WATCH: Stephen Starr Talks Restaurants With Charlie Rose

The James Beard Award winning restaurateur lays it all out.

Stephen Starr, now (and finally) a James Beard Award recipient for Outstanding Restaurateur, appeared on Charlie Rose this week to talk about his illustrious career as a serial restaurateur with 32 restaurants (and counting) up and down the East Coast.

His interview includes some pretty fascinating stories from his humble Philadelphia beginnings and how he channeled Muhammad Ali’s on-stage bravado in a New York Post interview so he could make the splash he made in New York City (“I wasn’t serious about it, but I was trying to shake things up.”). He even revealed the secret-sauce he used — and continues to use — to build his empire (hint: it’s not the food).

Aside from the awkward moment when Rose forgot the term “farm-to-table” (calling it “home-to-farm), the video above is absolutely worth a watch, especially for those brief moments of what seems like Starr at his rawest: “I’ll always feel like an outsider. I’ll always feel like I’m throwing this party and I’m standing there in the corner watching everyone enjoy it.”

Stephen Starr [Foobooz]