As the son of one of the country's leading restaurateurs, Michael Stillman grew up with a unique vantage point on the inner workings of the industry. Michael learned from a young age how artful design, quality ingredients, and creative marketing all play a critical role in attracting and retaining a loyal clientele.

After graduating from Brown University with a double degree in Modern and Contemporary Painting and African-American Political Theory, Michael worked for the acclaimed Union Square Hospitality Group before learning the business of The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group from the ground up. After stints in the restaurants' kitchens and purchasing departments, Michael played a critical role in the opening of the Smith & Wollensky restaurants in Houston, Dallas, and Boston. During openings, Michael participates in staff recruitment and training, menu development, and operations. Michael led the creation and execution of every aspect of Quality Meats, as well as the group's newest project, Park Avenue Autumn.

When the proposed merger of The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group closed, Michael became president of Fourth Wall Restaurants, a New York-based restaurant group that will own, manage, and develop unique restaurant concepts, including Park Avenue Autumn, Quality Meats, Maloney & Porcelli, The Post House, and Smith & Wollensky New York.

Alan Stillman began his career as a restaurateur by founding and opening T.G.I. Friday's at 63rd Street and First Avenue with a $5,000 loan from his mother. As the Friday's concept grew and expanded, he sold the rights to Friday's outside of New York City in the mid-seventies, maintaining ownership of the Upper East Side flagship, which he sold by the end of the decade. He has never regretted selling the concept and is often credited with opening the first "singles" bar. As Friday's grew, Stillman conceived sister concepts around the city: Tuesday's, Wednesday, and Thursday's, each with a unique concept and a singular sense of fun.

Soon after, he opened Smith & Wollensky at 49th Street and Third Avenue in 1977, which has grown to nine locations around the country. At the same time, he developed a series of unique restaurant concepts in Manhattan that he refers to as "one-of-a's," such as Manhattan Ocean Club, Maloney & Porcelli, and The Post House. He took the company public in 2001. Alan and his son Michael partnered with some of the brightest young chefs in the business and award-winning design firm AvroKO to transform Manhattan Ocean Club into the acclaimed restaurant Quality Meats and the team's latest project has been the transformation of Park Avenue Café into Park Avenue Autumn that was awarded two stars from New York Times food critic Frank Bruni.

In 2007 the company closed a proposed merger of The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group with Patina Restaurants. At the close of this deal, Mr. Stillman's shareholders received $100,000,000 for his years of entrepreneurship and guidance of the renowned Smith & Wollensky brand.

He is a master of marketing in the restaurant industry. He comes up with extremely creative ideas that promote the restaurants in a way that is fun and meaningful to his customers. He once ordered the delivery of $1 million shipment of wine in a Brinks truck. He thought up National Wine Week, in which winemakers from all over the world pour their wines at lunch in his restaurants. During the early years of the program which is now celebrated twice a year, both Robert Mondavi and Count Antinori personally poured their wines at Smith & Wollensky. In 2003, he dreamt up The Great American Wine List, changing the Smith & Wollensky lists over to completely American wines, since it's an American steakhouse.

His iconic advertising campaigns show his wit and the fun with which he approaches his job and life. In one classic, as a response to Ben & Jerry's open call for a new CEO, Alan suggests that he would be the ideal candidate for the job and suggests a merged company, entitled Ben Smith and Jerry Wollensky Steak and Shakes. He also publicly offers the use of Smith & Wollensky restaurants to end contract standoffs, such as basketball strikes, the détente between Hootie Johnson and Martha Burk over the Masters...

He is currently working on a book called Madness: So You Always Wanted to Open a Restaurant? He goes out six nights a week to try new restaurants and visit his favorite established ones. He is a quirky art collector and has collected the works of Basquiat, Kiefer, Daumier, Christo, and Beuys in his personal collection, with some items making appearances in his restaurants. He is an avid golfer and skiier, energetic traveler, and above all, an indefatigable businessman.