restaurateurs Archives - The Connected Table

Drew Nieporent always make you feel welcome, even if you are not entering one of his own restaurants, which include critically acclaimed Bâtard, Tribeca Grill, Nobu Downtown, Nobu 57 in NYC. Many of Drew’s restaurants, current and former, launched the careers of many top chefs; he continues to serve as a mentor and seasoned voice within the industry.

Service and congeniality have run in Drew’s DNA ever since this born and bred New Yorker graduated from Cornell School of Hotel Management. He worked on cruise ships as a culinary student and then started his restaurant management career working for the late Warner Le Roy at Maxwell’s Plum and Tavern on the Green.

His Myriad Restaurant Group has opened and operated 39 restaurants around the world from New York to London, Seattle to Moscow, and consults for some major names in the hospitality industry (www.myriadrestaurantgroup.com). What’s next for number 40?

Drew donates his time and talent to myriad charities as well, including Citymeals-on-Wheels. Madison Square Garden’s Garden of Dreams Foundation, DIFFA, Share Our Strength and City Harvest. We hear he’s a pretty good auctioneer as well for charity events.

Show airing: Wednesday, August 8, 2pm EST on The Connected Table Live at www.W4CY.com

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We weren’t quite sure who to schedule after Drew Nieporent, if anyone, on the August 8 edition of The Connected Table Live! But, then David ran into Traci Des Jardins recently in the Aspen airport as they were heading home to opposite coasts from the Food & Wine classic and we said, “She’s the one!”

A protégée of Drew’s who worked at Montrachet in NYC and then opened Rubicon in San Francisco, Traci now runs her own group of restaurants which include her flagship, Jardinière, which celebrated its 20^th anniversary last Fall. Eater SF named it among the most influential restaurants in the Bay area. Link to article. Her other restaurants include Mijita Cocina Mexicana and Public House in AT&T Park and The Commissary, Arguello and TRANSIT in the Presidio, and a cocktail bar called School Night SF.

Traci Des Jardins at the stove at Arguello. Photo provided by Traci.

Traci grew up in Firebaugh, California, to parents whose heritage was Louisiana French-Acadian on her father’s side and Mexican on her mother’s. Both influenced her sense of taste in food. A ski bum, working in restaurants paid for her passion, and cooking became Traci’s meal ticket into her professional destiny. She worked for Joachim Splichal at Patina in Los Angeles, who encouraged her to apprentice in France where she worked with Michel and Pierre Troisgros, Lucas Carton, Alain Ducasse, and Alain Passard and then in some notable restaurants in San Francisco. After working at Drew Nieporent’s Montrachet in NYC, Traci moved backed to the Bay area to helm the kitchen at Rubicon in 1994. That restaurant went on to have a successful 14 year run. In 1997 Traci ventured out to open Jardinière in 1998.

August 8, 2018 – The Connected Table Live @ www.W4CY.com

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