Eric Ripert's Favorite Restaurant Is No Stranger To Controversy

When he's not busy writing cookbooks or running his three-Michelin-star restaurant, Le Bernardin, in Midtown Manhattan, you might find Eric Ripert a few neighborhoods south in SoHo. Specifically, at a restaurant named Balthazar, which he's dubbed his favorite and visits every couple of weeks (typically for lunch). Balthazar is known for a few different things: First, its classic brasserie-style French food served from morning to night, from iconically French sandwiches such as the croque monsieur at breakfast, through to steak frites and French onion soup at lunch and dinner. Then there's its reputation as a celebrity hotspot, welcoming guests from Anna Wintour to Leonardo DiCaprio. And sometimes, it's known for controversy. This could be the fact that the restaurant has an internal rating system for its VIPs: Either "AA" or "AAA," apparently based on how much the staff like serving them.

More frequently, the controversy seems to stem specifically from Balthazar's owner, Keith McNally, who also owns other notable NYC spots such as French bistro Minetta Tavern and trattoria Morandi. For example, in 2022, McNally publicly banned comedian and "The Late Late Show" host James Corden from Balthazar for being an "abusive customer" over a couple of incidents, including Corden yelling at staff because an egg yolk omelet his wife ordered reportedly contained a little bit of egg white. McNally posted about the ban publicly on Instagram, calling Corden "a tiny cretin of a man." Corden reportedly apologized, was unbanned, and re-banned when he later denied the incidents happened.

While a restaurateur banning a guest may not be terribly uncommon, it was arguably McNally's decision to publicize it on Instagram that was controversial. And McNally's social media use has regularly stirred up drama. He's gone after at least three restaurant critics for negative reviews of his establishments and has put VIPs on blast for alleged bad behavior, including no-showing on a big reservation and seating themselves at Balthazar.

McNally is also known for getting himself in trouble over political statements. Among the minor scandals he's caused include one incident where he argued on Instagram that people should not rush to judge Ghislaine Maxwell, a socialite affiliated with prominent sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. At the time, she was accused of sex trafficking, and was later convicted; McNally was accused of supporting Maxwell, although his post could also be interpreted as a call for her to get a fair trial. After the October 7 attack in Israel, he also drew outrage by calling for people to "listen to the other side" (via Instagram). This was interpreted as him calling for people to listen to Hamas, resulting in many saying they'd never eat in his restaurants again. But with Balthazar still going strong after nearly 30 years, it seems McNally's loud mouth can't be hurting too much.