Keith McNally has won the 2026 Gotham Book Prize, given annually to a book about New York City, for his memoir, I Regret Almost Everything.
McNally’s book, published last year by Gallery, is an account of the London-born restaurateur’s life and career running such celebrated Manhattan eateries as Odeon, Cafe Luxembourg, and Balthazar. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the memoir “rueful, self-aware, chatty, entertaining, dazzling, and harrowing: a book that contains multitudes.”
Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson, co-founders of the prize, said in a statement, “Keith McNally’s I Regret Almost Everything is the epitome of what makes New York City so unique. It is an immigrant story. It is a cultural history. And like our city, it is a testament to resilience. McNally has long been recognized for his culinary achievements, and now having written a memoir that so masterfully captures life in New York, we are honored to award his literary achievements too with this year’s Gotham Book Prize.”
McNally said, “Moving to New York City is one of the few things I don’t regret. I love everything about New York, and I’m honored that my book was chosen for its depiction of what I believe is the most riveting city in the world.”
The Gotham Book Prize, which comes with a cash award of $50,000, was established in 2020. Previous winners include Deacon King Kong by James McBride, Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott, and Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead.
McNally will be honored at a ceremony at the Museum of the City of New York on May 28.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
