ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Danny Meyer joins The LA Food Podcast to talk about his new book, What Could Possibly Go Right?, out September 29, and the lessons he’s learned after more than 40 years building some of America’s most influential restaurants, including Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, The Modern and Shake Shack.
We get into why Meyer thinks Los Angeles is one of the most exciting food cities in the world, what went wrong with his no-tipping experiment, why he kept one restaurant open two years too long, how to scale hospitality without losing the human element, and whether a young restaurateur could still make the economics of a place like Union Square Cafe work in 2026.
Plus: Shake Shack’s crinkle-cut fry reversal, the restaurant Meyer most wants to visit in LA, worker-owned restaurants, the next Pizza Run Club, The New Gourmet becoming Buffet, the existential threat AI poses to recipe websites, and a big announcement about the future of The LA Food Podcast.
