Feature writing

Restaurant king Keith McNally tells Tim Teeman about fighting COVID, facing ruin, defending Woody Allen and Ghislaine Maxwell, his Graydon Carter feud, and D.C.’s Minetta Tavern.

Keith McNally, the famed 69-year-old restaurateur of such hotspots as Balthazar, Pastis, the Minetta Tavern, and Café Luxembourg, is planning his return to New York City next month, having recovered from a life-imperiling battle with COVID in his native England.

In a candid interview with The Daily Beast, he says that the pandemic almost broke his restaurant empire, but that plans are advancing to build branches of the Minetta Tavern in Washington, D.C., and Pastis in Miami. “After divorce, a stroke, and COVID destroying 75 percent of the finances of my restaurants, it’s crucial I make money,” McNally told The Daily Beast.

In recent months, his Instagram account has become a controversy vector, with McNally attracting criticism for attacking the decision of a publisher not to publish Woody Allen’s memoir; defending Ghislaine Maxwell as “currently innocent”; for saying a fashion buyer looked “like a hooker”; for highlighting a chef was Chinese and mentioning their accent (later criticized by writer Faith Xue); and for claiming creative director Marcus Teo had left McNally’s now-shuttered venue Lucky Strike without paying (which Teo denied via a receipt), which McNally later said was a joke.

Eater NY has said McNally’s Instagram account “has taken a wrong turn into yikes.” He also recently started an online war with Graydon Carter (former editor in chief of Vanity Fair, and Air Mail founder), who booked a table for 12 at Morandi, McNally’s Greenwich Village restaurant, then didn’t show. McNally said “this fancy fucker” would never be allowed in one of his restaurants again. (Carter later apologized, said he would make a donation to the wait staff’s tip pool, and called McNally “deranged.”)

In the interview below, McNally intimates Carter’s ban may not be permanent after all—and yes, there is a response from Carter to that.

McNally, who suffered a stroke in 2017 that left him paralyzed on the right side, also doubles down on supporting Allen, and expands on why he feels so strongly about making such provocative statements on Instagram, as well as speaking about how close he came to death, how COVID left his empire close to ruin, his standout celebrity memories (which feature Prince, George Clooney, and Bill Cosby), his drive to create restaurants, and his new relationship. It has been a wild ride since McNally opened his first restaurant, the legendary and much-loved Odeon, in 1980 with his first wife Lynn Wagenknecht and brother Brian McNally.

McNally asked to conduct this interview by email, so we began there.

Why did you want to do this interview by email?

I prefer interviews by email because since my stroke I sound as if I’m talking underwater.

How ill were you with coronavirus? I read you were “gasping for air” at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London?

I “gasped for air” only when asked by the hospital doctor, “Do you want to be revived if your heart stops?”

Did you make arrangements imagining you may die?

After the doctor told me I had a 50 percent chance of dying, I’m ashamed to say I didn’t think of my family, only my unfinished book.

Did the experience make you confront your mortality?

Like I confront all urgent matters, I put it on a back-burner.

How has it compared, if at all, with having your stroke?

Having a stroke was nothing compared to being tested with a fucking nasal swab for COVID.

Why choose to be in London rather than stay in New York City?

Initially because of the theater and my younger kids’ education, but these days—after divorce, a stroke, and COVID destroying 75 percent of the finances of my restaurants—it’s crucial I make money. I’m returning to NYC on June 25, and planning to live there full-time starting in September.

How are you feeling now?

Like always, hoping things get better, but knowing they won’t do.

What are you working on?

My memoir. (I hate the word “memoir.” It sounds like I’m speaking from a very high horse.) I’m two-thirds finished. Most of my day consists of putting off writing about a past which, for the most part, makes me cringe. I’m also building another Minetta Tavern in Washington, D.C.

Your restaurant Lucky Strike closed in the pandemic. How was that for you?

I never think twice about restaurants I’ve closed.

How has the pandemic affected your business? You said you were losing $5k a day.

COVID cost me a fortune. It cost others their lives, so I consider myself lucky.

Are you confident that NYC restaurants are back and healthy?

I was shocked by the response to reopening Balthazar. The first night was like V-E Day. Customers were dancing in the aisles and strangers kissed. And customers have suddenly gone crazy with their tips. I think Balthazar’s reopening symbolized to New Yorkers the re-emergence of the city. I feel very confident about the return of NYC more generally.

Did the city, Governor Cuomo, and Mayor De Blasio behave responsibly when it came to the hospitality industry—its shutdown and return to life?

In general, I think Cuomo did the right thing for New York, De Blasio less so, but it was an impossible situation for both of them.

What are your plans when you get back?

In September, I begin building the D.C. Minetta Tavern, and with my co-designer, Ian McPheely, I’m designing a Pastis in Miami with my Pastis partner, Stephen Starr. Like many restaurateurs, I lost a ton of money during COVID. These commercial ventures are a consequence of me being almost broke.

The Graydon Carter feud: what do you have to say about his response to you?

His response was bullshit. Graydon (Get) Carter knows he was a no-show without calling three times before. Look, there are more important things than no-shows at a Manhattan restaurant, but the fucker’s an editor. His whole life revolves around reshaping events to conform to his narrative.

Will you lift your ban on him, or is it total and forever?

Unless Graydon kisses my feet, the ban’s forever. Or at least one week.