Drew Nieporent, one of America's most respected and celebrated restaurateurs, is the founder and inspiration behind the Myriad Restaurant Group, which operates Corton, Tribeca Grill, Nobu, Nobu Fifty Seven, Nobu London, Next Door Nobu, Mai House, Centrico and Crush Wine & Spirits. Over the last 20 years, Myriad has also opened restaurants in Seattle, Louisville, Providence, Boca Raton and Moscow.

A graduate of the Cornell Hotel School (1977), Nieporent worked on the world class cruise ships Vistafjord and Sagafjord while still a student. In 1978, he began his management career with Warner Le Roy at New York City’s Maxwell's Plum and Tavern On The Green. He then worked at the prestigious French restaurants Le Périgord, La Grenouille and Plaza Athénée’s Le Regence.

His restaurants have received countless accolades. Montrachet (1985) earned three stars from the New York Times and kept that rating for 21 years. Tribeca Grill (1990), with partner Robert De Niro, opened to national acclaim and continues to be one of New York’s landmark restaurants. In 1994, Nieporent launched Nobu in New York, and Rubicon in San Francisco with Francis Ford Coppola. Numerous awards include Montrachet, Outstanding Service from the James Beard Foundation (1995); Nobu, Best New Restaurant from Beard (1995); Rubicon, Outstanding Wine Service from Beard (2000); Nobu, NRN Hall of Fame (2005); and Restaurant & Institution’s prestigious Ivy Award for four restaurants (Nobu, Tribeca Grill, Rubicon and Montrachet). Most recently, the New York Times awarded three stars to Nobu Fifty Seven (2006) and two to Mai House (2007). Myriad’s excellence in wine service is widely acknowledged as well. It is the only restaurant group to earn three coveted Grand Awards from Wine Spectator magazine - for Rubicon, Montrachet and Tribeca Grill. And Food & Wine named Crush Wine & Spirits the best new wine shop of 2005.

Drew’s many personal honors include induction into “Who’s Who of Cooking in America” (1992) by the James Beard Foundation. He was named the Beard Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year (2000) and has been nominated for its Outstanding Restaurateur award for the last three years. Other recognition includes Bon Appetit’s Restaurateur of the Year (2000), Man Of The Year from The Food & Beverage Association (1993), DiRoNA’s Humanitarian Award (2000) and Hall of Fame (2005). Drew has been profiled in the New York Times, Wine Spectator, Food & Wine, Town & Country, Wall Street Journal, Cigar Aficionado and the San Francisco Chronicle. He has appeared on Charlie Rose, CNN, Good Morning America, Fox News and The TV Food Network, and has been a judge on Iron Chef and Top Chef.

Drew donates his time to dozens of charities. He is on the board of Citymeals on Wheels and DIFFA, an Honorary Chair of the City Harvest Food Council and Culinary Director of the Jackson Hole Wine Auction. He has co-chaired SOS’s Taste of the Nation event in New York City since 1997. He has been honored by the American Heart Association (1999), the Tourette Syndrome Association (2000), the Food Allergy Initiative (2001), the American Liver Foundation (2003), the Cancer Research & Treatment Fund (2005) and the Kristen Ann Carr Fund (2006). And he is in great demand as a spirited, highly effective auctioneer at charity events.