Danny Meyer | |
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Meyer in 2010
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Born |
St. Louis, Missouri |
March 14, 1958
Education | Trinity College |
Occupation | Restaurateur |
Known for | Restaurant founder |
Spouse(s) | Audrey Rayelyn Heffernan |
Website | http://www.ushgnyc.com |
Daniel "Danny" Meyer (born March 14, 1958) is a New York City restaurateur and the Chief Executive Officer of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG).
Meyer was born and raised in a reform Jewish family in St. Louis, where he attended John Burroughs School. Meyer attended Camp Nebagmon for boys in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin, as a kid. Meyer worked for his father as a tour guide in Rome during college, and then returned to Rome to study international politics. Meyer was a Brother of Alpha Delta Phi while at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating from Trinity in 1980 with a degree in political science, 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.
In 1985, at age 27, Meyer opened his first restaurant, Union Square Cafe. In order to make it successful, Danny Meyer focused on customer satisfaction.