Drew Nieporent is a New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 restaurateur. His company Myriad Restaurant Group owns and operates numerous restaurants, many of which are known for their celebrity clientele, and in some cases celebrity co-owners. Many are known for their difficulty in obtaining reservations. In an interview with Cigar Aficionado

Cigar Aficionado

Cigar Aficionado is an American magazine that is dedicated to the world of cigars. Published since September 1992, the magazine is known for its articles about different brands of cigars worldwide, and for the celebrities that have appeared on its cover. It is also noted for its opposition to the...

, Nierporent recalled turning down Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger

Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...

.

Nieporent's Nobu and Nobu London both earned two Michelin stars. The restaurants' partners are celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa

Nobu Matsuhisa

Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa is a celebrity chef and restaurateur known for his fusion cuisine blending traditional Japanese dishes with South American ingredients. His signature dish is black cod in miso.-Biography:Nobu was born in Saitama, Japan...

 and actor Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...

.

Nieporent graduated in 1973 from Stuyvesant High School

Stuyvesant High School

Stuyvesant High School , commonly referred to as Stuy , is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. Stuyvesant is noted for its strong academic...

 and in 1977 from Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 in Ithaca

Ithaca

Ithaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and...

, New York with a degree from the School of Hotel Management. At Cornell, he was also a member of the Quill and Dagger

Quill and Dagger

Quill and Dagger is a senior honor society at Cornell University. It is often recognized as one of the most prominent collegiate societies of its type, along with Skull and Bones of Yale University...

 society. His career began at New York's Maxwell's Plum

Maxwell's Plum

Maxwell's Plum was a "flamboyant restaurant and singles bar that, more than any place of its kind, symbolized two social revolutions of the 1960s – sex and food" at 64th and 1st Avenue in Manhattan...

 and Tavern on the Green

Tavern on the Green

Tavern on the Green was a privately owned American cuisine restaurant located in Central Park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City. It remained in operation from 1934 to 2009 under various owners...

.

As a teenager in 1972, Nieporent by chance met Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...

 on the streets of Manhattan. Nieporent puportedly pulled out a xeroxed copy of his birth certificate and asked Ali for an autograph, claiming he was "Howard Cosell's son!" Nieporent stated in a February 2007 NY Times article that Ali's autograph was his "prized possession."

Nieporent is featured in the 2011 documentary A Matter of Taste

A Matter of Taste

A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt is a documentary that follows the career of chef Paul Liebrandt over the course of a decade in New York City. Directed by Sally Rowe, it premiered on HBO on June 13, 2011.-Synopsis:...

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Restaurants

Tribeca Grill, Rubicon in San Francisco (now closed), Nobu, Nobu London, Nobu Next Door, Nobu 57, Centrico, Pulse, The Coach House, Proof on Main, Montrachet(now closed), Corton

Corton (restaurant)

Corton is a New York City restaurant run by chef Paul Liebrandt and restaurateur Drew Nieporent, located in Tribeca. It opened on the site of Montrachet, a restaurant Nieporent had opened in 1985. It holds two stars in the New York City Michelin Guide....

, and Mai House (now closed).