Daniel Meyer (born March 14, 1958) is a New York City

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

and the founder and executive chairman of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG).

Background and early career

Meyer was born and raised in a

reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous rev ...

family in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

the son of Roxanne (née Harris) and Morton L. Meyer. His father was the president of a travel, hospitality and real estate company in St. Louis. His grandfather was Chicago businessman and philanthropist, Irving B. Harris. He attended

John Burroughs School John Burroughs School (JBS) is a private, non-sectarian college-preparatory school with 631 students in grades 7– 12. Its 49-acre () campus is located in Ladue, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Founded in 1923, it is named for U.S. naturali ...

and as a child, Meyer attended Camp Nebagamon for boys in

Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin Lake Nebagamon is a village in Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,123 at the 2020 census, up from 1,069 at the 2010 census. Transportation U.S. Highway 2, U.S. Highway 53, and Wisconsin Highway 27 are located in ...

. 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 Alpha Delta Phi (; commonly known as Alpha Delt, AD, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP) is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in ...

fraternity while at Trinity College in

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. After graduating from Trinity in 1980 with a degree in political science, Meyer worked in Chicago as

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within 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 The Flatiron District is a neighborhood in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan of New York City, named after the Flatiron Building at 23rd Street (Manhattan), 23rd Street, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Generally ...

of New York City. He then returned to Europe to study cooking as a culinary stagiaire in Italy and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, 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, Daily Provisions, Ci Siamo, The Modern, Cafe 2 and Terrace 5 at

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, Maialino (formerly 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 Citi Field is a baseball park, baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the Boroughs of New York, borough of Queens, New York City, United States. Opened in 2009, Citi Field is the home of Major League Baseball's New York M ...

Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, Saratoga Springs, New York (state), New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting v ...

, and

Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard (Washington, D.C.), Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals. Since its completion in 2008, it wa ...

. 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 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 The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a $953-billion business loan program established by the United States federal government during the First presidency of Donald Trump, Trump administration in 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and ...

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 HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, 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 Share Our Strength is a national organization working to end childhood hunger and poverty in the United States. Share Our Strength holds culinary events, solicits individual donations, and uses social media to raise funds, which are then used to ...

and City Harvest. In addition, he served as Co-Chair of the Union Square Partnership for five 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 ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''; 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 The ''Zagat Survey'', commonly referred to as Zagat (stylized in all caps; , ) and established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, is an organization which collects and correlates the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, coverin ...

guide, including Union Square Cafe, which has held the #1 spot nine times. Eleven Madison Park held three

Michelin Star The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

s, 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 ''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine, wine culture and wine ratings. It is the flagship publication of M. Shanken Communications, which also publishes ''Cigar Aficionado'', ''Whisky Advocate'', ''Market Watch' ...

Grand Award in 2016.

Awards

Meyer and USHG have won 28

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

s. * 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 Reid Garrett Hoffman (born August 5, 1967) is an American internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and author. Hoffman is the co-founder and former executive chairman of LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network used primarily ...

on the

Masters of Scale ''Masters of Scale'' is a business podcast and media brand owned and produced by WaitWhat, the media company founded and led by former TED executives June Cohen and Deron Triff. In 2017, ''Masters of Scale'' launched as a business and leaders ...

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 discuss the intersection between hospitality and humanity, and why we’re all invested in the hospitality business. He talked food, love and business on the Gary Vee Audio Experience Podcast.

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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and Jewish service at

Unitarian Church of All Souls The Unitarian Church of All Souls at 1157 Lexington Avenue at 80th Street (Manhattan), East 80th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City was built in 1932 and was designed by Hobart Upjohn – Richard Upjohn's grandson &n ...

in Manhattan. He has a daughter, Hallie Meyer, who founded Caffè Panna, an ice cream shop in New York City.Masters of Scale Live: Danny Meyer with Caffè Panna’s Hallie Meyer
November 28, 2024

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Danny 1958 births Living people 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Activists from Manhattan Activists from St. Louis American chairpersons of corporations American cookbook writers American expatriates in France American expatriates in Italy American food company founders American male non-fiction writers American restaurateurs Businesspeople from Manhattan Businesspeople from St. Louis Fast casual chain founders International Association of Culinary Professionals award winners James Beard Foundation Award winners Jewish American activists Jewish American non-fiction writers Jews from Missouri Jews from New York (state) John Burroughs School alumni Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni Writers from Manhattan Writers from St. Louis