Keith McNally

Opened by Englishman Keith McNally in 1997, Balthazar has rapidly become a feature of New York's culinary landscape. Overlooking the irony of a Brit teaching New Yorkers how to eat French food, McNally's empire of brasserie-style restaurants (including the famous Pastis, Lucky Strike and Schillor's Liquor Bar) are effortlessly chic. According to the famously self-effacing McNally, he seeks to create places that he himself would like to eat in. There are currently plans for a London opening of Balthazar, scheduled for late 2011.