New steakhouse planned in Quincy by well-known South Shore restaurateur

QUINCY − More than 10 years after a fire gutted the former Masonic Temple on Hancock Street, one of the city's most celebrated restaurateurs will open an Italian restaurant called Masons Steak House there this fall.

"This is going to be the most important restaurant of my career," said Jimmy Liang, whose nine Boston-area restaurants, the JP Fuji Group, include four locations in his hometown of Quincy.

With his hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, Liang's face reflects his hard-won experience and the boyish enthusiasm of someone eager for bigger and better things. He opened his (and Quincy's) first sushi restaurant in 1998 when he was 18 and steadily expanded operations over the next 2½ decades.

Now 45, Liang is reinventing himself on a grand scale.

"It's going to be the biggest story of the year for Quincy," he said. "The sheer size, the people that are involved and, most importantly, the iconic and historical status of this building − it's going to have a huge impact."

'It's going to be very different.' A tour of Masons Steak House

Liang led The Patriot Ledger up the granite steps and through the four massive ionic columns that give 1170 Hancock St. its splendor. Inside, carpenters listening to Cantopop music worked on the cavernous space.

Liang leases the property from FoxRock Properties, whose 66-unit apartment building Stone adjoins the back of the former temple. Stone, which opened to residents in late January, is half of the Center and Stone development fronting Hancock Street. Center will have 135 apartments and is set to open this summer.

The first floor of Masons Steak House will have a kitchen, a bar and a dining room, Liang said. There will be another kitchen in the basement.

An exposed staircase leads to the second story, which will have a second bar, a gallery and two function rooms.

A handsome, two-sided fireplace with oak paneling stands out as the centerpiece of the second floor.

"I'm not touching this," Liang said.

"We're trying to mimic the dining rooms of an elegant home. Most restaurants don't have windows like that," he said, pointing out a row of second-story windows overlooking Hancock Street.

"Most restaurants don't have a proper dining room. Most have serving stations, a bar and an open room. Up here, it's going to be very different."

Liang said the restaurant will be about 12,000 square feet with seating for 275 to 300 people, about three times the size of his largest restaurant, the flagship Fuji at West of Chestnut about half a mile south on Hancock Street.

With chefs Kevin Long, Robert Gonzalez and Ming Cao, Liang assembles all-star team for new venture

Liang's restaurants have all featured Japanese and Chinese cuisine. Asked if it was hard to move in a new direction, he said, "No, no," without hesitation.

"This was a very easy decision for me. Personally, I love steaks. I love pastas. I love Italian food. I've always wanted a place like this."

Liang said he's been planning to team up with chefs Kevin Long and Robert Gonzalez for years.

"The big deal is the guys I'm working with," he said. "It's the best team I've ever assembled."

Long is well-known on the South Shore as executive chef at Tosca in Hingham. He also partnered on Big Night Entertainment, a collection of nightclubs and restaurants, including one at Foxwoods, headquartered in Boston.

Pastry chef and cookbook author Robert Gonzalez is appearing on the Food Network's "Spring Baking Championship," which premiered March 4. He has worked at Boston's Bistro du Midi and Mary Dumont's Cultivar, and he headed the pastry department of Concord Market.

Masons Steak House will have its own baked goods department and pastry line led by Gonzalez. Liang said people will be able to pre-order cakes for special occasions.

Ming Cao joined JP Fuji Group in 2000 as sushi chef at the first Fuji restaurant.

"He's been working with me ever since he was 15 years old," Liang said.

After a quarter century, Liang steps back from leading role at JP Fuji Group to develop Masons

Masons Steak House will not be part of JP Fuji Group but a new brand that Liang said he plans to grow. He retired as JP Fuji Group's CEO this year. Though he remains its chairman, he has stepped back from day-to-day oversight to focus on his new project.

Masons Steak House marks a big change from what he's used to.

"It's going to be my first restaurateur role," he said. "I'm an experienced chef, but my specialty is Japanese food. Steaks and pasta is not my forte, although I've brushed up on it along the way.

"With that being said, I'm going to be playing in the kitchen," he said.

He also has plans for a line of Masons pasta.

"I've wanted to do premade pasta to sell and distribute," he said. "The same thing with baked goods."

Bringing the nightlife back to Quincy

While plans for hours of operation remain fluid, Liang says he's leaning toward forgoing lunch hours and remaining open to 1 a.m.

Quincy used to stay up later, he said, but COVID has changed that. While his other Quincy locations will continue to close at 10 or 11 p.m., Liang said Masons Steak House will be "a different animal."

"This is a new build, a new opening," he said. "I'm going to try to bring the nightlife back."

Liang said Masons Steak House will have affordable options.

"I'm going to keep it medium," he said of the prices. "(A steak) could be $40 or as expensive as $200."

Liang's restaurant empire

• B Cafe − A casual, quick-order sushi joint at Hancock Street and Billings Road in Quincy with smoothies, bubble teas, teppanyaki and rice bowls. It opened in 2007.

• Shabu − JP Fuji Group's hot pot restaurant, also at Hancock Street and Billings Road, opened in 2008.

• Fuji at Kendall − Liang expanded into Cambridge with this restaurant serving sushi, wok-tossed noodles and agemono in 2012.

• YoCha − Opening in 2013, this third of three Fuji Group locations at Hancock and Billings specializes in sweet soups, frozen yogurt and tofu pudding.

• Fuji at Assembly − Located at Somerville's Assembly Row, this Fuji branch offers spicy dishes from Sichuan Province in southwest China, in addition to Fuji's hallmark sushi. It opened in 2014.

• Fuji at Ink Block − Liang opened this contemporary Japanese restaurant at the former Boston Herald headquarters in 2016.

• Fuji at West of Chestnut − JP Fuji Group's flagship restaurant in the heart of downtown Quincy, Fuji at WoC opened in 2016 and features a "private chefs kitchen" where guests can sample off-the-menu items in a private dining room.

• Fuji at High Street Place − Liang opened this sushi and sake bar inside the food hall at Boston's High Street Place in 2022.

• Fuji at Newton − Liang expanded to the affluent Boston suburb in 2022 with this upscale, modern restaurant.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Former Quincy Masonic Temple to become steakhouse