A discussion with renowned restaurateur Drew Nieporent about his impact on the restaurant industry, specifically his work with Robert De Niro on Tribeca Grill, Nobu, and various other restaurant projects through the Myriad Restaurant Group.

Drew Nieporent, one of America's most respected and celebrated restaurateurs, is the founder and inspiration behind the Myriad Restaurant Group, which operates Tribeca Grill, Nobu New York City, Nobu Fifty Seven, Nobu London, Nobu Next Door, Bâtard, Porsche Grille at Citi Field, and Crush Wine & Spirits. Over the last 30 years, Myriad has opened and operated over 39 restaurants around the world, including Seattle, Louisville, Providence, Boca Raton, London, San Francisco, Moscow, Citi Field, home of the New York Mets in Flushing, New York.

Nieporent has partnered with Robert De Niro on multiple restaurants.

Tribeca Grill (1990), with De Niro and an all-star roster of investors including Bill Murray, Sean Penn, and

A discussion with renowned restaurateur Drew Nieporent moderated by legendary food journalist, Alan Richman, covering Nieporent’s impact on the restaurant industry, specifically his work with Robert De Niro on Tribeca Grill, Nobu, and various other restaurant projects through the Myriad Restaurant Group.

About Drew Nieporent

Drew Nieporent, one of America's most respected and celebrated restaurateurs, is the founder and inspiration behind the Myriad Restaurant Group, which operates Tribeca Grill, Nobu New York City, Nobu Fifty Seven, Nobu London, Nobu Next Door, Bâtard, Porsche Grille at Citi Field, and Crush Wine & Spirits. Over the last 30 years, Myriad has opened and operated over 39 restaurants around the world, including Seattle, Louisville, Providence, Boca Raton, London, San Francisco, Moscow, Citi Field, home of the New York Mets in Flushing, New York.

Nieporent has partnered with Robert De Niro on multiple restaurants. Tribeca Grill (1990), with De Niro and an all-star roster of investors including Bill Murray, Sean Penn, and Mikhail Baryshnikov, opened to national acclaim and continues to be one of New York's landmark restaurants. In 1994, again with partner De Niro and sushi master Nobu Matsuhisa, Drew launched Nobu New York City to worldwide acclaim. Nobu NYC, Next Door Nobu, and Nobu Fifty Seven have all earned the coveted three-star rating from The New York Times. Nobu NYC was voted Best Restaurant in America by The James Beard Foundation. Nobu has gone on to open restaurants in all parts of the world. Also in 1994, Nieporent was one of the few American restaurateurs to go bi-coastal. In collaboration with De Niro, Robin Williams, and Francis Ford Coppola, he opened Rubicon in San Francisco.

Nieporent graduated in 1973 from Stuyvesant High School and in 1977 from Cornell University with a degree from the School of Hotel Management. While at Cornell, he worked on the world class cruise ships Vistafjord and Sagafjord. In 1978, he began his management career with Warner Le Roy at New York City's Maxwell's Plum and Tavern On The Green. He then worked at the prestigious French restaurants Le Perigord, La Grenouille and Plaza Athenee's Le Regence.

About Alan Richman 

A former sportswriter for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Alan Richman has won a record 16 James Beard Foundation Awards for his journalism on food and wine. He won a National Magazine Award for feature writing and has been described as “the Indiana Jones of food writers.”

He has covered subjects ranging from the culture of Las Vegas to the intricacies of race-car driving, and profiled such diverse personalities as Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey, Sharon Stone, Charles Barkley and Robert De Niro. He was a longtime regular at restaurant Montrachet in Tribeca, where he first met restaurateur Drew Nieporent in 1985.

Richman is the former restaurant critic at GQ magazine and writer-at-large for People magazine; columnist, sportswriter and assistant managing editor at The Boston Globe; metro reporter at The New York Times; sports columnist at The Montreal Star, NBA beat writer at The Philadelphia Bulletin; and news editor at The Portland (Indiana) Commercial Review. Today he writes feature columns for Graydon Carter’s Air Mail.

A graduate of the General Honors Program of the University of Pennsylvania, Richman served as a U.S. Army captain in Vietnam, where he received the Bronze Star.