So, You Want to Open A Restaurant? Drew Nieporent Tells All
Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio
Milk Street Radio
4.2 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 27 March 2026
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Drew Nieporent has opened more than 40 restaurants, including iconic New York institutions like Nobu and Tribeca Grill. Today, he shares the secrets behind a restaurant’s longevity, the pros and cons of partnering with Robert De Niro and why he’d love to open a Jewish deli. Plus, Kevin West reveals how to grow a garden you’ll actually eat, we learn about Italy’s greatest unknown cookbook, Cheryl Day returns to answer baking questions, and we bake up Mexican-style biscuits.
Get our adaptation of Kevin West’s recipe for Skillet-Roasted Chicken with Burnt Shallot Jus here.
Get the recipe for Maque-Style Mexican Bisquetes here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, Milk Street Radio listeners, we have an interview coming up soon about picky eating, |
| 0:04.5 | but we also want to hear from your kids and maybe grandkids about their adventures in food. |
| 0:10.4 | So please record your kids talking about eating new foods. |
| 0:14.4 | To share your kid's story, please leave us a voicemail at 617-249-3167, 617-249-3167, or send a voice memo to radio tips at 177 milkstreet.com. |
| 0:33.8 | This is Milk Street Radio from PRX, and I'm your host, Christopher Kimball. |
| 0:39.8 | Drew Nieparenth has opened over 40 restaurants. |
| 0:43.2 | He opened two of them, Nobu and Tribeca Grill, with Robert De Niro. |
| 0:47.2 | I always said it's great to be a partner of Robert De Niro versus John Doe. |
| 0:52.9 | You know, De Niro brought with him to Tribeca Grill, Sean Penn, Bill Murray, Mikhail Beresnikoff, |
| 0:57.4 | Christopher Walken, Ed Harris, have I dropped a few names. |
| 1:00.1 | I mean, he brought all these people. |
| 1:02.3 | So, yeah, it's way better to have a celebrity partner than not. |
| 1:06.7 | Later on in the show, Drew tells us how we built some of New York's most iconic restaurants. |
| 1:12.0 | But first, we're heading to the garden. |
| 1:14.5 | Kevin West is a food writer, photographer, and also an expert gardener. |
| 1:18.5 | He joins me now. |
| 1:20.7 | Kevin, welcome to Milk Street. |
| 1:22.6 | Hi, Chris. Thank you. I'm delighted to be here. |
| 1:25.1 | I have a confession to make, and maybe you can help me out here. |
| 1:29.4 | Always had gardens. My mother had gardens, big gardens. I had gardens for most of my life. |
| 1:35.6 | But when my mother got older in her 70s, she changed her strategy. She would do the survival of a fittest garden. So she'd take a quarter |
| 1:48.7 | acre, she'd take a tractor and rototill it, throw in some composted cow manure from the farm next door, |
... |
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