In 1985, at age 27, Danny launched Union Square Cafe, pioneering a new breed of American eatery pairing imaginative food and wine with caring hospitality, comfortable surroundings and outstanding value. In addition to redefining the casual fine dining restaurant, the restaurant is widely noted as having sparked the dramatic resurgence of the Union Square neighborhood over the past twenty years.
In the summer of 2004, USHG launched Shake Shack, a food kiosk in Madison Square Park, serving Chicago-style hot dogs, burgers, frozen custard and more- based on Danny’s childhood love of these Midwestern treats. Since then, new locations have opened in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Theater District, the Upper East Side, Battery Park City, and Downtown Brooklyn, along with Miami Beach, Citi Field, Saratoga Race Course, Washington D.C., and Westport, CT.
Danny Meyer is the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, which includes Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, Shake Shack, The Modern, Cafe 2 and Terrace 5 (at the Museum of Modern Art), Maialino, Untitled (at the Whitney Museum of American Art), North End Grill, Union Square Events, and Hospitality Quotient, a learning business. Each USHG restaurant and business is lovingly crafted and distinctive, and each strives to distinguish itself with warm hospitality and consistent excellence. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Danny Meyer grew up in a family that relished great food, cooking, get-togethers, travel and hospitality. Thanks to his father’s travel business, he spent much of his childhood eating, visiting near and far-off places, and sowing the seeds for his future passion for food, wine, and a successful career in the hospitality industry.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx