If there’s anyone in this world who has succeeded at delivering delicious dining experiences at all price points, it’s Danny Meyer.
At first, it’s almost unfathomable to believe that the same person founded Eleven Madison Park (Three MICHELIN Stars) and Shake Shack, since they are meant for such different occasions. But look more closely, and it all makes sense. Their approach is the same: an unwavering commitment to excellent hospitality and tasty food. The first Shake Shack recipes were made in Eleven Madison Park’s kitchens, after all.
When Meyer opened his first restaurant, Union Square Cafe, forty years ago, he might not have expected it would grow into the hospitality powerhouse that it is today. Through his Union Square Hospitality Group, he now oversees numerous restaurants, including four recommended by The MICHELIN Guide: The Modern (Two Stars) Gramercy Tavern (One Star), Ci Siamo, and Manhatta.
Each restaurant leaves a deep impression, not only on diners, but also the people who work there. One example is Stephan Kim (now of Sopo), who spent his weekdays in finance but devoted his weekends to peeling potatoes as a line cook at The Modern. Kim went to great lengths for a chance to learn from Meyer's team, as do countless other aspiring chefs and restaurateurs, reinforcing Meyer's status as a Manhattan gastronomic pillar.
With so many fantastic restaurants, Meyer dedicates much of his time making sure each one is up to his standard. But when he does have a chance to dine out at other restaurants, he’s looking to find the most delicious ones.
Below, discover his New York favorites and some insightful reflections from his career so far.
What are your favorite restaurants in NYC?
For a special occasion, Le Bernardin is number one for me. Period. End of story.
For steak, I love Sparks Steak House. Amazing wine list, reliable steak, hash browns, creamed spinach, shrimp cocktail, crab cocktail. They're not trying to be anything they're not. They're just really good at who they are.
I've recently been going and returning to Borgo, a new restaurant on 27th Street from Andrew Tarlow.
There's an Israeli restaurant that I love called Shmoné. Another one is Miss Ada, a hole in the wall in Brooklyn. Just fantastic. Those guys just opened a new restaurant called Theodora.
I love Semma, an Indian restaurant, and Atoboy – it’s Korean.
How do you approach your restaurants?
What I aim to do with every single restaurant is to make sure that it's got our thumbprint, which is that you can expect people working there to care, the food is going to be very good, and the welcome is going to be very warm. You should rely on us for that.
You should expect a different culinary experience at each one. I describe us as a restaurateur-driven group of chef-driven restaurants. We have very talented chefs in every restaurant. While each has a very distinctive culinary point of view, all restaurants have a common hospitality point of view. We try to hire people who care about making you happy. You should feel that human energy from the minute you walk in.
I love thinking about restaurants the way a winemaker thinks about wine, which is, can you make a wine that's delicious out of the bottle, but only improving with age?
Union Square Cafe was the only restaurant I had for the first 10 years of my career. It’s about to be 40 years old this year. It's better than ever.
Gramercy Tavern this past year turned 30 years old.
The Modern, which has Two MICHELIN Stars, just turned 20 years old.
Shake Shack just turned 20 years old.
Daily Provisions, I eat sometimes twice a day.
Ci Siamo is going to be four years old this year.
We just opened a new restaurant called The View, which is a revolving restaurant above Times Square.
I love that New York is always changing and evolving, and there's always fresh ideas. I also love tradition, and I love if you can have a tension between evolution and tradition.
How do you approach Shake Shack in comparison to your MICHELIN restaurants?
Shake Shack, I've always called fine casual. It's not fast casual. Shake Shack was born from our company using the same beef we use at Union Square Cafe, recipes tested in the kitchen of Eleven Madison Park, so it was born from fine dining.
We're hiring the same emotional skills at a MICHELIN Star restaurant or at Shake Shack. At Shake Shack, we're hiring people almost exclusively based on their hospitality skills. We hire people who don't come yet with the technical skills but are willing to learn. They are already someone who likes smiling and making people feel good.
How will AI impact both?
I've always been a big believer that tech that advances touch is the right kind of tech.
I'll start with guest recognition. It's inexcusable not to be able to recognize, know things, and customize the experience for your guests in a restaurant that takes reservations. If someone raved about their last server, it should be able to help us pair people with whom they already felt more comfortable.
If you come to Shake Shack, we have no idea who you are. You didn't make a reservation. I believe that AI is going to make it increasingly possible to even recognize our guests at Shake Shack. We could say, “Welcome back. Would you like the usual?” Something that makes you feel like you belong.
Do you have any favorite memories as a restaurateur?
Where do I start? Laughs. The big picture is that it has afforded me the opportunity to serve food. I was 27 when I opened Union Square Cafe, and I've had the opportunity to meet so many interesting people from whom I've learned so much, many of whom are heroes to me, whether they be authors, playwrights, artists, composers, athletes. I appreciate the gift of what they do. It's been a privilege to be in a position where what we do makes people happy.
What's something most people wouldn't know about you?
Probably that I'm a goofball. I have fun taking my business seriously. And I’m serious about having fun. Life’s too short. My business partner of many years, describes me as someone who's got a rare case of ADD and OCD. He said you can't keep track of all the things you're obsessing about. I am always thinking about stuff, but I'm having fun.
Where would you go on a day off?
There's nothing that makes me happier than walking in New York, preferably with my wife, our kids, and our dog. I just love how New York is constantly changing, and the neighborhoods are also different from one another.
I like walking in Manhattan, but on the weekends, I love walking in Brooklyn. The amount of innovation is breathtaking, and I always collect ideas that maybe I can put to use sometime. I'm constantly storing ideas in my mental file cabinet.
Innovation is basically just connecting dots that were there anyway and finding the right time to connect the right dots together. So the more experiences I can collect, discoveries I can have, ideas I can see, and then store them away in my memory bank. You never know when it's going to feel right to pull those out and combine them in a way that feels fresh.
Your new online learning platform HQ+ teaches hospitality principles. What’s an unexpected skill that students will learn?
Many of the people who self-selected into our classes already knew how important hospitality was, but they didn't necessarily have the language to be able to teach it to the people on their teams.
I think we unlock in people what was already in their hearts and for whatever reason, business tends to champion things we can measure, which is usually the bottom line. [Businesses] don't tend to champion or celebrate the things we feel. I think the surprising thing for most people is that there is a real currency to making people feel better.
Most of our clients are not in the restaurant business. We've had dental, real estate, legal, financial, airlines. Anybody who's got customers and employees should care about how they make people feel, not just what they do.
What are some things you want to focus on next?
One, writing a second book. Setting the Table came out in 2006, and I would love to publish a book on the 20th anniversary which will be a very different book. We didn't have iPhones. I only had one Shake Shack, now there's almost 600 around the world. We hadn't gone through the Great Recession. We hadn't gone through the pandemic. I’ve learned so many lessons.
The other goal is I want to get One MICHELIN Star for Union Square Cafe. I wouldn't say this If I weren't confident. It's just way better than ever. And that's not an easy thing after forty years.
Address Book
Atoboy
43 E 28th St, New York, NY 10016
Borgo
124 E 27th St, New York, NY 10016
Ci Siamo
440 W 33rd St Suite #100, New York, NY 10001
Daily Provisions
103 E 19th St, New York, NY 10003
Eleven Madison Park (Three MICHELIN Stars)
11 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10010
Gramercy Tavern (One MICHELIN Star)
42 E 20th St, New York, NY 10003
Le Bernardin (Three MICHELIN Stars)
155 W 51st St, New York, NY 10019
Manhatta
28 Liberty St 60th floor, New York, NY 10005
Miss Ada (Bib Gourmand)
184 DeKalb Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Shmoné (One MICHELIN Star)
61 W 8th St, New York, NY 10011
Semma (One MICHELIN Star)
60 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 10011
Shake Shack
Madison Square Park, 23rd Street and, Madison Ave, New York, NY 10010
Sparks Steak House.
210 E 46th St, New York, NY 10017
Theodora
7 Greene Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238
The View
1535 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
Union Square Cafe
101 E 19th St, New York, NY 10003
Hero image: Daniel Krieger / Danny Meyer
