LMPLUS Owner Massimo Masili Talks About Merging His Restaurants, Refurbished Terrace

LMPLUS is all refurbished and reopened its Central Park location on March 12, and we went to find out what the deal is with the new location, meeting with owner Massimo Masili, a native of Sardinia.

Massimo was always in the restaurant business, moving into this Central Park location in 2010. The name of the restaurant, LMPLUS, stands for Lawrence (his business partner) Massimo Plus, making it a restaurant with a personal legacy. That is also how it feels, with regulars wondering in and out throughout the entire interview. “Some of my clients come here every day, for lunch and sometimes dinner. If they don’t eat in, they take away,” Massimo tells us.

In 2011, he opened Pizza by LMPLUS in Central Park, going on to christen a total of six restaurants in Beijing (LMPLUS and Pizza by LMPLUS previously existing in Upper East Side as well as Park Avenue). Due to unfavorable economic conditions, and more importantly, Massimo's belief that he should be present at his restaurant, he closed all the other locations and decided to dedicate his focus to the Central Park location, combining LMPLUS and Pizza by LMPLUS. “The market isn’t fantastic, with high rent and crazy salaries, and I like to make sure that my location is really great. Here, in Central Park, my customers need me, but when I had six restaurants I was sharing myself between restaurants when I couldn’t really afford to.”

LMPLUS' menu now seamlessly combines its sister venue's pizza bent with the other outlet's Italian fare. The new location also includes a larger wine cellar, as well as a selection of produce for purchase in the deli including but not limited to biscotti, pastas, and oils. There are also specials on the menu every day depending on what’s in season and what ingredients Massimo can get his hands on.

As for the immediate future, Massimo plans to soon have a brunch menu up and running, and on May 1 he'll open his refurbished terrace to give us Beijingers what we crave most during the city's most habitable months: more options for al fresco dining.

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Photo courtesy of LMPLUS