3 star dining at the level of Eleven Madison is an entirely different business than even the 2 star Modern.
It’s amazing that someone will start attacking probably the only poster who really knows both Will and Daniel and can honestly consider them friends.
FOH magic isn’t unique. The realized vision of a world class chef is. How that can be interpreted as insulting is beyond me.
Hey Fred,
I think I might look at Danny Meyer’s empire a bit differently…I feel like USHG moved away from the celebrity chef/fine dining model towards a model based more on solid food (less chef driven) combined with world class service. I know that’s a big generalization. USHG always had great service (Meyer literally wrote the book). But I remember knowing all the names of the big time chefs that ran the kitchens at Union Square Cafe (Michael Romano), Gramercy Tavern (Tom Colicchio), Tabla (Floyd Cardoz), The Modern (Gabriel Kreuther), etc. to now really only knowing the chef at GT (Michael Anthony) and the only reason I know that is he came from a former favorite place of mine (Blue Hill). I could be totally wrong, but I feel like the USHG model is less celebrity chef based these days…basically the chef is fungible assuming they have a certain level of expertise.
I just looked up USC’s chef and found that Carmen Quagliata left recently after 15 years there. I had no idea who he was or that he was the chef at USC for 15 years.
I’m not suggesting in any way that Danny Meyer has left fine dining behind. But my gut feeling is that he’s been trending more casual for years.
Although I have not been to EMP for several years, and did not enjoy my last couple of meals there, I have always been incredibly impressed with the FOH.
Worst kept secret in the restaurant world but it’s now out.
I would believe his education and experience were plenty to understand and excel at the business side. Most business is learned via experience and you can outsource specific tasks you might need help with. No dog in this hunt just general comment.
The early days of 11MP were magical. The food was really the star. I remember several meals with Wilfred there (BTW, miss you). Subsequent visits did not seem to have the raw excitement of those early days. Post Danny Meyers, the menu cards got a little too cute, the wine list, while never cheap, became obscene. FOH was always friendly and flawless. But at some point I just stopped being excited. That may not be a reflection of the restaurant, possibly just familiarity. This may is likely a good thing. Maybe both can now re-create the original excitement of 11MP in new ventures.
partnerships brake up for many reasons. Mostly because the partners start to disagree too much. In my humble opinion, it’s always dangerous for a chef to proceed without a solid FOH companion.
Nick, Daniel has a FOH “companion.” But that doesn’t mean he has to make them an owner. You don’t think for a minute that Daniel, as ambitious and exacting as he is, would let that slip do you?
well said. Maybe partner was too strong. Meant a strong FOH presence.
Absolutely Nick. We agree.
I always pegged you for a genius Wilfred. 
That being said, we really do not know why they split or what Daniel’s plans are.
From a complete guess standpoint my suspicion would be that the split has much more to do with the non-EMP components of the business. If there was a strong pipeline on the fast causal side (particularly in new markets) and hotel deals outside NYC were growing quickly / performing my guess would be that the structure between them would have been fixed / adjusted vs split. If I had to pick a single business reason for the split I’d guess that during the openings of all of the new stuff (Nomad LA / LV etc) EMP had to elevate some FOH leadership on the on-the-ground to retain hospitality and standards…and when that growth outside of NYC slowed there was a duplication of resources on FOH that could no longer be ‘allocated’ to new projects or longer term growth plans.
Saul I think your observations reflect a high level of intelligence and business acumen.