MEET THE OWNERS
Xavier Godoy
Mastrantos Owner
A life-long love for food combined with the desire to build a unique brand culture and give people an opportunity to develop to their fullest potential fueled Xavier to build Mastrantos alongside his wife Mari.
Xavier’s journey toward opening the restaurant involves many countries, diverse job roles and a lot of soul searching. At 17 years old, he moved from his home country of Venezuela to Arizona to learn English. Then, a tennis scholarship took him to Texas, where he earned his undergraduate degree as an Electrical Engineer. Next, a 15-year career in oil and gas swept him around the world from Chile to Trinidad and Tobago to Colombia to Beaumont texas to Mexico, though Houston always remained his home base. He conducted his life and work life under the motto of always challenging the status quo, but it wasn’t till 2016 when he was able to leave the oil and gas industry behind and pursue his ultimate goal; this is when he set his eyes on creating something enlivening. With the realization that hospitality was his passion, he got to work making his vision a reality. Xavier’s friend John Reed, the restaurateur behind BCK Kitchen, took him under his wing and gave him a dishwasher job (which eventually turned into a kitchen job) for Xavier to learn first-hand what the grueling industry entails. As a follow-up to that, he worked for nearly a year producing pasta and intimate dinners for close friends and family in order to sustain his family prior to Mastrantos opening; their savings had been poured into Mastrantos. The rest is history.
Godoy approaches life just as he approaches any tennis match at Club Westside: by fighting like a tiger on any ‘court’ he’s on. His wife and kids are his first passion and he loves to spend his free time staying in shape.
Mari Godoy
Mastrantos Owner
When Mari Godoy first started applying for jobs after college, she was asked, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Her response, “I see myself having my own company,” surprised interviewers, and it is that self-belief and assurance that has placed her where she is today.
Mari moved to Houston at 16 years old from Venezuela. She went to Houston Baptist University for English lessons and then earned a tennis scholarship to Prairie View A&M, where she began studying to become a nurse. Soon after, she changed courses, returning to Houston Baptist University to major in both Spanish and Business Management and minored in science.
Post-college, she headed to Chile to visit Xavier, her high school sweetheart with whom she had reunited in Houston. During the trip, Xavier proposed to Mari and the course of their life was happily changed forever. By December 2008, the two were married and they started a family the following year.
For a few years, Mari focused on raising her boys, Lucas and Sebastian, while Xavier traveled frequently for work. Following that period, Mari returned to the workforce, lending her business management talents to a small Venezuelan company in the oil and gas industry. After 5 years of learning and growing that still shapes her work ethic today, the Godoys’ third child came along. Eventually, the family made the emotional decision to go to Spain to visit their family and to clear their minds and find a new path forward—one that would allow them to spend more time together as a family and leave their mark on the world.
It was in Spain that Mari and Xavier refined their plans for Mastrantos. When the restaurant finally opened, Mari stepped into her role of wearing many hats at the restaurant: partner, operations manager, hospitality director, hiring manager, trainer and caretaker to all: team-members, guests and vendors.
Moreover, Mari carries out her passion for making doughs and pastas at Mastrantos, a passion she developed from a young age while watching her grandmother make sweets at home. The process of dough-making, which she calls intuitive, comes naturally to her; the cachito and Texqueños on the menu are her signature creations.
Mari’s independence comes from watching her single mother starting a successful business from the ground up, and she hopes to inspire her own children in the same way. As a restaurant owner, she uses her passion and life experience to fuel her drive to succeed. She takes great pleasure in making customers feel at home at Mastrantos.
Tony Castillo
Mastrantos Executive Chef and Partner
From a young age, Tony Castillo’s Filipino mother and Mexican father—along with their extended family and friends—instilled in him a passion for food and cooking. As a boy, Tony spent summers in rural parts of Mexico where he worked alongside aunts, uncles and cousins harvesting fruits and vegetables, milking cows and even making bricks; all learning experiences that would one day complement his culinary education. At home in Houston, he grew up with friends from all over the world and the United States. Dinnertime at his friends’ houses meant exposure to new flavors, seasonings and ingredients. Simply put, he was multicultural in many ways and understood the world to be so as well.
His love of multicultural food reigned strong throughout his life and eventually, in the middle of pursuing a degree in accounting, he realized that he wanted to study formally to “cook the world.” He enrolled in the Art Institute of Houston and immediately appreciated the breadth of cuisines taught at the school. Tony’s father, an experienced professional chef, encouraged him to further his education by working in a real kitchen and challenging him with mystery box challenges at home.
Soon enough, Tony began working in a professional kitchen with three goals in mind: To become a sous chef at age 25, hold the title of executive chef at age 30, and be a restaurant owner at age 35. He worked up the ranks during four years at The Daily Grill, then during five years at The St. Regis Houston (where he became a sous chef at 23), and then at Tiny Boxwoods for seven years (eventually becoming the executive chef at 27). Finally, a friend introduced Tony to Xavier Godoy and their relationship soon morphed into Tony joining the Mastrantos team in 2018.
At Mastrantos, Castillo works feverishly to uphold the restaurant’s values of transparency, global tastes and balance. He strives to continuously evolve the food on the menu to reflect the evolution of the world—a more inclusive planet with an endless exchange of ideas and flavors and increasingly fading borders. In the summer of 2021, Tony proudly became a partner at Mastrantos at the age of 33.
Outside of work, Tony loves spending time with his family; connecting with his father through cooking; and watching Chicago sports.
