Owner
Riad Nasr
Restaurateur
- Discipline
- Owner
- Based in
- New York City, New York, United States
i. Biography
The path runs through Balthazar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, and the New York City restaurant where Riad Nasr is co-chef/owner. Taken together, those names sketch a career built in rooms that helped define the city’s dining rhythm, and a cook whose work has long been tied to Manhattan service at scale.
The Climb
Early in his career, Riad Nasr worked as chef at Balthazar in New York, NY, chef at Pastis in New York, NY, and chef at Minetta Tavern in New York, NY. Each address belongs to a different chapter of the city’s dining story, yet in Nasr’s hands they read as a steady progression: years spent learning how to keep large rooms moving, keep standards tight, and make formal dining feel active rather than stiff. Since 2018 at Frenchette and since 2022 at Le Rock, Riad Nasr has held the role of co-chef/owner. Those dates mark the shift from executing within someone else’s structure to sharing responsibility for the room itself. The work broadens at that point, but the core stays familiar: daily service, consistency, and the pressure of kitchens that operate under New York expectations.
Today
That title places Riad Nasr in the overlap between kitchen and ownership. At Frenchette since 2018 and Le Rock since 2022, the position carries both operational responsibility and the authority to shape the work around it. It is a practical role, not a ceremonial one: the same discipline that defines chef work now extends to the business of keeping the restaurants running. The cooking there has a named marker.
Signature
Riad's signature dishes include bison au poivre, escargot, profiteroles, sardine escabeche, and tarte tatin. The list spans savory and sweet, classical and slightly off-center, and it points to a kitchen working comfortably within French-inflected tradition. The bison au poivre, in particular, functions as a clear marker of the style associated with his name: direct, legible, and built to hold a guest’s attention.
Recognition
The clearest recognition attached to this résumé is dish-specific: Eater’s 2022 attention to the bison au poivre at Le Rock. That notice identifies the plate, the room, and the year, which is often the most exact way a cooking reputation registers: not only in the restaurant name, but in a dish that gets singled out on its own terms. His career also carries recognition through continuity at major New York addresses: Restaurant Daniel, Balthazar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, and Le Rock. Read in order, those roles show a chef-owner whose career has remained concentrated in New York City while moving from opening-team work to current ownership. The throughline is less about a single leap than about accumulation: room by room, name by name, a career built on staying power.
Profile updated August 2026
FAQ
Asked of Riad
What is Riad Nasr's current role?
Riad Nasr is Co-chef/Owner.
Where did Riad Nasr work before?
Earlier in their career, Riad Nasr worked at Balthazar, Pastis, and Minetta Tavern.
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