If you’ve splurged on a fancy, expense-account dinner in New York, Las Vegas, Miami, or L.A. at any time over the past 40 years, chances are good that you have been a customer of Drew Nieporent’s. As the co-founder of the Nobu Hospitality Group, and of such legendary restaurants as Tribeca Grill and Montrachet, Nieporent has been the business muscle behind star chefs such as Nobu Matsuhisa and David Bouley, and has counted Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, and Mikhail Baryshnikov among his partners.
Now age 70 and out promoting his new book, I’m Not Trying to Be Difficult: Stories From the Restaurant Trenches, Nieporent is looking back at his entrepreneurial career with an eye toward his legacy, following in the footsteps of contemporaries Danny Meyer, Anthony Bourdain, and, most recently, Keith McNally, who have offered lessons on leadership for a business audience (with a side of foodie kitchen gossip).
For Nieporent, one of the great themes of operating a successful enterprise is resilience—that is, consistency in the face of external circumstances that are tough to anticipate, and often hostile. “You set a certain standard and maintain that standard,” he says. “And then when a server or a sommelier leaves you, or even a chef, you know what you are looking for when you replace them.”
But what happens when standards begin to change?