WEBVTT - Danny Meyer 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.880 You're listening to Ruthie's Table four in partnership with Montclair. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:13.000 When I started the River Cafe with Rose Gray in 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:16.000 nineteen eighty seven, I was told over and over how 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:20.639 cutthroat it would be. Danny Meyer convinced me otherwise. Opening 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:23.840 Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern in New York more 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:27.760 than thirty years ago, he proved values matter. One could 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:31.760 not only treat staff with respect they deserve, but make 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:35.560 customers happy, happier, as we always say, when they leave 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:39.239 than when they arrived. What surprised us all was that 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:43.159 for his next act, Danny launched Shakeshack in two thousand 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:46.720 and one, a hot dog stand in Madison Park. The rest, 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:50.000 as they say, is history. Today, when I have a 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:52.920 question about fair policies for the people who work with us, 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:56.800 or how to think about expanding or contracting the River Cafe, 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.680 or whether it be possible to do exchanges with our 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:01.880 best chefs, I called Danny. 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:06.320 My heart just melted right back at you. In so 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:10.319 many ways. I turned to you as my touchdown for taste. 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:14.560 There we are, and we're on well eighteenth floor. The 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:16.760 most incredible view to be in New York is to 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:20.679 be high. People love Soho and they love Greenwich Village. 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:22.440 I want to get hot. I was going to say, 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:24.280 I want to get high when I come to New York. 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:32.200 But for me being high as the great luxury. We're 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:37.280 here surrounded, of course, no surprise by food. Amazing doughnuts, 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:39.880 would you calls? 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:42.160 Yes, from Daily Provisions. 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:47.080 From Daily Provisions. And we have ice cream from Danny 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:54.080 Meyer's daughter, Hayley, and she makes great food, great ice cream, 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.200 and she cooked in the River Cafe. She came and 0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:02.440 worked with us, so she's part of the family. Now, 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:04.000 do you want to tell us about the ice cream? 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:06.040 Yeah, let's actually you know what I want to do. 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.080 I want to tell you about the crullers because this 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.800 ice cream is going to temper for al times, okay, 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:12.960 and we can we can open them and help that 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:19.280 process go. But the crullers are pretty much the signature 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:23.000 item at a restaurant called Daily Provisions, which we opened 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:27.320 about six years ago right next door to Unions to 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:29.680 the brand new Union Square Cafe. When we had to 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.600 move it after thirty years, we have this extra little space. 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:34.839 We didn't know what to do with it, and we said, 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.560 let's give a gift to the neighborhood. And what did 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:40.880 the neighborhood need? We said, a better cup of coffee, 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:44.000 a really good bacon, egg and cheese sandwich, a really 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:47.080 good donut, and a good roast chicken for dinner. And 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:52.079 that's daily Provisions. And the Cruller is the only donut 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:56.000 we serve. And Ruthie, if you don't think that's one 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:58.520 of the top three donuts you've ever had, I just 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.840 want I won't keep talking on this podcast, so I 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:04.480 want you to cut yourself some of that. 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:07.080 So tell me about clers, because tell me about donuts. 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:11.000 It's not my great knowledge donuts. 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:17.720 Doughnuts are often cakey. This, as you will taste on 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.720 one bite, is not cakey at all. In fact, it's 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:24.840 quite aggy. And what I love about the cinnamon crawler, 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:28.440 we only make three different kinds. We make, a maple croller, 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:32.440 a cinnamon croller is it's crunchy on the outside and 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:36.040 it's almost your take a bite because it's better if 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:38.480 you try it than if I describe it. Here we go, 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:41.400 So croller. 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.880 As I said, I'm not the nash and the cultural 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:47.640 heritage thing. 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:50.720 Come on, show me what you got. 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:55.040 Mlichio's first from anybody on this podcast has actually given 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:57.160 me something to eat. I really appreciate it. 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:01.240 This is delicious good. It's almost like God. 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.760 Is a contrast between the outside thee. 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:06.400 Yeah, it's very aching. 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:11.280 This is divine not to tweet, you know, just more 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.360 that's a good thing. I don't live next to It Provisions. 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:20.640 So that is a croller and that is a good Onelturo. 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.880 All crawlers are donuts, but not all doughnuts are crawl. 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:27.640 These are until you tell me how you make them? 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:27.960 Do you know? 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:31.039 I do. But that's the only thing we got calling 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.560 for us. So when you tell me how you make 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:38.400 your state secret, I got it. Like everything at the 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:45.000 River Cafe, anything away this is They're just they're just 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:48.640 so good. Have a sip of your coffee with it, please, Okay, 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:49.800 this is not all right? 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:51.600 So those are crawlers. 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.640 And then Hallie after she learned how to make ice 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.239 cream at the River Cafe and also in Rome. 0:04:57.400 --> 0:05:00.000 I think she learned in Rome, and then she came. 0:04:59.880 --> 0:05:04.440 To she opened right down the street from Daily Provisions, 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:08.880 and she is doing such a great job. That was 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:12.560 exactly three years ago. They just had their third birthday. 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:16.920 It's kind of seasonal to ice cream one in the summer, and. 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:20.479 Yeah, she's got six that are always on and then 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:24.000 she changes one every single day. Now, there's there's a 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.000 few here that we're going to try, and we have 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.600 to because you gave her a lot. I want information. 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:34.359 I'm going to start off with Aud's dream. 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:38.320 Okay, there's still not Is that what it's called. 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:42.080 It's named that for her mom, Audrey, because this is 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:48.520 Audrey's favorite flavor combination, which is vanilla and peanut butter. 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:51.039 So swelled through it. 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:53.520 Swirled through it. I think I better try somewhere we're 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:56.799 at it. I'll get in trouble. I'll get in trouble 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:58.359 with two ladies in my life. 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:04.280 M m, it's delicious. Id you have to try this? Well? 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:07.960 That sounds what's good? You know it's really good? Is 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:14.200 vanilla ice cream? Part? Well? When she was growing up, 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:16.320 was ice cream her favorite dessert. 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.520 I think she has probably had ice cream every day 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:22.559 of her life for the last twenty five years. 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:25.279 So as a child, she was. 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:26.240 Five years old, yep. 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:26.640 Wow. 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:29.080 She worked in an ice cream store when she was 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:35.040 at Yale and New Haven and she just yep, way 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:38.960 before she opened a place. Every single one of her 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.159 Instagram posts was eating ice cream in someone else's place, 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:48.120 which is pretty cool. Now that everybody travels, everybody has 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:51.919 access to obviously the Internet, so they can see pictures, 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:55.000 read recipes here we're you know, hear how people feel 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:58.680 about the food, et cetera. I think the curiosity of 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:03.719 chefs to kind of cross pollinate is fascinating. The key, though, 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:10.200 is the gimmicky stuff has my entire career. It never lasts. 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.040 It's kind of like music. There's eight notes in the 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.960 octave no matter what you try, plus you know the 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:19.560 sharps and flats, and yet there's a myriad number of 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:21.600 songs that can be written. And I think the same 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.360 thing is true in our industry is there's really nothing 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.679 that new under the sun. Now. What I love about 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:31.400 Ruthie and the River Cafe, and this is something that 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:36.360 I really believe in deeply. It's not so much about 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:41.160 invention as it is cooking food I know, but cooked 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:44.200 better than I knew it could be. There is an 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:48.160 enormous amount of skill involved with that, and I wish 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:52.720 more chefs understood that in excellence lies creativity. It's not 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:54.720 just coming up with something I. 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:58.280 Always say we don't do ideas. You know, No, did 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:00.560 you ever have an you know? But sometimes people say 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:03.440 I have an idea for something, you have to listen 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.040 to it. But generally it's a progress of what we did. 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:09.000 You know, we did a paran almond tarde. It's strawberry season. 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:12.720 We'll put strawberries, or we'll put you know what Haley 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:14.920 is doing with her ice creams. It's a process. It's 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:16.240 your work every day. 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:18.800 Yeah, that's what made me fall in love with barbecue. 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.280 For example, when we did blue Smoke, it's what a 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:25.480 great pitmaster does. They don't reinvent it. They say, you 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.560 see that angry piece of meat called brisket. I'm going 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:30.280 to figure out something to do with that over the 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.280 next twelve hours. It's going to blow your mind, just 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:38.440 because of meat selection, dry rub temperature, what kind of 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:40.080 wood did I smoke it with, how did I hold 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.640 it afterwards? All that stuff is really really hard, and 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:47.480 there's a huge difference between your favorite brisket and your 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.640 least favorite brisket. But it's not about can I drizzle 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:54.200 balsamic vinegar on it? And I would say that from 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.520 a food standpoint. The reason you are my favorite chef 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:00.840 in the world I will tell that to everyone, not 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:05.240 just your many listeners here is that you have the 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:09.320 confidence to make sure that what's on the plate is 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.040 essential to that plate, and if it's not essential, it's 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:14.080 not on that plate, and you find a way to 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:15.320 make it taste amazing. 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:17.360 Do you know how when you edit something, and when 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:19.760 you wrote your book, or when we try to do something, 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:22.440 you go through and you take out a word. I 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:24.720 was saying to them today that friend of mine who 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:26.760 is a screenwright, told me, don't use the word that. 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:28.800 You can always take that out of a sentence and 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:32.280 it still works, which is interesting. And I said that, 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:35.320 you know, when we plate, we do the menu, because 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:37.800 you know, we write the menu for two meals and 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:39.280 then we write it. And I was doing to a 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:40.800 chef on the phone because I was late and we 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:42.840 were talking about her menu, and I said, go through 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:46.600 it and just take one thing off. Almost everything you've done, 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:49.800 just take one whether it's a parsi, whether it's a 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:53.680 sal severity, whether it's the you know, the panchatta, just 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:56.360 take one thing off. And I'm not talking about the 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:58.959 kind of cooking that when you know the cuisine massaur 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:01.920 or that, but it's just thinking, isn't it about. 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:03.920 Does that really need to be there? Yeah, there's a 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:08.679 writer's expression which actually applies to the kitchen, applies to 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:12.000 almost everything, which is learn how to murder your darlings, 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:14.160 which is a kind of have you heard this well? 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:16.200 I heard Mark Twain once said, if you see the adjective, 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:18.000 shoot it. 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:21.640 But we all, whenever we write something or cook something, 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:25.200 we assume that that first clever idea we had is 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:29.520 essential to it. In general, generally it's not, but it's 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:31.760 generally the thing we're most in love with that needs 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:32.920 to be the thing that comes off. 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.760 Did you know The River Cafe has a shop. It's 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:49.119 full of our favorite foods and designs. We have cookbooks, 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:53.520 linen napkins, kitchen ware, tote bags with our signatures, glasses 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.920 from Venice, chocolates from Turin. You can find us right 0:10:56.960 --> 0:11:00.000 next door to the River Cafe in London or online 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:11.800 at Shopthrivercafe dot co dot uk. Of all the books 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:13.959 we have, and I see some of them on your desk, 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:16.960 it was interesting to me that you chose for a 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:22.080 recipe pure al Romana and a recipe from Rome. One 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:24.520 of my favorites, and one of that is in season 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:27.319 very soon. So would you like to read the recipe? 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:28.760 I would love to tell. 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:30.120 People how to make it and tell me why you 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:30.600 chose it. 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:34.160 Well, first of all, I love Rome. That is my 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:38.400 I don't know, it's just my sole place. I always 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.880 associate puntarell with Rome. You don't really get it too 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.160 often here in New York. When I've had it at 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:47.120 the River Cafe, it's better than when I have it 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:50.679 in Rome, which is hard because we have an expression 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:54.120 hot dogs always taste better at the ballpark. You would 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.240 think puntarelli only tastes better in Rome. But at the 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:59.560 River Cafe, you just you know exactly what to do 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:04.160 with it. It's a type of chickory that is not 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:08.000 typically found in the United States. It's not the easiest 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:10.760 thing to handle, and you know exactly what to do 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.720 with it. It's about the temperature. It's about the balance 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:15.560 of the anchovy. So may I read the recipe? 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:17.560 Please read the recipe, and if you feel free to 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.840 add or take away or comment on anything you like. 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.360 Okay, So we're going to have two heads of puntarelli 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:29.360 five salted anchovies, and I bet you have a point 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:32.480 of view on where I should get those anchovies, two 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:37.240 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, one garlic clove, two dried chilies, 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:43.199 one teaspoon of black pepper, four tablespoons of extra virgin 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:48.040 olive oil, and one lemon. So To prepare the puntarelli, 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:51.720 fill a bowl with ice cold water, adding as many 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:53.960 ice cubes as you can fit in there. Pull the 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:58.120 hollow buds from the puntarelli heads. Using a small knife, 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:02.480 slice the buds very thin the lengthwise. Place them in 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:05.319 the water to crisp until they curl up. This will 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:09.440 take about an hour. Rinse and fill at the anchovies. 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:12.720 Cut them into one half inch pieces and place in 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:16.440 a small bowl. Cover them with the vinegar and stir 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:20.960 to let the anchovy dissolve. Peel and chop the garlic 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.000 very finely and add to the anchovies with the crumbled 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:28.719 chilies and pepper. Add the olive oil. Spin dry the 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.960 punterairelli as for a salad, Place in a bowl and 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:38.400 serve over the anchovy sauce. Serve with lemon. Yum yum. 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:42.200 It's interesting because it feels like a very easy recipe 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:44.719 to make, and it is, and it's one, but when 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:47.360 we're explaining it to the chefs making it for the 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:51.400 first time, the balance of anchovies, the balance of olive oil, 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:56.120 no salt, because the salt it's so salty. With the anchovies, 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:59.880 the christminast. I think for myself it is the ideal 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:00.880 way to start a meal. 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:03.840 I love it so much, and it just works. 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:04.840 It works. You know. 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:06.840 When I was growing up, we used to go to 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:10.360 restaurants and you'd be met with the relish trade, which 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:15.080 was the celery carrots and lindsey pitted black olives on 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:18.480 a bed of crushed ice. But there was something about 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:22.040 that really cold, crispy Sorry that made a taste, But 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:24.480 this is not really that different. 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.440 No' right. Maybe every culture has their crispy krispy vegetable. 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:30.920 Tell me about growing up, then let's talk about We 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.120 were talking about restaurants. But when you said the words 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:35.200 when I was a kid, So, what was it like 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:36.600 growing up in the Meyer. 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:39.760 Household in Saint Louis, Missouri. Yeah, well we didn't. You know, 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:41.800 we had a lot of cooking going on at home. 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:45.080 My dad was in the travel business and he was 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:49.680 the first American agent for an organization called Related Compagna, 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:53.600 which would later become Relay in chateau, and so we 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.600 had French people living in our home, in your home, 0:14:56.800 --> 0:15:00.320 in our home, who would work in his office by 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:03.440 and then at nighttime they were around the table and 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:07.480 French was spoken every night lots of times, so the 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:10.120 kids wouldn't understand what they were talking about, which encourage 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.800 us to learn French. There was always a bottle of 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.760 baugeolis on the table, and so I, without knowing it, 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:17.800 I was getting a little bit of an education. 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:18.800 Who did the cooking. 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:21.840 My dad cooked a lot, my mom did as well. 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:25.640 He and I cooked together. He taught me how to cook. 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:29.040 His favorite dish was ratatoui and we had a dog 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:32.480 by that name, ra Tatui when I was seven years old. 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:36.680 So I grew up, you know, with the smells and 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:40.560 sounds and fun of cooking, and so it was just 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:42.360 kind of part of my upbringing. I got to go 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:47.040 to France pretty early in my life, and then later Italy, 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:49.800 and then I was a tour guide working for my dad. 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:53.880 He started selling group tours. And when my sister, who's 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:56.680 older than I am, turned twenty, she got to pick 0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:59.360 a city, so she picked Copenhagen. When I was twenty, 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:03.480 I picked the wrong. My brother picked Paris, and interestingly, 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:08.200 we all three had a kind of love affair with 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:10.600 the place we picked. I would go back to Rome 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:15.280 to study political science, and and that was supposed to 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.600 lead me into being a lawyer, but thank goodness, I 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:22.160 would have been the world's worst lawyer. Thank goodness. I 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:25.640 converted quickly, and I said, why not? Why not? You know, 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:28.320 so embrace My real passion was. 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:30.480 So growing up you had you had a lot of 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.000 French food, and you were you what was it from 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:35.320 that region because France Association. 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:39.120 No, it's not just that we had French food. I 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:42.000 grew up appreciating French food, but I really you know, 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:45.000 growing up in Saint Louis, we didn't have French restaurants 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:50.000 per se. We had great burgers. So I had smash burgers, 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.360 which would one day lead to shakeshack, and frozen custard, 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:56.240 which would len one day lead to shakeshack. We had. 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.360 Here's what Saint Louis actually did have. Yeah, use have 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:04.800 an amazing immigrant population. It began with lots and lots 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.639 of Germans. And that's how you get restaurants that I 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:10.399 used to go to called Schneidhorse and Anheuser Busch, the 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:13.720 beer company was there, et cetera. Lots and lots of 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:17.840 sausage makers, lots of beer companies, So there was that 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:20.600 going forward. There was also something and it still remains 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:23.720 called the Hill, the Italian Hills. So lots of Italians 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:27.120 came to Saint Louis and they had their South from 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:29.760 the South primarily, and they had their own style of 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:33.760 cooking that came to Saint Louis. To this day, they 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:37.720 all have almost the exact same menus. So their carbonara 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:41.600 has cream in it, which you would never do. Toasted 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:43.199 ravioli with Marina and. 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:47.040 I wonder where that came toasted that is in chreat 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:51.159 go figure. I don't know, Ruthy, but did you like 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.080 it as a kid, of course I did. 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:53.480 Yeah. 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:53.919 I mean. 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:58.199 People you know in London like marmite or whatever that 0:17:58.200 --> 0:17:58.840 stuff is called. 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:01.520 I wanted to do a photography project when I came 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:04.880 to London. I was doing art school of giving Americans 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:08.359 more mte and taking a photograph of the face after 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:08.720 they ate. 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:11.480 I promised toasted ralli Oli would only put a smile 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:12.840 on your face. It's really good. 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:18.000 Yeah, okay, so we're okay on from toasted. So you 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:21.400 grew up in this culture of your mother's cooking, your 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:22.640 father's cooking. 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:24.439 And getting to cook. But what I really liked more 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:27.160 than anything was going to restaurants. I just loved it. 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:30.080 There was one restaurant that is still around called Chris's. 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:36.240 It's a German place, Kreis Apostrophe Chris's, and they gave 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.800 me an idea that I used when I opened Union 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:42.000 Square Cafe at the age of twenty seven, which was 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:46.120 to have a nightly special that you could depend on 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:48.440 every night of the week. So you knew if you 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:51.280 went in there on Monday nights, yeah, that was chicken 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:54.160 and Dumplings night. You knew if you went in on 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:56.400 Tuesday night was sour Brought to Night, which I didn't 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:58.760 really care about too much, but they had a different 0:18:58.760 --> 0:18:59.600 special every night. 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:01.119 We did that. 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:04.040 When I opened Union Square Cafe because I love the 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:09.199 idea that you could create an habitual regular. But they 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:11.840 also did which I loved from the age of six on. 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.720 They remembered my favorite table. Yeah, I'm the guy. Well, 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:18.080 there's probably every kid who liked to have the table 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:21.560 underneath the cuckoo clock, but it meant the world to 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:24.280 me that they remember that. 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:26.040 That's what we talk about, you know, with restaurants, is 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:28.280 that we were talking about this morning, that you'll go 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:30.280 back to a restaurant if they didn't cook the sea 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.639 pass to perfection, but you won't go back if there's 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.360 a waiter that makes you feel bad about yourself. 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:39.520 And then furthermore, taking it back to the positive side, 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.960 you'll always go back where you feel most loved. Yeah, 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:48.439 and remember, I remember the late James Beard was constantly 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:53.399 accosted in airports, restaurants everywhere because everyone recognized the bald 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:57.400 head with the bow tie. And obviously the question everybody 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:01.199 asked James Beard was what's your favorit restaurant? Especially in 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:04.919 an airport? Where should I? And he said, my favorite 0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:07.640 restaurant is the same as yours. Yeah, it's the one 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:11.399 that loves me the most. That's hard to argue with that. 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:14.520 I would say. You know that you never know with 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:17.000 the table what they've gone through when they come in. 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:19.600 You know, they may have had they have gotten lost, 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:21.879 they might have been fired that day, they may be 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:25.600 celebrating something, and most you know, most often or maybe 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:27.600 we should think about, is they may have saved up 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:29.359 to come to the river cafe. 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:30.760 That's a really good point. 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:33.919 Really saved up to come and so how are we 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:36.159 going to make them feel that everything was, you know, 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:39.560 here for them? And I think that's it's really something 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:41.359 I learned from you. I think we've all learned that 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:44.679 from you. Is how to be happy, making people happy, 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:46.600 you know, simple as that. 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:48.760 Well, the last thing I want to say about Saint 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:51.280 Louis is that was the biggest lesson I learned because 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:55.399 Saint Louis was long on hospitality. It wasn't necessarily the food. 0:20:55.400 --> 0:20:59.560 But then what I got to do, probably because of 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:01.919 the the privilege of growing up with a lot of 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:05.040 travel because my dad's company was a travel business, I 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:09.280 got the flavor of really good food in Italy and 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:13.959 in France. But I also was able to pair that 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:16.439 with the kind of hospitality that I always got in 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:18.760 Saint Louis. And when I moved to New York at 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:22.080 the age of twenty one, there wasn't a lot of 0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:25.679 hospitality around here. It was basically, you're lucky to be 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:28.200 eating here, and if you don't feel that way, we've 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:30.240 got a really nice table by the bathroom for you. 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:34.120 There was a lot of that kind of mentality left 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:38.560 over from the Studio fifty four eras the Red Velvet Rope. 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:39.359 What year is well? 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:43.640 I moved here? My first night here was the night 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:49.760 John Lennon was assassinated in December of nineteen eighty and 0:21:49.800 --> 0:21:52.320 I got my first apartment in nineteen eighty one. It 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:55.560