Danny Meyer: Salt & Straw, Joe Coffee, Tender Greens
The celebrated fine-dining guru has shown considerable prowess in building a fast-casual growth chain as well. Shake Shack, the first limited-service concept nurtured by Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group (it started as a hot dog cart), sparked one of the most successful public stock offerings in the history of the restaurant business.
Now Meyer and USHG have plunked money into three other limited-service concepts, all started by other entrepreneurs.
Salt & Straw is a West Coast concept that specializes in premium ice cream, sold via the chain’s shops in California and Oregon and wholesaled to other retail operations, including USHG’s Daily Provisions food shop.
Joe Coffee’s signature product is also available at Daily Provisions. The company also runs a handful of New York City coffee shops specializing in super-premium java.
Tender Greens is Meyer’s longest-standing alternative restaurant investment (he’s also a stockholder of several tech companies, including OpenTable). The West Coast chain specializes in farm-to-fork fare grown near its stores. The sources include Scarborough Farms, another investor in the business.