<a href="https://www.facebook.com/MareaNYC/photos/a.10152418661390481.949278.249392915480/10157657405875481/?type=3&amp;theater">Facebook.com/MareaNYC</a>To truly be a regular at some of the best restaurants in the world, you have to be willing to spend some serious cash and be on your best behavior. In her new book <a href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318271/cork-dork-by-bianca-bosker/9780698195905">"Cork Dork,"</a> journalist Bianca Bosker writes about her immersion into the world of sommeliers and big wine spenders. As part of her training, she shadowed a certified sommelier and made the rounds at <a href="http://www.marea-nyc.com/">Marea</a>, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant by Chef Michael White in New York City.The restaurant's service is a carefully crafted performance, from the impeccable attire of the staff to the yacht-like interior of the restaurant itself."Restaurants like Marea are Disneylands for moguls," Bosker writes. Bosker learned that the restaurant has its own system of categorizing who should be prioritized for receiving the best service. Marea has a file for all of its guests, noting each one's quirks, dining history, and importance to the restaurant's management. All of this information is communicated to wait staff and sommeliers so they know how to interact with the table and sell them as much wine as possible.There's something called a PX, "short for personne extraordinaire, restaurant code for 'spends dough,'" Bosker writes. "It's appended to reservations made by big spenders, owners' friends, high-rolling regulars, and special guests, like Chef Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park, who'd be coming in tonight at eight. They are to be coddled, spoiled, humored, and upsold at all costs." Melanie M. / YelpInside Marea.Some restaurants will also use "VIP" or "BLR," short for "baller," to label this group of guests.At Marea, some back-of-house tickets will be labeled "ATG," meaning "according to Google" - for example, "ATG investment banking analyst at Barclays Capital." The labels get even more specific than that: there's "occasional wine PX," "wine PX has-been," "PPX (personne particulièrement extraordinaire)," "F/O (friend of) Owner," and "HWC (handle with care)."If you're in especially poor form, Marea staff might label you "86 DO NOT ACCEPT." But if you're polite and especially generous with your money, you could be labeled "NEVER REFUSE." It's worth considering the next time you endeavor to make a reservation at a Michelin-starred restaurant. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sound-wine-expert-sommelier-terms-dry-tannin-2017-3">Know these terms to sound like a wine expert</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

These are the secret codes that restaurants use to refer to their high-roller guests

The original Shake Shack in New York City's Madison Square Park turns 10 this month, and the beloved burger joint is celebrating with a series of specialty burgers created by famous chefs.
The five special-edition burgers will be available at Shake Shack's Madison Square Park location from June 9 to June 13. They'll cost $8.50 each, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Madison Square Park Conservancy and NYC Parks.
If you thought the burger line was bad on a regular day, just wait until folks start lining up for these mouthwatering burgers.
Monday (6/9): Daniel Boulud's "Piggie Shack," Shack a beef-blend burger topped with DBGB's BBQ pulled pork, jalepeño mayo, Boston lettuce, and mustard-vinegar slaw.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.shakeshack.com/2014/06/03/shake-shack-decade-of-shack-june-9-13/">Evan Sung/Shake Shack</a></div></div></div>Tuesday (6/10): David Chang's "Momofuku Shrimp Stack," a Shack beef-blend cheeseburger topped with smoked and griddled shrimp patty, Momofuku Hozon Sauce, Bibb lettuce, pickled onion, and salted cucumber.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.shakeshack.com/2014/06/03/shake-shack-decade-of-shack-june-9-13/">Evan Sung/Shake Shack</a></div></div></div>Wednesday (6/11): Andrew Zimmern's "AZ Cabrito Butter Burger," a goat burger with herb butter topped with roasted tomato, charred onion, and sweet pickle.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.shakeshack.com/2014/06/03/shake-shack-decade-of-shack-june-9-13/">Evan Sung/Shake Shack</a></div></div></div>Thursday (6/12): Daniel Humm's "Humm Burger," a Shack beef-blend Gruyère cheeseburger topped with all-natural applewood smoked bacon, celery relish, Bibb lettuce, truffle mayo, and shaved fresh black truffle.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.shakeshack.com/2014/06/03/shake-shack-decade-of-shack-june-9-13/">Evan Sung/Shake Shack</a></div></div></div>Friday (6/13): April Bloomfield's "Breslin Burger," a Breslin beef-blend burger topped with all-natural applewood smoked bacon and Tickler English cheddar cheese sauce.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.shakeshack.com/2014/06/03/shake-shack-decade-of-shack-june-9-13/">Evan Sung/Shake Shack</a></div></div></div>

Here's What Happens When You Ask A Bunch Of Famous Chefs To Design Their Dream Burger

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicknamemiket/sets/72157626397136204/with/5576374582/">nicknamemiket/Flickr</a>A course at Per Se</div></div>In today's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/24/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-daniel-on-the-upper-east-side.html?partner=bloomberg&amp;_r=0&amp;pagewanted=all">New York Times,</a> restaurant critic Pete Wells <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/restaurant-daniel-loses-a-new-york-times-star-2013-7">knocked iconic Upper East Side restaurant Daniel</a> from four stars to three after finding that servers treated famous guests differently than unknown ones.
The food, he noted, was still phenomenal — if somewhat overdecorated with "dollhouse garnishes." 
With Daniel Boulud's emporium down to three stars, there are just five <keyword id="34615" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="restaurants">restaurants</keyword> left in <keyword id="72226" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="New-York-City">New York City</keyword> with four-star reviews from The New York Times.
They are:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.delposto.com/">Del Posto</a>: Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, and Lidia Bastianich's upscale Italian restaurant near the High Line <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/dining/29rest.html?pagewanted=all">got four stars from Sam Sifton</a> in October 2010. He declared: "Del Posto’s is a pleasure that lasts." The five-course dinner menu is $115 per person.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.elevenmadisonpark.com/">Eleven Madison Park:</a> Critic Frank Bruni <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/dining/reviews/12rest.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0">granted four stars to Eleven Madison Park</a> in August 2009. Restaurateur Danny Meyer sold the restaurant to chef Daniel Humm in 2011, and the Times has yet to revisit. The dinner tasting menu is $195 per person.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.jean-georges.com/">Jean Georges</a>: Bruni v<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/19/dining/reviews/19rest.html?pagewanted=all">isited Jean-Georges Vongerichten's eponymous restaurant in 2006</a> and found it to be a notch above any of the other restaurants in Vongerichten's empire, writing, "while the food at Jean Georges may no longer be novel, it still thrills, and this restaurant still presents an experience unlike others around town." The three-course dinner tasting menu is $118 per person.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.le-bernardin.com/">Le Bernardin</a>: In May 2012, Wells <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/dining/reviews/le-bernardin-in-midtown-manhattan.html?pagewanted=all">assigned four stars to Eric Ripert's midtown east restaurant</a>, writing, "no other restaurant in the city makes the simple cooking of fish (and the fish at Le Bernardin is cooked simply, when it is cooked at all) seem so ripe with opportunities for excitement." The four-course dinner tasting menu costs $130 per person.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.perseny.com/">Per Se</a>: Wells <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/dining/reviews/per-se-nyc-restaurant-review.html?pagewanted=all">gave a top rating</a> to chef Thomas Keller's restaurant at the Time Warner Center in October 2011, calling it "the best restaurant in New York City." The prix fixe dinner menu costs $295 per person.
</li>
</ul>

Here Are The Only Remaining 4-Star Restaurants In New York City

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>Michelin <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-michelin-star-restaurants-2014-9">released its 2015 ratings for New York City</a> today, and only six restaurants received a highly coveted three-star rating. Daniel Boulud's Daniel, which had received three stars for each of the past five years, lost a star in the new guidebook.
That means there are just nine restaurants in the U.S. with top ratings from the prestigious guide, which uses anonymous inspectors to judge restaurants around the world.
It's important to note that Michelin only publishes guides for three U.S. cities: New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, so the company's ratings are not all-encompassing.
The remaining three-star restaurants in the U.S. are:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-dinner-is-like-at-le-bernardin-2013-10">Le Bernardin </a>(New York): Eric Ripert's seafood palace consistently receives top marks from reviewers and restaurant guides. The chef's tasting menu starts at <a href="http://le-bernardin.com/menus/#tasting-le-bernardin" target="_blank">$198</a> a person.</li>
<li>Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare (New York): Chef César Ramírez's downtown Brooklyn restaurant has only 18 seats, making it one of the toughest reservations in town. The menu is centered around seafood and courses are served omakase-style.</li>
<li>Eleven Madison Park (New York): Chef Daniel Humm's restaurant also has four stars from The New York Times and the Five Diamond Award by AAA. It recently <a href="http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/eleven-madison-park/" target="_blank">ditched its à la carte concept</a> in favor of an elaborate prix fixe menu. The multicourse meal, which focuses on the agricultural offerings of New York, costs $225.</li>
<li>Jean Georges (New York): Located in The Trump Hotel on Central Park West, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten blends French, American, and Asian influences to craft a seasonal, ever-changing menu. The restaurant offers a three-course prix-fixe menu (<a href="http://www.jean-georgesrestaurant.com/jean-georges/menus/dinner/" target="_blank">$118</a>) and two six-course tasting menus (<a href="http://www.jean-georgesrestaurant.com/jean-georges/menus/dinner/" target="_blank">$198</a>).</li>
<li>Masa (New York): With a tasting menu that costs more than $1,000 for two, Masa is often called America's most expensive restaurant. Chef Masa Takayama's restaurant in the Time Warner Center is known for serving some of the finest Japanese fare in the U.S.</li>
<li>Per Se (New York): For years, Per Se has ruled over the New York City restaurant scene as one of the most coveted dining experiences in town. The "urban interpretation" of chef Thomas Keller's The French Laundry, the prix fixe menu costs $310 a person.</li>
<li>Alinea (Chicago): The only Chicago restaurant with a three-star rating, Chef Grant Achatz's first restaurant is known for its creative modern cuisine and artistic presentations. Alinea tosses aside the traditional reservation system and sells tickets for its tasting menu instead. Prices vary between <a href="https://content.alinearestaurant.com/html/index.html" target="_blank">$210</a> and<a href="https://content.alinearestaurant.com/html/index.html" target="_blank">$265</a>.</li>
<li>The French Laundry (Yountville, Calif.): Chef Keller's landmark Napa Valley restaurant is considered a mecca for foodies. It serves two nine-course tasting menus - a chef's tasting and a tasting of vegetables - that vary every day. For this indulgence, prepare to shell out <a href="http://www.tkrg.org/upload/fl_menu.pdf" target="_blank">$295</a>.</li>
<li>Meadowood (St. Helena, Calif.): Chef Christopher Kostow is known to tailor the menu to his guests' tastes within his restaurant's American modern theme. For those looking for an exceptional overview of his culinary talent, a 10-course tasting menu is available for $225 a person.</li>
</ul>

Ripert's Le Bernardin also recently topped <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-restaurants-in-america-2014-5">Business Insider's list of the 45 best restaurants in America</a>. Eleven Madison Park came in second on that list, followed by The French Laundry, Per Se, and Daniel.
There are also only six New York City restaurants with four-star rankings from The New York Times, the paper's highest honor. They are Del Posto, Eleven Madison Park, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Per Se, and Sushi Nakazawa, a highly acclaimed sushi bar in the West Village that some are saying was snubbed by Michelin after it was not recognized in its 2015 guide (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sushi-nakazawa-best-restaurant-of-2013-2013-12">and which The Times named the best restaurant of 2013</a>).
Melissa Stanger and Melia Robinson contributed to this story.

Now There Are Only Nine US Restaurants With Three Michelin Stars

<div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><a href="http://sushinakazawa.com/#/food-service">via Sushi Nakazawa</a>Sushi Nakazawa</div></div>In July, New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/restaurants-with-4-stars-from-the-new-york-times-2013-7">surprised foodies everywhere</a> when he <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/restaurant-daniel-loses-a-new-york-times-star-2013-7">knocked iconic Upper East Side restaurant Daniel</a> down from four stars to three after finding that servers treated famous guests differently from unknown ones (he still raved about the food).
The move left the city - one of the fine dining meccas of the world - with just five <keyword id="34615" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="restaurants">restaurants</keyword> with four-star reviews from The New York Times.
Today, however, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-sushi-nakazawa-in-the-west-village.html?ref=dining&amp;_r=0">the acclaimed critic handed 10 stars to Sushi Nakazawa</a>, a small sushi bar in the West Village opened by an acolyte of famed Japanese sushi chef Jiro Ono (the subject of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-aGPniFvS0">the documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi</a>.")
"[Nakazawa] picked up a palmful of rice and began to serve one of the four most enjoyable and eye-opening sushi meals I have ever eaten," Wells wrote. "I had the other three at Sushi Nakazawa over the next few weeks."
<keyword id="72226" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="New-York-City">New York City</keyword> once again has six four-star restaurants.
They are:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.delposto.com/">Del Posto</a>: Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, and Lidia Bastianich's upscale Italian restaurant near the High Line <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/dining/29rest.html?pagewanted=all">got four stars from Sam Sifton</a> in October 2010. He declared: "Del Posto's is a pleasure that lasts." The five-course dinner menu is $115 per person.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.elevenmadisonpark.com/">Eleven Madison Park:</a> Critic Frank Bruni <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/dining/reviews/12rest.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0">granted four stars to Eleven Madison Park</a> in August 2009. Restaurateur Danny Meyer sold the restaurant to chef Daniel Humm in 2011, and The Times has yet to revisit. The dinner tasting menu is $195 per person.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.jean-georges.com/">Jean Georges</a>: Bruni <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/19/dining/reviews/19rest.html?pagewanted=all">visited Jean-Georges Vongerichten's eponymous restaurant in 2006</a> and found it to be a notch above any of the other restaurants in Vongerichten's empire, writing, "while the food at Jean Georges may no longer be novel, it still thrills, and this restaurant still presents an experience unlike others around town." The three-course dinner tasting menu is $118 per person.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.le-bernardin.com/">Le Bernardin</a>: In May 2012, Wells <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/dining/reviews/le-bernardin-in-midtown-manhattan.html?pagewanted=all">assigned four stars to Eric Ripert's midtown east restaurant</a>, writing, "no other restaurant in the city makes the simple cooking of fish (and the fish at Le Bernardin is cooked simply, when it is cooked at all) seem so ripe with opportunities for excitement." The four-course dinner tasting menu costs $130 per person.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.perseny.com/">Per Se</a>: Wells <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/dining/reviews/per-se-nyc-restaurant-review.html?pagewanted=all">gave a top rating</a> to chef Thomas Keller's restaurant at the Time Warner Center in October 2011, calling it "the best restaurant in New York City." The prix fixe dinner menu costs $295 per person.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://sushinakazawa.com/">Sushi Nakazawa</a>: Wells <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-sushi-nakazawa-in-the-west-village.html?ref=dining&amp;_r=0">adored his meals at the 10-seat sushi restaurant</a> in the West Village. His December 2013 review of the 21-course sushi dinner said, "The moment-to-moment joys of eating one mouthful of sushi after another can merge into a blur of fish bliss. But almost everything Mr. Nakazawa cups in his hands and places in front of you is an event on its own." The Omakase menu costs $150 per person at the sushi bar and $120 per person in the dining room. 
</li>
</ul>

Here Are The Only Six 4-Star Restaurants In New York City

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://instagram.com/p/gaodbGuPOx/">Brian Jou, Instagram</a>The creator of the Cronut doesn't plan any of his meals when he goes on vacation. </div></div>More than two dozen chefs and restaurants received top honors during the <a href="http://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/2014-james-beard-award-winners" target="_blank">James Beard Foundation's annual awards ceremony</a>, which took place earlier this week. We've been following the journeys of many of these chefs from the start, including Cronut king Dominique Ansel, rising chef Jimmy Bannos Jr. (of Chicago's Purple Pig), and Southwestern honoree Chris Shepherd (of Houston's Underbelly). Read on for insight into the winning toques' favorite places to eat, the best spots in their hometowns, and more. 
Rising Star Chef of the Year: Jimmy Bannos, Jr.
"For me, there's nothing more satisfying than a properly done, well-executed plate of pasta." (<a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/chicago/2013/12/gnocchi-wild-boar-ragu-at-spiaggia-chicago" target="_blank">Chicago Chef Jimmy Bannos, Jr.: The Best Thing I Ate This Week</a>)
Oustanding Bar Program: The Bar at the NoMad Hotel
"New York's food scene is truly unique because it is this wonderful melting pot where immigrants from all over the world have brought with them their cuisines and their ingredients." (<a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2013/06/chef-daniel-humm-best-restaurants-new-york-city-062013" target="_blank">New York City Chef Secrets: Where The NoMad's Daniel Humm Eats in NYC</a>)
Outstanding Pastry Chef: Dominique Ansel
"When you work in a kitchen every day, you often think vacation is a time to get out and stop thinking about food already. That's what I always say to myself. I don't do any research, any planning, or make any reservations. And then I get hungry, and experience that first random meal. It's, more often than not, utterly unspectacular. And that's when I realize that good food absolutely makes a better vacation." (<a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2013/06/chef-dominique-ansel-cronut-food-photos-062613" target="_blank">Cronut Creator Dominique Ansel: Six Things I'd Rather Eat Instead of the Cronut</a>)
Best Chef, Northeast: Jamie Bissonnette
"I think I eat at John Dory more than almost any other restaurant in New York City. I love to sit at the bar and order a dozen oysters and the Carta di Musica." (<a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2014/03/chef-jamie-bissonnette-best-thing-i-ate-this-week-john-dory-oyster-bar" target="_blank">NYC Chef Jamie Bissonnette: The Best Thing I Ate This Week</a>)
Best Chef, Southwest: Chris Shepherd
"Houston is a beautiful city to be in right now with all the upscale dining and this ethnic explosion, especially of Vietnamese, Chinese and Hispanic cuisines, in the past 20 years." (<a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2014/05/chef-chris-shepherd-best-ethnic-eats-in-houston" target="_blank">The Best Ethnic Eats in Houston: We Asked a Chef</a>)
Oustanding Restaurateur: Barbara Lynch
"There's another company I'm starting, a nutritional line of food products, where everything's dehydrated. It's one of the best ways to cure food versus canned or frozen, because the nutrients don't change. I have a lot of dehydrators in the kitchen, and I love to play around with them." (<a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2012/03/whats-for-dinner-boston-restaurant-menton" target="_blank">What's For Dinner At…Menton in Boston</a>)
Outstanding Service: The Restaurant at Meadowood (executive chef Christopher Kostow)
"Napa Valley is so fortunate in that we have a great abundance of local artisans, purveyors, and wilds to work with. St. Helena also has an incredibly close-knit sense of community one may be surprised to find in a tourist destination city." (<a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2013/08/napa-food-meadowood-chef-chris-kostow-secrets" target="_blank">Napa Valley Chef Secrets: Where Michelin Starred Chef Christopher Kostow Says You Should Eat</a>) 
<h2>More From Condé Nast Traveler:</h2>
<a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2012/11/food-photos-united-states-regional-sandwiches-new-york-chicago-san-francisco-philadelphia?mbid=synd_bi">America's Best Sandwiches</a> 
<a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2014/05/best-new-hotels-with-bars?mbid=synd_bi">The Best Hotel Bars in the World</a> 
<a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2014/05/etihad-rolls-out-new-class-flying-apartments?mbid=synd_bi">This is What a "Flying Apartment" Looks Like</a> 
<a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2014/05/mount-mabu-mozambique-maphead-ken-jennings?mbid=synd_bi">How Google Earth Led to the Discovery of a Long-Lost Forest</a>

The James Beard Award-Winning Chefs Reveal Their Favorite Places To Eat And Drink

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/shake-shack-opportunities-for-growth-2014-12">Shake Shack filed for an initial public offering on Monday</a>, marking the next phase of a 10-year journey from a single location in a New York City park to a global brand with 63 locations and $82.5 million in revenue.
Just four years ago, the burger chain&#xa0;had seven locations and $19.5 million in sales. And it's already profitable, with a net income of $5.4 million last year.
Shake Shack is one of 11 restaurant brands in the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG), Danny Meyer's lauded restaurant group.
Meyer himself is the recipient of accolades like the James Beard Foundation's Restaurateur of the Year award and Humanitarian of the Year award.
From interviews and profiles over the past few years, we've compiled the traits that helped Meyer become known as "the greatest restaurateur New York has ever seen" and to build the Shake Shack empire.
<h3>His greatest passion is for the restaurant business.</h3>
In a 2011 <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/danny-meyer-2011-6">interview with Business Insider</a>, Meyer said that restaurant owners need to ask themselves the following questions:
<ol>
<li>Do you really love providing pleasure for other people? (If you're a stock broker, your love is for the game, not for the pleasures of others.)</li>
<li>Do you love the topic of wine, food, and beverage?</li>
<li>
Are you a really competitive person? (Because "someone will nip at your heels within minutes if you're successful.") 
</li>
</ol>
<h3>He is not impulsive.</h3>
Meyer founded his first restaurant, Union Square Tavern, in 1985 and then waited nine years until he opened his second, Gramercy Tavern.
He revealed in a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/magazine/danny-meyer-is-on-a-roll.html?_r=3&amp;pagewanted=all">New York Times profile</a> that his father overextended his hotel business and ended up bankrupt at age 42. It's something he says he's always kept in mind, and why he has his team do extensive research before expanding an existing brand or creating a new one.
<h3>He places utmost importance on location.</h3>
Meyer has said that he wants each of his restaurants to become part of its surrounding community. He has USHG partner with neighboring small businesses to reinforce these ties.
It's why he wrote <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/opinion/danny-meyers-union-square-cafe-is-a-casualty-of-rising-rents.html">a Times editorial this summer</a> about what he considers to be the destructive momentum of rising New York City rent prices. He's currently looking for a new location for Union Square Cafe, which has a lease ending in December 2015. He explains why it's been a painful process for him:
Like many of the restaurants that opened during the first decades of the city's rebirth, we have built close relationships with those who came to define our surroundings: greenmarket farmers, publishers, agents, authors, architects, artists, advertising executives, actors, neighborhood activists, civic leaders and a legion of families who moved into the nearby lofts that once held men's garment manufacturers. Long before Starbucks popularized the phrase "the third place" - somewhere to interact outside of work and home - it was neighborhood restaurants that helped to define places like Union Square.
<h3>He knows how to reach all kinds of customers.</h3>

USHG's restaurants span burgers to fine dining, but even as the most casual brand, Shake Shack still has an air of sophistication without being snooty that sets it apart from competitors.
Meyer's newest restaurant, Marta, is a great example of a location that can appeal to a wide variety of people. You can get a $13 pizza, or you can pay $50 extra to get that same pizza covered in Italian truffles and order a $300 bottle of wine for the table.
<h3>He is incredibly hands-on.</h3>
As USHG's holdings continue to grow, Meyer is focused on ensuring that its executives don't become isolated from what's actually going on inside a restaurant.
<a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140216/HOSPITALITY_TOURISM/140219880/the-evolution-of-danny-meyer">He told Crain's earlier this year</a> that he's come up with a new system to keep high-level hires from losing touch. After he hired Sabata Sagaria as his company's chief restaurant officer, he immediately sent Sagaria to spend two months working every job - including busing tables and cooking meals - in each of USHG's nine full-service restaurants at the time.
"Danny said to me, 'I want you to understand what makes each restaurant unique and who brings it to life every day - just absorb it," Sagaria told Crain's.
<h3>He is extremely selective about who he hires.</h3>
Meyer builds restaurants around acclaimed chefs, as he did when he recruited the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-the-michelin-guide-2014-10">Michelin star-winning</a> Swiss prodigy <a href="http://www.gq.com/style/ten-essentials/201007/chef-daniel-humm-of-eleven-madison-park#slide=1">Daniel Humm</a> to be the executive chef for Eleven Madison Park.
Even Shake Shack's management team has a background in fine dining, Meyer told the Times.
<h3>He is an exceptional networker.</h3>
Meyer told Business Insider that he would have his assistant check lunch reservations at his restaurants for "notable names" so that he could stop by and say hello.
If the Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/magazine/danny-meyer-is-on-a-roll.html?_r=3&amp;pagewanted=all">profile</a> on him is any indication, he knows how to charm the right people. At The Modern, his restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art, he pulled a silk tie out of his jacket, put it on, and headed for a private dining area.
He approached a young man, Romain Collet, of the Jean Collet wine dynasty. Meyer introduced himself, in French, and began detailing the long relationship between his restaurants and the family's vineyard," the Times reported.
This article is an update of&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/danny-meyer-shake-shack-2011-8">a story</a>&#xa0;originally written by Vivian Giang and Aimee Groth.

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<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Chef Flynn McGarry is just sixteen years old, but you'd never guess it from his latest project.He just began a pop-up dinner series where <a href="http://www.eurekanyc.com/">a reservation</a> will cost you $160 a head - plus an additional $80 for wine pairings.The 14-course tasting menu will be served three times a week at the Creative Edge Parties dining room in the West Village.There will only be twelve seats at the table each night - and New York foodies are scrambling at the chance to be there.&#xa0;Seats at the dinner are already sold out through the middle of October.&#xa0;"It's cool," McGarry told Business Insider. "I like that we don't have to worry about getting people to come and eat. It's a good feeling to have people want to actually come and try the food rather than just read about it."This isn't the first time McGarry's cooking has drawn huge crowds.&#xa0;Eureka is an expansion of a wildly popular supper club McGarry started hosting in his parents' Los Angeles home when he was just 13 years old.&#xa0;"It was originally for a few of my mom's friends, and I would cook them a couple of dishes," he said. "And then it eventually grew to be much more."&#xa0;In 2013, he <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/teen-chef-cooks-in-beverly-hills-2013-1">sold out a 120-person event</a> where each guest paid $160 a ticket.&#xa0;That's not bad for someone who isn't even old enough to legally drink the wines he pairs with his meals.&#xa0;McGarry confesses he only really picked up cooking because he was getting tired of what his parents were serving him for dinner."I got sick of eating kid food, more or less, and I was very precocious when I was 10&#xa0;years old. My parents were more than happy to let me take over," he said.Curious about what he could really do with food, he picked up a copy of "The French Laundry Cookbook," a tome filled with highly technical recipes.&#xa0;"Once I started to discover more about fine dining and the actual art form behind cooking, then I started to become obsessed," he said. "Because I wanted to cook all of the recipes in that book, I had to learn all of the basic skills."&#xa0;<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>He says a big change for him was when his family moved from surf-centric Malibu to Hollywood, where he found a whole new culture waiting to be explored.&#xa0;Just five years later, McGarry brought his talents to the East Coast for the very first time.&#xa0;Carla Ruben, owner of Creative Edge Parties, discovered Flynn after reconnecting with his mom, an old college friend of hers, on Facebook. McGarry did his first pop-up at Creative Edge in May 2014, then did another the following February.&#xa0;"It was a sell-out from the beginning. We had people banging down the door because people were so excited for his first time here," Ruben said. "I think the amazing thing about Flynn is that he is one of the most serious chefs I've worked with, which was really exciting. This is not about anything more than being the best chef, and that's his goal more than anything."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>McGarry is relatively modest about the crowds his food draws.&#xa0;"Once they do arrive, I need to make sure they have the best meal they can," he said. "It does make life easier when we don't worry about filling every seat out." &#xa0;And McGarry has quite the meal planned for his guests. Among the 14&#xa0;courses is a sea urchin brined in sea water, served with a carrot coffee puree. To achieve the taste, he's let coffee beans infuse with vinegar for a month.&#xa0;"I describe the food I cook as 'modern American' because that gives me the freedom to cook whatever I want," he said. "It's mostly inspired by ingredients and what's good at any given time, and by places I've worked and eaten and traveled.Ideas for dishes will also just come randomly. I'll just be walking down the street and I'll see something that looks vaguely like some ingredient, and the dish will just come together immediately. Those are always the ones that come together in the first couple of tries."&#xa0;&#xa0;<div></div>He'll also be making a beet bordelaise dish, which involves aging beets for three weeks, reconstituting them in smoked beet juice, and topping them&#xa0;with a beet sauce. It takes about 10 to 12 hours to prepare.&#xa0;"There's not a lot of sleeping involved. I have no cooks - every little job that's done in the kitchen is me," he said. "It's a lot of planning&#xa0;in advance."&#xa0;<div></div>Among his list of influences, McGarry counts Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park (where he spent some time learning staging), Thomas Keller of the French Laundry, and&#xa0;René Redzepi of Noma.&#xa0;"What's cool is that in this day and age, you can go on Instagram and see what every single chef you admire is doing," McGarry said. "Obviously it's different when you do go to the restaurant and experience it, but I would not know so much about what was going on in the food world without that."&#xa0;Now he's looking for an apartment with a friend in Brooklyn, "just like every human being who's in the food business in New York," he said with a laugh. His residency at Creative Edge is semi-permanent and will last at least six months, but he says there's always a possibility Eureka will develop further.&#xa0;"It's a very open-ended discussion," Ruben said.&#xa0;McGarry will be all on his own, as his parents have stayed back in Los Angeles, and he already tested out of high school.&#xa0;"There's always a lot to think about," he says when I mention that that's a lot for a 16-year-old to handle. "Long term, I want a restaurant that has a staff and more than 12 seats. I set unrealistic goals because it keeps me constantly wanting more."&#xa0; <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/barbecue-jackfruit-pulled-pork-taco-taste-test-2015-9">We tried jackfruit - the huge tree fruit that supposedly tastes like pulled pork</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="dvMjhodzo_xFcNT4AlVqbD4pLdibtkt9" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

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