Danny Meyer

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For the Australian rules footballer, see Danny Meyer (footballer).
Danny Meyer

Meyer in 2010
Born (1958-03-14) March 14, 1958
St. Louis, Missouri
Education Trinity College
Official website
http://www.ushgnyc.com

Daniel "Danny" Meyer (born March 14, 1958) is a New York City restaurateur and the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG).

Personal life

Meyer was born and raised in St. Louis, where he attended John Burroughs School. Meyer worked for his father as a tour guide in Rome during college, and then returned to Rome to study international politics. After graduating from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut in 1980 with a degree in Political Science,[1] Meyer worked in Chicago as Cook County Field Director for John Anderson's 1980 independent presidential campaign. Meyer later 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 both Italy and Bordeaux.[2] In 1985, at 27, he began his career as a restaurateur by opening Union Square Cafe.[3]

Meyer lives in Manhattan with his wife, Audrey, and their four children: Hallie, Charles, Gretchen, and Peyton.

Career

In 1985, Meyer opened his first restaurant: Union Square Cafe. In order to make it successful, Danny Meyer tried to focus on its customer satisfaction.[4] Currently, Meyer’s restaurants and other businesses include: Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke and Jazz Standard, Shake Shack, The Modern, Cafe 2 and Terrace 5 at MoMA, Maialino, Untitled at the Whitney Museum, Union Square Events, and Hospitality Quotient.[5] Union Square Events, USHG's catering division, also operates several concessions (Shake Shack, Blue Smoke, El Verano Taqueria, and Box Frites) at major sports facilities, such as the Mets Citi Field, Saratoga Race Course, and Washington Nationals Park.[6]

In late 2011, USHG opened North End Grill and a second location of Blue Smoke, both in Battery Park City.[7]

Four of USHG’s restaurants have earned three stars from The New York Times and Eleven Madison Park was upgraded to four stars in 2009. Three of the five “Most Popular” restaurants in the 2011 New York Zagat Survey are part of USHG, including Union Square Cafe, which has held the #1 spot nine times.[8] Eleven Madison Park held three Michelin Stars, while The Modern and Gramercy Tavern each hold one Michelin Star[9] and Eleven Madison Park was designated Grand Chef Relais & Chateaux in 2008 and named one of S. Pellegrino’s “50 Best Restaurants” in 2010 and 2011.[10]

In 2011, the Union Square Hospitality group sold Eleven Madison Park to its chef Daniel Humm and front-of-house director Will Guidara.[11]

USHG also founded and continues to organize the annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in NYC, which takes place in Madison Square Park and features regionally diverse barbecue from visiting pitmasters. The event benefits the Madison Square Park Conservancy.[12]

Meyer co-authored 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 authored 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.[13]

Meyer has served on the boards of Share Our Strength and City Harvest.[14] In addition, he served as Co-Chair of the Union Square Partnership for 5 years [15] and as an executive committee member for NYC & Co and the Madison Square Park Conservancy.[16]

Meyer and USHG have won 25 James Beard Foundation Awards [17]

Awards

  • 2011 NYU Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to New York City
  • 2010 Cooper Union Urban Citizenship Award
  • 2005 James Beard Foundation Restaurateur of the Year Award
  • 2005 Readers Digest Best Restaurateur
  • 1999 Bon Appetit Best Restaurateur in America
  • 1999 New York Magazine New Yorkers of 1999
  • 1996 James Beard Foundation Humanitarian of the Year Award
  • 1992 Food & Wine Magazine Top 25 Restaurants in America

Publications

  • Setting the Table : The Power of Hospitality in Restaurants, Business, and Life
  • The Union Square Café Cookbook
  • Second Helpings from Union Square Cafe
  • Mix Shake Stir

Book Reviews

  • The Union Square Café Cookbook
  • New York Journal of Books reviewer Penny Pleasance wrote of the revised edition that the book is “. . . expertly adapted for home use and offers many dishes worth trying and adding to your repertoire . . . I just don’t like the idea of being given a regifted item.”[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Times Topics - Danny Meyer". 
  2. ↑ "Danny Meyer". Retrieved 4 October 2011. 
  3. ↑ "Times Topics - Danny Meyer". 
  4. ↑ http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Your-Business/Pearls-of-Wisdom/Danny-Meyer-Pearls-of-Wisdom
  5. ↑ Wilsey, Sean (2011-08-04). "A Movable Feast: Danny Meyer on a Roll". The Times Magazine. Retrieved 2011-09-07. 
  6. ↑ Sutton, Ryan (2009-04-22). "Citi Field’s $48 VIP Meal, Shake Shack Burgers, Beer: Food Buzz". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2011-09-07. 
  7. ↑ Morabito, Greg (2010-07-29). "BPC Gets Shake Shack, Blue Smoke, Third Meyer Restaurant". EaterNY.com. Retrieved 2011-09-07. 
  8. ↑ Wilsey, Sean (2011-08-04). "A Movable Feast: Danny Meyer on a Roll". The Times Magazine. Retrieved 2011-09-07. 
  9. ↑ "Michelin Guide Unleashed". Eater NY. Retrieved 2011-10-04. 
  10. ↑ "The Top 50 Best Restaurants 1-50". The S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants. Retrieved 2011-09-21. 
  11. ↑ http://ny.eater.com/archives/2011/10/danny_meyer_confirms_eleven_madison_park_sale.php>
  12. ↑ "The Event". Bigapplebbq.org. Retrieved 2011-09-08. 
  13. ↑ "Hachette Book Group". Retrieved 4 October 2011. 
  14. ↑ "At the Chef’s Table: Restaurant Partners". Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
  15. ↑ "Danny Meyer Turns Over Helm of Union Square Partnership". Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
  16. ↑ "Danny Meyer". Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
  17. ↑ "James Beard Foundation web". Accessed 12 September 2011. 
  18. ↑ New York Journal of Books

External links

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