Cool Keith

Keith McNally Is Pulling His Hair Out Over That Pizza Place

Photo: Patrick McMullan

Restaurant Girl sits down with Keith McNally, and boy does he lay on the charm, as usual. You gotta love this kind of modesty in an industry full of bluster: “I enjoy putting places together, that’s all. With that comes a knack for working with people far more talented than myself.” And: “I’m anti pro- everything.” McNally spiels about Morandi (“I think Jody Williams is a terrifically talented chef, but unfortunately I did not enjoy working with her”), his nameless pizza place on the Bowery (“it’s already over budget and behind schedule and I’m at the stage where I’m pulling out my hair and wishing I weren’t doing it”), and of course Minetta Tavern: “If someone’s really nice and willing to be patient, we always find a table for them. Always.” Also, on the Times declaring it the city’s best steakhouse: “It was a bit like entering a beauty contest and suddenly winning the prize for the best endowed man in the line-up. I just hope certain women are not put off by it. By being labeled a steak house, that is.” Nah.

Q &A; with Keith McNally [Restaurant Girl]

Keith McNally Is Pulling His Hair Out Over That Pizza Place