ITHACA, N.Y. — Celebrated restaurateur Drew Nieporent has been named recipient of the 2011 Hospitality Innovator Award, an honor given annually by the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration.

Nieporent is founder and owner of Myriad Restaurant Group, which operates Tribeca Grill, Nobu New York City, Nobu Fifty Seven, Nobu London, Nobu Next Door, Corton, Centrico, and Crush Wine & Spirits. He will receive the award at the third annual Cornell Icon & Innovator Awards Dinner, Tuesday, June 7, 2011, at the Waldorf Astoria New York.

“Drew Nieporent is a visionary and a trendsetter – an innovator in every sense of the word – and we are delighted to recognize him for his remarkable contributions to the hospitality industry,” said Michael D. Johnson, dean and E. M. Statler Professor of Hotel Administration.

Myriad's restaurants have received countless accolades. In 2008, Corton received two Michelin stars and three stars from the New York Times, and the James Beard Foundation nominated it for Best New Restaurant in America. Tribeca Grill opened to national acclaim in 1990 and continues to be a New York landmark restaurant. Nobu was named Best New Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation and was inducted into the NRN Hall of Fame. Nobu and Tribeca Grill have received Restaurant & Institution’s prestigious Ivy Award. The New York Times awarded three stars to Nobu Fifty Seven, and Food & Wine named Crush Wine & Spirits the best new wine shop of 2005. Myriad is the only restaurant group to earn three coveted Grand Awards from Wine Spectator magazine.

Nieporent's many honors include induction into “Who's Who of Cooking in America” by the James Beard Foundation. He was named the Beard Foundation's Outstanding Restaurateur in 2009 and Humanitarian of the Year in 2000. Other recognition includes Bon Appetit's Restaurateur of the Year, Man of the Year from the Food & Beverage Association, and DiRoNA's Humanitarian Award and Hall of Fame. Nieporent has been profiled in the New York Times, Wine Spectator, Food & Wine, the Wall Street Journal and more. He has appeared on a number of national television programs, including Charlie Rose, Bloomberg Television, and Good Morning America, and has been a judge on Iron Chef and Top Chef.

A 1977 graduate of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, Nieporent is on the board of Citymeals on Wheels and DIFFA, is an honorary chair of the City Harvest Food Council, and is culinary director of the Jackson Hole Wine Auction. He has co-chaired SOS's Taste of the Nation event in New York City since 1997 and has been honored by Careers through Culinary Arts Program, American Heart Association, the Tourette Syndrome Association, the Food Allergy Initiative, the American Liver Foundation, the Cancer Research & Treatment Fund, and the Kristen Ann Carr Fund.

Cornell will also honor the Hilton Family, founders of Hilton Hotels, and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation with the Cornell Icon of the Industry Award at the June dinner. Current event sponsors include: Title Sponsor, Hilton Worldwide; Exclusive Media Partners, Travel+Leisure and USA Today; Strategic Marketing and Event Consultant, Amazing Taste LLC; American Hotel Register, American Hotel & Lodging Association, Banfi Vintners, The Bernstein Companies, C3/CustomerContactChannels, Inc., Deloitte, FRANCE 24, Harney & Sons, Hersha Hospitality Trust, Hospitality Architecture + Design, Hospitality Design, Hotel Business, Hotel Management, HotelNewsNow.com, HotelPlanner.com, HOTELS, HotelYearbook, International Hotel Investment Forum-Berlin, Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Richard H. Kennedy ’56, The Lodging Conference 2011, Marriott, Oneida, Parasol, PAR Springer-Miller Systems, PhoCusWright, Quaker Steak & Lube, Quest Hospitality Ventures, RCI, Southworth Development, Stonebridge Companies, Sunstone Hotel Investors, Thayer Lodging Group, TravelCom, Veolia Transportation, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, The Wall Street Journal, Wells Fargo, Wyndham Hotel Group and Ypartnership.

For more details about the event and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Joe Strodel Jr., director of corporate and foundation affairs, at [email protected] or 607.255.4646. Additional information about the Cornell School of Hotel Administration is available at: www.hotelschool.cornell.edu.