Stephen Starr (born 1957) is an American

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 aspec ...

and former entertainment promoter based in Philadelphia. He owns the Starr Restaurants group which operates over thirty restaurants. He has restaurants in many different areas both in the United States as well as overseas. These restaurants include Alma De Cuba, Barclay Prime, Buddakan, Butcher and Singer, The Continental Mid-town, The Dandelion, El Rey, El Vez, Fette Sau, Frankford Hall, Jones, Morimoto, Parc, Pod, Serpico, Stella, Talula's Daily, Talula's Garden, and The Love in Philadelphia. Starr has been recognized for his work, and has received awards from the James Beard Foundation among others.

Early life and education

Starr was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. He grew up in Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, where he attended Gateway Regional High School. He later attended the School of Media and Communication at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptists, Baptist minister Russell Conwell an ...

in Philadelphia.

Career

Promoter

Starr's first venue was the diner and comedy club "Grandmom Minnie's" located in

Old City Old City often refers to old town, the historic or original core of a city or town. Old City may refer to several places: Historical cities or regions of cities ''(by country)'' *Old City (Baku), Azerbaijan * Old City (Dhaka), Bangladesh, also ca ...

. On September 16, 1977, Starr opened the cabaret "Stars" featuring emerging acts. In March 1981, Starr opened the concert venue and disco "Ripley Music Hall." In February 1984, Starr founded The Concert Company, which brought large-scale stadium acts to Philadelphia. The company was purchased by

Electric Factory Concerts Electric Factory Concerts is a Philadelphia-based concert promotion firm, affiliated with the former Electric Factory venue in that city. It was founded by Herbert Spivak, who ran the business with his brothers Jerry Spivak and Allen Spivak. ...

in 1990.

STARR Restaurants

Stephen Starr founded STARR Restaurants in 1995. In September 1995, Starr opened his first restaurant in Philadelphia, "Continental Restaurant & Martini Bar."" As of 2018, there are twenty Starr Restaurants in Philadelphia; six in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

; five in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

; two in Atlantic City,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

; two in Washington, D.C.; and one in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Awards

Starr won the 2017 "Outstanding Restaurateur"

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 ...

; and his restaurant

Le Coucou Le Coucou is a French restaurant in New York City which opened in 2016. The restaurant's chef is Daniel Rose and Stephen Starr is the owner. The restaurant is located in 11 Howard, a hotel. History and menu History Before beginning Le Coucou, ...

, with chef Daniel Rose, was named 2017 "Best New Restaurant" by the James Beard Foundation. His restaurant The Clocktower, with chef Jason Atherton, was awarded a Michelin star in the 2018

Michelin Guide 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 establishments. The acquisition or loss of ...

. Starr has been named "Restaurateur of the Year" by both ''

Bon Appétit ''Bon Appétit'' is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center ...

'' and ''

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, covering ...

''. ''

Travel + Leisure ''Travel + Leisure'' is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC, with trademark ...

'' noted that "Starr creates complete environments with an artistic, almost cerebral approach." In 2017, the magazine ''Restaurant Hospitality'' placed Stephen Starr on their "RH 25" list of "The 25 most powerful multiconcept operators across the country." ''Restaurant Hospitality'' also awarded Starr the annual Richard Melman Innovator of the Year award in 2013 and cited his restaurants in Philadelphia as "arguably the key reason for the city's revitalized culinary scene." ''The Harvard Observer'' recognized Starr "for making contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of restaurant hospitality over the whole of his career."

Film and television

Starr was guest judge on the "Restaurant Wars" episode of the reality television show ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo on March 8, 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional che ...

'': Season 5, which aired in 2009. Starr appeared in the 2007 documentary film "This is My Cheesesteak" directed by Benjamin Daniels.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Stephen Living people People from Woodbury Heights, New Jersey American restaurateurs Temple University alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople James Beard Foundation Award winners 1957 births