Keith McNally is the most famous restaurateur in a city full of them. Today, he writes in our pages about coming from nothing and rising to the top of New York City’s restaurant world. But there’s another immigrant New Yorker who works at the beating heart of McNally’s bustling Balthazar. His name is Cheikhou Niane, and below he shares his story of coming to America and hacking it in the Big Apple. Today, we’re proud to publish these two very different immigrant stories together—the busboy and the boss—united by pride in their work and by the American dream. —The Editors
“In America, you can pick money up off the floor.”
That is what my friend Nata told me in 1987. He had just moved to New York City from our native Senegal. When we would talk on the phone, he would tell me how great life was there: “If you have a chance to come to New York,” he said, “you must come.”
I wanted a better life than the one I had. My childhood was a humble one. My family was poor. There were 11 of us living on a small farm where we grew corn, beans, and nuts. At 18, I moved to Dakar, Senegal’s largest city, and sold jewelry to help support my family. I wanted something more. After Nata’s calls, I dreamed about a place where the streets were full of money and opportunity. So I saved up to buy a one-way plane ticket. I was 26 when I left. My father had just died, and the journey felt urgent. I was certain that in America, I could make enough money to support my mother, four brothers, and four sisters. I didn’t speak any English, only my native Wolof. But I knew how to say “Hotel Bryant.” That was where Nata had told me to meet him, and I would figure out the rest from there.
