DISTRICT PROFILE: Timothy Meyers

Name: Timothy Meyers

Title: General Manager

Organization/Business: Santina Restaurant

What do you do, and how did you get here?

I am the General Manager at Santina Restaurant, owned by Major Food Group. I found my way to Santina by literally circling the Meatpacking for the past decade of work having previously worked for years first at Pastis (oh, how I miss Pastis) and then Catch.

What do you love about Meatpacking?

Meatpacking is a true iteration of contemporary New York City. If you love New York, you must love Meatpacking. If you want to see a neighborhood reinvent itself day to day, stand on the corner of Gansevoort and anywhere and witness this change. There is no where else in this city that you will bump shoulders with tech execs, fashion icons, Meatpacking stalwarts, art tastemakers, world-class restaurateurs and a tourist representing every continent than the 44 acres that make up the Meatpacking District. I get to watch progress happen everyday. Its absolutely thrilling. BUT: my favorite part of the Meatpacking District are the people whom I know and love that also know and love The Meatpacking District.

If you had 15 minutes, how will you spend it in the neighborhood?

Easy: Santina Coconut Iced Coffee and a spot on a bench on The Highline. Mind you 10 of those minutes are spent scoping for the spot on the bench, but well worth the 5 minutes of paradise.

If you had a few hours, how would you ideally spend the day?

The nostalgic part of me says at table 68 at Pastis. Steak tartar and a magazine which likely features a cover shot of the model sitting next to me on my right. Knowing that’s a ways off I’ll start off instead with breakfast at The Standard, shop through Washington Street and visit my friends at Theory. Lunch at Catch Rooftop. That Catch Roll, I cannot avoid it. I will have to spend a few hours at The Whitney because I never have enough time to, and then round the afternoon out at Brass Monkey, with maybe a moment for a piece of pie at Bubbys, outside, alone, so I can eat it all myself!

Where do you go to escape the crowds? People watch?

Typically I would say my office, but someone will find me there for sure. Its great to sit in those bonkers green chairs in the plaza at the entrance to The Whitney (again, scoping for the chair is part of the experience). You might hear a saxophone, you might see an impromptu mime troupe, you might be haggled to buy candy for someones basketball scholarship, or you might blissfully be left alone in a sea of people. All work for me.

Where will you recommend for a great cocktail or bite?

Everyone should eat everything at every restaurant in Meatpacking. And as a long time operator in this neighborhood I am standing by that answer.

What’s your most memorable moment or experience in Meatpacking?

Opening up both Catch and then Santina have meant a tremendous amount to me personally.

Of all the personalities you can think of (whether you know the person or not), whom would you want to grab a drink with?

There is a woman I see walking her dogs everyday as I walk down 9th avenue to which ever place I happen to  be working. For years there were 3 dogs, now only 2. These dogs have grown older more quickly than I wish they had. When I first came to Meatpacking they easily navigated the cobblestones, now I can see she needs to allow for more time to get across 13th or Little West 12th Street. I would love to know the names of those dogs and learn how on earth she ended up with that adorable pack. I have wondered about her for a long time.

What should we know about you outside of work. Hobbies, life, that sort of thing?

I would not possibly dream of boring you with the details of what interests me other than to say I am forever grateful to everyone I have been so blessed to meet in the decade and more that I have been around Meatpacking. I have said to many that this neighborhood and those I have known here have made a man from a boy. Its because of the intensity and concentrated energy within these few blocks that my personality has developed into what it is now. I am a true product of this place and forever grateful to it.