Restaurateur Stephen Starr talks career and finally winning that James Beard Award
For more than 20 years, restaurateur Stephen Starr has redefined the food scene in Philadelphia. He's also branched out with a portfolio of 35 restaurants around the world from a traditional English pub to his famed temple of Asian fusion.
"CBS This Morning" co-host Alex Wagner spoke to Starr in Philadelphia about his career, his latest venture and his recent James Beard Award -- an achievement he's sought for years.
"Philadelphia has a rich history, like New York, of immigrants, and it was those people that brought a lot of the culture and food to this city," he said of his hometown.
Starr operates 19 restaurants in Philadelphia including Buddakan, which opened there in 1998. It features a 12-foot golden statue, and crowd favorites including edamame dumplings, Asian Caesar salad and tuna tartare spring rolls.
"It's a balance you have to come up with of staying fresh but not disappointing people that have their classic hits," Starr said.
Starr's empire is well established at this point, but when he first went into the business, he had almost no experience.
"But what I always had, I was like an A&R guy at a record company. I recognize talent, it just I knew it inside, it just was something that I felt. I knew when something would be popular with my guests. I just knew it, I could smell it, I could taste it," he said.
Early on, his passions were music and comedy. Starting at 20, he opened a series of comedy and music clubs, attracting acts that would dominate popular culture.
"What I learned was the show, right? I promoted, I produced shows, so whether they be Joni Mitchell with an acoustic guitar and a dulcimer or Kiss with makeup and things exploding, all of it was a show," Starr said.
His first foray into food was the Continental Restaurant and Martini Bar.
"1995 I opened this and I had just sold my concert business a couple years before, and really didn't know what to do," he said. "I was fortunate because I opened the Continental with the whole martini thing and then 'Swingers' came out and I was like, 'God was good to me.' And then everyone wanted to drink martinis and everyone wanted to be Vince Vaughn. It was like Sodom and Gomorrah here. People were passing out every night. Young girls, heads on the table because they didn't know how to drink them. To the point one night I said, 'I'm selling it. I can't do this.' I felt like I was, like, bringing crack to America."
But Starr eventually found his way. By 2001 he was in the big leagues, bringing Japan's Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto to the U.S. Five years later, the former club owner took his act to the Big Apple.
"I wanted to make it big in New York because that's the standard, right, that everyone has, is for making it big," he said. "'Cause I was like the Philly guy, and no one really knew who I was and I wasn't on the minds of everyone. I just was the guy that was 90 miles away."
There are now six Stephen Starr ventures in New York, including the acclaimed classic French restaurant Le Coucou, and the hugely popular California-Italian, Upland.
In past interviews, Starr has said his motto is, "Trust no one."
Asked if pessimism breeds greatness, he said, "Yes, it does. In this way, if you look at life that way, you'll never be disappointed. I used to say, 'The glass if half empty, and it's probably poisoned.'"
Pessimism sometimes pays off. In May, Starr finally took home the James Beard Award for best restaurateur.
"I was nominated I think six times for James Beard. Everyone told me I was gonna win it last year, right? I mean, Thomas Keller came over to me and said, 'It's your year, kid.' So I figured, oh well, if he said it, God talks to him," Starr recalled. "And then I didn't win it then either."
"I didn't show it, but I was -- I was mad," he said.
But success doesn't necessarily mean that Starr is content.
"I'm embarrassed to actually say that the opening night is the saddest night for me. It's sad. Everyone's there, they're all dressed up having fun, drinking drinks and shaking my hand and I wanna just go home and watch CNN -- or CBS I should say -- I just wanna get away from everyone on opening night. There's a sadness there," he said.
After more than 20 years in the business, he still can't shake the high of opening a new restaurant.
"We're still in the semi-ugly phase, right? But once it really starts to take shape, it's the most -- my adrenaline gets pumping," he said of neighborhood spot The Love, which is scheduled to open in Philadelphia this fall.
"To me, it's a nod to Barry White, like, The Love. But Aimee Olexy was my partner in this. It was her idea, this name. And I think it's about the love, the love of the food, the product, all these things. It's a little strange, the name, right? But the more you say it, the more I want to say it. I wanna say The Love. Like, 'Where you goin' tonight?' 'The Love.'"
