontaneous. A- kind of student. Hard working and task oriented. Matured for his age group at any time. Philosophical and adventurous at the same time. Socially oriented since early ages.

Mari: a natural leader among friends. Black or White kind of girl, no gray allowed. Passionate about all and everything she does. Organization and Perfectionist Enthusiast. Outgoing among closed friends, yet introverts outside of comfort zone.

Pricing:

• Ticket Price target around $14-$18
• Pastas under $18
• Most Wines under $60

Contact Info:

• Address: 927 Studewood St, Houston, Texas 77008
• Website: www.mastrantos.com
• Phone: 8322477490
• Email: eating@mastrantos.com
• Instagram: Mastrantos
• Facebook: mastrantos
• Twitter: Mastrantos

Image Credit:
Isaac Bencid of Fenix Media

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