Taking Big Swings With Stephen Starr

The Dave Chang Show

The Ringer

Society & Culture, Arts, Food

4.8 • 8.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 October 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dave interviews Stephen Starr, restaurateur extraordinaire and head of the STARR restaurant group. They talk about Stephen's special skill sets, from his capacity for taking big swings to discovering and fostering great talent. The duo also talks about the pros and cons of operating big and small restaurants, common mistakes that people make financially when opening restaurants, and what it is like to be the Yankees of food. Dave finishes with an Ask Dave about Japanese restaurants. Learn more about STARR Restaurant Group: https://starr-restaurants.com/ Learn more about Babbo: https://babbonyc.com/ Listen to our episode with Mark Ladner on the re-opening of Babbo with Stephen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5qjEx81gP1UuGxHwoxjqfq?si=dmyq-uFrSPuJStb2-gGCyg Learn more aboutLettuce Entertain You: https://www.lettuce.com/ Read the New York Times profile on Stephen Starr: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/dining/stephen-starr-restaurants.html Learn more about Buddakan NYC: https://buddakannyc.com/ Learn more about Per Se: https://thomaskeller.com/perseny/ Learn more about Le Mercerie: https://www.lamercerieny.com/ Learn more about Borromini: https://borrominiristorante.com/ Learn more about The Continental: https://continentalmidtown.com/ Learn more about Parc: https://parc-restaurant.com/ Learn more about Eleven Madison Park: https://www.elevenmadisonpark.com/ Learn more about Buddakan: https://buddakan.com/ Read about Dave Chang in TIME Top 100: https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984940_1984944,00.html Learn more about Le Coucou: https://lecoucou.com/ Learn more about The Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown episode with Daniel Boulud: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3717664/ Learn more about Jon and Vinny's: https://www.jonandvinnys.com/ Learn more about Cafe Spaghetti: https://www.cafespaghetti.com/ Learn more about St. Anselm: https://starr-restaurants.com/restaurants/st-anselm/ Learn more about Le Diplomate: https://lediplomatedc.com/ Learn more about Table from chef Bruno Verjus: https://table.paris/ Learn more about Mawn: https://mawnphilly.com/ Learn more about Pastis Nashville: https://pastisnashville.com/ Learn more about Monk Kyoto: https://restaurant-monk.com Host: Dave Chang Guest: Stephen Starr Majordomo Media Producer: David Meyer Spotify Producer: Felipe Guilhermino Engineer: Belle Roman Editor: Stefano Sanchez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Stay tuned because I'm about to interview one of the great restaurateurs in the history of the world, Stephen Starr of Starr Restaurant Group.
0:10.0	If you're on the East Coast, you definitely are familiar with him.
0:13.0	If you're from the West Coast, you probably have been to a restaurant that has been influenced by him.
0:18.2	I've known him in a long time.
0:19.8	We've got a lot to chat about.
0:21.1	So stay tuned.
0:22.6	And you might learn how this guy who does around $400 million in revenue does it.
0:29.6	So if you're in the restaurant game, definitely want to stay tuned to check out what he's got to say.
0:38.4	Welcome to the Dave Chang Show, part of the Ringer podcast network, presented by Major Dumb Media.
0:42.0	Thank you, Yolot Tango, as always.
0:43.7	Sign up for a Discord channel.
0:45.4	We have a lot going on there.
0:46.9	Subscribe to all of our shows.
0:49.1	This is our last episode in New York.
0:51.5	We'll be back in Los Angeles soon enough.
0:54.0	I mentioned at the top of the show.
0:55.0	We got Stephen Starr.
0:56.0	We're going to talk a lot about how his brain thinks because it's a lot.
1:01.7	And we have a long history together.
1:03.6	And I've grown to really love and admire and appreciate everything he's done.
1:09.3	I did it at first and we'll talk about that.
1:11.6	And then we're going to do an ass day.
	...

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