From working-class family in east London to king of Big Apple restaurant scene: Keith McNally, 71, the twice divorced boss of New York celebrity hotspot Balthazar refuses special treatment for stars and hands out free champagne ‘but never to Al Pacino’
- Keith McNally, 71, moved to New York in 1975 intent on becoming a director
- Opened his first restaurant, the Odeon, in 1980 with his first wife and brother
- Hailed ‘king of New York’s downtown scene’ after opening string of eateries
- But outspoken McNally refuses to give special treatment to celebrities
- He once turned Madonna away from a nightclub for refusing to pay the entry fee
Brit-born Keith McNally rose from the east end of London to become the king of the New York downtown restaurant scene and is famed for taking no nonsense from diva-ish celebrities in his string of upscale eateries.
He is known for refusing to give out special treatment to stars and likes to offer out free champagne to single diners – ‘but never to Al Pacino’.
The outspoken boss of the celebrity-loved Balthazar, who recently confronted James Corden over his ‘abusive’ behaviour towards servers, once famously turned Madonna away from a nightclub for refusing to pay the $5 entry fee.
McNally, 71, built his reputation as the ‘restaurateur who invented downtown’ by opening a string of upscale Manhattan eateries including Cafe Luxembourg, Odeon, Minetta Tavern, Morandi, Lucky Strike, Pravda and Pastis, to name but a few.
Keith McNally, 71, built his reputation as the ‘restaurateur who invented downtown’ by opening a string of upscale eateries in New York
McNally moved to New York in 1975, intent on becoming an actor after starring in Alan Bennett’s Forty Years On in the West End – but he started working in restaurants
The owner insists that waiters should never rush a guest and that they shouldn’t give stars any special treatment. He is seen with Anna Wintour at the restaurant
The fiery restaurateur branded James Corden a ‘tiny cretin of a man’ after claims the Late Late Show host yelled ‘like crazy’ at staff over an omelette and fries – and previously demanded free drinks ‘this second’ at Balthazar.
But McNally is no stranger when it comes to putting celebrities in their place. Famed for refusing to give special treatment to stars, in 1986 while running the nightclub Nell’s in Manhattan, he turned Madonna away for refusing to pay the entry fee.
Recounting the story, he told the Guardian: ‘Every customer had to pay $5 to come in. Madonna, used to waltzing into clubs for free, refused to pay so I didn’t let her in.
‘She was so pissed off she called me a “f**king b*****d”.
His celebrity-loved restaurants attract the likes of Mick Jagger, Cher and Andy Warhol, but the McNally has rules for how he deals with customers at his eateries – including not to give stars any special treatment.
‘Never get them drinks on the house, always talk to the person they’re with more than them,’ he told the Sunday Times.
‘Famous people get really p***ed off by over-elaborate service. They just want to be left alone.’
McNally built his reputation as the ‘restaurateur who invented downtown’ by opening a string of upscale Manhattan eateries including Cafe Luxembourg, Odeon, Minetta Tavern, Morandi, Lucky Strike, Pravda and Pastis.
Mr Mcnally with Dorinda Medley and Sienna Miller at Balthazar
Balthazar’s owner, Keith McNally, regularly shares updates from his staff – including, on Monday, excoriating James Corden for his behavior
Not hovering around tables and always repeating orders back to customers to ensure no mistakes are made, are also part of McNally’s strict requirements he sets for his servers to make sure that diners have the upmost experience at the restaurant.
‘Be friendly, but never chummy,’ he began in a lengthy Instagram post, which he titled, ‘Rules for restaurant serves.’
‘Always repeat the customer’s order back to him. Skate sounds like Steak after one martini.’
McNally was born in Bethnal Green in east London in 1951, to Joyce, a cleaner and Jack, a dock worker and amateur boxer.
Before turning to restaurants, McNally did a stint in acting after the 16-year-old was discovered by American film producers in 1967 while working as a bellboy at the Hilton on Park Lane.
He was cast in a film about Charles Dickens starring alongside Michael Redgrave, before starring in Alan Bennett’s Forty Years on at the Apollo Theatre in the West End for a year.
The restaurant, pictured on Monday, is a popular spot for celebrities, tourists and locals alike – everyone from Anna Wintour to Sienna Miller has eaten at Balthazar
After this, he travelled around India and Afghanistan and then returned to London where he worked on the lighting board at the The Rocky Horror Show and as stage manager at Nell Gwynne strip club in Soho, the only job he ever got fired from.
In 1975, he moved to New York where he had the intention of becoming a director, but soon turned his sights to restaurants after working in a series of kitchen jobs from oyster shucker to busboy.
Five years later he opened up his first restaurant, the Odeon in Tribeca, with his first wife Lynn Wagenknecht and his brother Brian, with whom he feuded for many years.
James Corden and his wife Julia Carey are accused of sending back an egg yolk omelette because it had a ‘little bit of egg white’ in it while dining at the plush restaurant, Balthazar. The situation then got worse when it returned with fries rather than a salad, the owner claims
It soon became the ‘center of the downtown art scene’, with Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, Anna Wintour, Lorne Michaels and the cast of Saturday Night Live among its regulars.
Since then he’s opened Café Luxembourg, Nell’s, Lucky Strike, Pravda, Balthazar, Pastis, Schiller’s, Morandi, Minetta Tavern, Cherche Midi, and Augustine, as well as Balthazar in London.
In 2017, McNally suffered a debilitating stroke which left him paralysed on one side of his body, and soon after his second wife Alina McNally served him with divorce papers.
The pandemic was difficult for McNally who said at its worst he was losing £5,000 a day and was forced to close six restaurants. He was also hospitalised after contracting coronavirus.
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