Danny Meyer

Daniel Meyer (born March 14, 1958) is a New York City restaurateur and the Founder & Executive Chairman of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG).

Background and early career

Meyer was born and raised in a reform Jewish family in St. Louis, Missouri where he attended John Burroughs School. Meyer’s grandfather was a prominent Chicago businessman and philanthropist, Irving B. Harris. As a child, Meyer attended Camp Nebagamon for boys in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin. During college, Meyer worked for his father as a tour guide in Rome and then returned there to study international politics. Meyer was a Brother of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity while at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating from Trinity in 1980 with a degree in political science, Meyer worked in Chicago as Cook County field director for John Anderson's 1980 independent presidential campaign. Meyer gained his first restaurant experience in 1984 as an assistant manager at Pesca, an Italian seafood restaurant in the Flatiron District of New York City. He then returned to Europe to study cooking as a culinary stagiaire in Italy and Bordeaux, France.

Career

In 1985, at age 27, Meyer opened his first restaurant, Union Square Cafe. Meyer's other restaurants and businesses include Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke and Jazz Standard, Shake Shack, The Modern, Cafe 2 and Terrace 5 at MoMA, Maialino at the Gramercy Park Hotel, Untitled at the North End Grill, Marta, Porchlight, GreenRiver, Union Square Events, and Hospitality Quotient. Union Square Events, USHG's catering division, operates several concessions at major sports facilities including Citi Field, Saratoga Race Course, and Nationals Park.

In 2010, Meyer suffered his first restaurant closure, Tabla. In a statement, Meyer blamed the closure on the specificity of the Indian cuisine offered by the restaurant. That same year, Meyer participated in a documentary called "The Restaurateur".

In late 2011, Union Square Hospitality group sold Eleven Madison Park to its chef Daniel Humm and front-of-house director Will Guidara. In 2018, North End Grill closed.

In 2015, Meyer announced that he would eliminate tipping at all of his restaurants. The move increased prices by approximately 21 percent and led to large portions of his staff leaving the company.

COVID-19 response and Paycheck Protection Program relief

As the COVID-19 swept through the United States, Meyer shuttered all his restaurants, criticized other businesses for opening, and stated that he did not expect to offer full service until a vaccine was available. In a May 1 Vanity Fair podcast, Meyer explained that taking a Paycheck Protection Program loan, intended to help small businesses, "could be the most irresponsible thing in the world for a restaurant to do." In July, it emerged that twelve separate Meyer restaurants received loans. Meyer's company, Union Square Hospitality Group, received between $11.4 and $27 million in PPP loans. Shake Shack earlier claimed to return its PPP assistance following media attention."

Writings

Meyer co-wrote ''The Union Square Cafe Cookbook'' (HarperCollins, 1994) with his business partner, Chef Michael Romano. The book earned the IACP Julia Child Award for the best new cookbook by a first-time author, and was followed up with the highly acclaimed ''Second Helpings from Union Square Cafe'' (HarperCollins, 2001). Meyer also wrote ''The New York Times'' bestseller ''Setting the Table'' (HarperCollins, 2006), which examines the power of hospitality in restaurants, business, and life. In May 2009, Meyer's restaurants released a cocktail cookbook, ''Mix Shake Stir'' (Little, Brown) featuring 140 recipes, along with tips, anecdotes and photography.

Community activism

Meyer has served on the boards of Share Our Strength and City Harvest. In addition, he served as Co-Chair of the Union Square Partnership for 5 years, and as an executive committee member for NYC & Co and the Madison Square Park Conservancy.

Ratings and reviews

Four of USHG's restaurants have earned three stars from ''The New York Times;'' Eleven Madison Park was upgraded to four stars in 2009. USHG's restaurants routinely appear among the Most Popular in New York City according to the Zagat guide, including Union Square Cafe, which has held the #1 spot nine times. Eleven Madison Park held three Michelin Stars, The Modern earned its second Michelin Star in 2015, Gramercy Tavern holds one Michelin Star, and GreenRiver was awarded one Michelin Star in 2016. In 2016, The Modern was awarded a Wine Spectator Grand Award in 2016.

Awards

Meyer and USHG have won 28 James Beard Foundation Awards.
* 2018 Workplace Legacy Award,
* 2017 Julia Child Award from The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts
* 2013 Pennsylvania State University School of Hospitality Management Conti Professor, Fall Semester

Podcast appearances

Meyer was interviewed by Reid Hoffman on the Masters of Scale podcast, where he talked about how he ignored conventional wisdom to revolutionize the restaurant industry. He appeared on The Ringer's House of Carbs Podcast, where he presented his Washington D.C. establishment "Maialino Mare" and talked about his career in hospitality. Danny Meyer most recently appeared on The Knowledge Project Podcast to discusses the intersection between hospitality and humanity, and why we’re all invested in the hospitality business.

Book reviews

*''The Union Square Cafe Cookbook'' was described in the ''New York Journal of Books'' as "...expertly adapted for home use and offers many dishes worth trying and adding to your repertoire."

Personal life

In 1988, Meyer married Audrey Rayelyn Heffernan in an interfaith Roman Catholic and Jewish service at Unitarian Church of All Souls in Manhattan.New York Times: "Daniel Meyer Weds Audrey Heffernan"
August 28, 1988

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Danny
1958 births
Living people
Businesspeople from New York City
Fast casual chain founders
American restaurateurs
20th-century American Jews
Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni
Businesspeople from St. Louis
James Beard Foundation Award winners
21st-century American Jews
International Association of Culinary Professionals award winners