Ten Group

Restaurant Expert

Steve Shaw

I was born in New York, and worked as a restaurant manager abroad for eight years, then back in the US for four years, running an archetypical Manhattan oyster bar and later a Big Apple jazz club where guitarist Les Paul played every Monday. Now I keep members and fellow lifestyle managers up to date on local restaurant and nightlife news.

Highlights include new openings that have impressed me, such as a couple of late night seafood raw bars and an upscale Italian gourmet store with food court. Meanwhile, I hold dear my favourite classics – an Italian trattoria in Greenwich Village and a Spanish restaurant renowned for lobster. Despite the opportunities I have while dining out, the best part of my job is when I receive feedback from members saying my recommendations were what made their trips exceptional.

Recently I’ve been helping a member arrange the gift to his friends of a Michelin-starred, Manhattan-based vegetarian feast. We’ve planned a pre-selected, personalised menu including champagne and appetisers. As a former restaurant manager, I know it’s better to work with someone who takes care of the finer details, so I try to make contact with the maitre d’ or manager, to ensure members’ culinary and nightlife experiences will be handled well.

Before lifestyle concierge, I grew up dining in many restaurants and travelling around the world with my father; with whom my most memorable meal was at La Tour d’Argent in Paris. I spent eleven years in Russia, and while there, was the first American to open a restaurant in Moscow without a local partner. I also have an MBA in international business, worked as a privatisation consultant in Uzbekistan and traded tea in Sri Lanka.