Hospitality Series (Pt. 2): Drew Nieporent on Creating Celebrity Chefs, A-List Partnerships, and Going 40 for 40!!
3/23/202653 min
Adrienne and Joe are back for part two of our three part hospitality series, this time with legendary restaurateur Drew Nieporent of Nobu and Tribeca Grill fame. They talk about his memoir ‘I'm Not Trying To Be Difficult’ and share tales from his storied career. In this episode, we discuss:
Drew’s role in the rise of celebrity chefs, starting with putting their names on the menu
James Beard awards and the changing role of the restaurateur
Working with celebs like Robert De Niro to launch new ventures
How to deal with t...
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAdrienne Cheatham· Host0:00
[gentle music] Today on The Chef's Cut, we are finally getting back to our three-part hospitality series, and we have a very special guest for part two, who is a living legend. Have you ever wondered how the celebrity chef became a thing? Who decided that you had to leave a credit card to hold a restaurant reservation? And who ushered in the era of A-list actors investing in restaurants? Our guest today single-handedly created celebrity chefs as we know them. He turned Nobu into a global phenomenon, and he's the reason that you have to give a credit card to hold a reservation. We're talking about how he kicked off the era of the celebrity chef.
Drew Nieporent· Guest0:42
I put her name on the menu. He comes over to me, he said, "What the hell is her name on the menu?"
Adrienne Cheatham· Host0:45
Something he used to always pack on trips.
Drew Nieporent· Guest0:49
I went to Florida. I plug in the fax machine so they could fax me the actual reservation sheet. That is a little extreme.
Adrienne Cheatham· Host0:56
And the massive celebrities he partnered with in his restaurants.
Drew Nieporent· Guest1:00
Sean Penn, Bill Murray, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Christopher Walken, Ed Harris. Have I dropped enough names?
Adrienne Cheatham· Host1:06
If you haven't guessed, it is legendary restaurateur and author Drew Nieporent. But first, Chef's Cut Nation, we need 10 seconds of your time. Please rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. Your support is the reason that we've grown so fast, and your support is gonna help us keep going. Let's get started.