Maître d’ Diaries Erica Cantley

We are so honored to welcome Drew Nieporent to MaÎtre d’ Diaries! 



Drew is one of America's great restaurateurs. He has been an integral player in the NYC food world landscape for decades, supporting the community, making connections, and always bringing the good time and warm welcome.



Drew has played a significant role in shaping the dining scene in this country into one of our premier cultural, artistic, and recreational pursuits, with iconic venues including Montrachet, Nobu, Batard, Rubicon, and Tribeca Grill. 



A stellar career like Drew’s doesn’t happen by accident. Augmenting his studies at Cornell, he worked his way up from the bottom studying the rise of McDonald’s, learning fine dining service on international cruise ships, and working with the great showman Warner LeRoy at Maxwell’s Plum and Tavern on the Green. 



Listen in as we chat about those early days, how his father’s job impacted his choice of profession, how Drew met and ended up hiring David Bouley as the first chef at Montrachet, the storied evolution of the 239 West Broadway space, how Drew feels about Instagram and what restaurant behavior he’d like to see 86ed!

Maître d's may be the gatekeepers, but here at Maître d' Diaries we will frequently step away from the door and talk to front of the house hospitality professionals who play all different roles in executing the service in restaurant operations.

Join us this episode for our chat with Maddy Maldonado, the beverage director of Jose Andres' Mercado Little Spain at Hudson Yards on the West Side of Manhattan.

Maldonado grew up in New Jersey, the daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, surrounded by the wonder of food, love, and warmth while she helped her mother host large family gatherings. Maldonado first caught the hospitality bug doing pick up work with a caterer: listen in as she tells us how helping out at a party in the home of a wine collector with a 1,000 bottle cellar sparked a mentorship that led to a lifelong passion for learning and teaching about wine. 

Welcome to the first episode of We're Booked! where each season we will chat with people who write books about restaurants!

Where better to kick off this deliciously decadent series than at the venerable Kitchen Arts & Letters, the world renowned bookstore opened in 1983 by the legendary Nach Waxman?

For almost four decades Waxman was a veritable biblio-maître d' whose by-hand sales and curation made Kitchen Arts & Letters a beloved and important gastronomic library and research center. 

Join us in the stockroom at KAL--goosebumps!--as we chat with managing partner, Matt Sartwell, about the history of the store and some of our favorite books about restaurants.

It's been quite a year for Chef David Viana and Managing Director Neilly Robinson, partners in New Jersey's Heirloom Kitchen, Heirloom at the St. Laurent Social Club, and the systemically innovative, vibrantly delicious, Lita.

Last summer we visited David and Neilly six weeks after Lita, their Modern Iberian Restaurant in Aberdeen Township, NJ, opened. Since then, Esquire Magazine and the James Beard Foundation have recognized Lita as one of the country's Best New Restaurants.

We agree, and we think Lita also boasts an important new approach to restaurant staffing. You're going to want to hear about how Viana and Robinson are blending BOH & FOH to foster growth and career sustainability for their team members.

Join us for our chat about the vision and intentionality behind this beacon of exciting hospitality and its creators' game-changing model for sharing the wealth. 

One fine August afternoon Dante & Erica met up at Cafe Spaghetti and had the fortuitous pleasure of running into chef/owner Sal Lamboglia, who gave us a preview of their new venture, Swoony's.



Of course we pulled out the microphone to record the impromptu visit! Listen in to hear about Sal and Dante's meeting at Andrew Carmellini's A Voce and the inspiration behind the newly opened and already warmly embraced Swoony's on Columbia Street, a block away from Cafe Spaghetti.

Giovanna Cucolo is the managing partner and wine buyer of Brooklyn’s Cafe Spaghetti and the recently opened Swoony’s, two of Carroll Garden’s most comfortable, fun, popular restaurants. She's worked in many of the city's top dining establishments with some of the country's great restaurateurs, and brings all that experience home to Brooklyn and the Columbia Waterfront district.



Giovanna is a true renaissance woman and a consummate host. She loves the hospitality business and brings a dose of stoicism and “don’t take yourself too seriously” to her management style, which translates directly into the vibe in the dining rooms she pilots. Her multilingual background and education in the classics informs both how she thinks and how she builds her team.



In this episode you’ll hear about:



Her time at Club Med

Her pollinator garden and bird watching

Her wine mentors Josh Nadel & Jorge Riera

The importance of speaking more than one language

What restaurant behavior she’d like to see 86ed



And much much more!