Danny Meyer
Daniel Meyer (born March 14, 1958) is a New York City restaurateur and the Founder & Executive Chairman of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG).
Danny Meyer
March 14, 1958
Restaurateur
Audrey Rayelyn Heffernan
Background and early career[edit]
Meyer was born and raised in a reform Jewish family in St. Louis, Missouri[1] the son of Roxanne (née Harris) and Morton L. Meyer.[2] His father was the president of a travel, hospitality and real estate company in St. Louis.[2] His grandfather was Chicago businessman and philanthropist, Irving B. Harris.[2]
He attended John Burroughs School[2] and as child, Meyer attended Camp Nebagamon for boys in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin. 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 fraternity while at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating from Trinity in 1980 with a degree in political science,[3] Meyer worked in Chicago as 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 of New York City. He then returned to Europe to study cooking as a culinary stagiaire in Italy and Bordeaux, France.[4]
Community activism[edit]
Meyer has served on the boards of Share Our Strength and City Harvest.[20] In addition, he served as Co-Chair of the Union Square Partnership for 5 years,[21] and as an executive committee member for NYC & Co and the Madison Square Park Conservancy.[22]
Podcast appearances[edit]
Meyer was interviewed by Reid Hoffman on the Masters of Scale podcast, where he talked about how he ignored conventional wisdom to revolutionize the restaurant industry.[30] 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.[31] 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.[32] He talked food, love and business on the Gary Vee Audio Experience Podcast[33]
Personal life[edit]
In 1988, Meyer married Audrey Rayelyn Heffernan in an interfaith Roman Catholic and Jewish service at Unitarian Church of All Souls in Manhattan.[35]