Restaurateur and real estate developer Darryl Settles, 56, came onto the Boston restaurant scene in 1990 with Bob the Chef’s, a soul-food spot in the South End. After a few name changes and ownership shifts, Settles is back in control with Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen in the same space, serving catfish and fried chicken. In June, he took over Slade’s Bar & Grill in Roxbury Crossing, another Southern spot with live music. Settles — also a founder of the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival — reflects on chicken and waffles, Boston’s lack of late-night dancing for a mature crowd, and Will Smith.
What’s the first restaurant you ever ate at in Boston? Legal Sea Foods, the one in the Back Bay. I had the seafood casserole. I’m originally from South Carolina, and I came here from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. Our waiter recommended the seafood casserole, and I absolutely loved it. You wouldn’t eat it too often because it’s so incredibly rich, but that was my first meal.
What’s one thing you’d like to fix about the restaurant industry here? I wish we had more people of color working in the front of the house, other than host, hostess, or busser. You don’t see people of color as bartenders, managers, or wait staff often enough.
How has the restaurant landscape changed since you arrived in Boston? We have a lot more options. I came here as an engineer, and then I got into sales and marketing for Digital. Back then, unlike today, I had an unlimited expense account, but few options for lunch and dinner. Now, I tell people all the time, I could recommend 100 restaurants to anyone and feel confident that they’d have a good time. In the early 1980s, there weren’t 20 great restaurants in the city.
What other restaurants do you visit? I love Scampo, Island Creek Oyster Bar, Yvonne’s in the old Locke-Ober, and OAK Long Bar + Kitchen. An old standby that’s as great as it was 20 years ago is Abe & Louie’s. And I love the bar scene at Barcelona in Brookline.
What’s your earliest food memory that made you think, “I want to work in restaurants? Being from the South, Sunday is a big day, and every Sunday after church you’d go to a relative’s home for dinner and pack the house with 20 to 40 people, kids and adults, and that’s how I grew up. Meat loaf, pork chops, barbecued ribs, lasagna! And you’d always have staples: collard greens, mac and cheese, candied yams, and potato salad.
What’s the worst restaurant experience you’ve ever had? Last year, in 2016, we went to Charleston, S.C., for a conference for my wife. We went to a restaurant called Stars on a Thursday at 6 p.m. It was highly recommended by our hotel. It was empty, beautiful, but they told us they had no seats for us. I looked at the guy, like, ‘Are you serious?’ I called for a manager, and the manager came and literally took us to a corner seat in the very back of the restaurant. It was just incredible. They didn’t even apologize. We left.
How could Boston become a better food city? I think it’s one of the best food cities in America. It’s thriving. A good restaurant is coming out every day. I don’t think you can compare these times to any time in Boston’s past. In mostly every wonderful neighborhood, there is a thriving day and night scene.
Name three adjectives for Boston diners. Knowledgeable, adventurous, happy.
What’s the most overdone trend right now? Fried chicken and waffles. Everyone is trying to do it, and most do a horrible job.
What are you reading? I read newspapers and magazines on a daily basis — I’m very interested in what’s happening in the minority business community. I read Forbes, Fast Company, Inc.
How’s your commute? It’s very easy, a 10- to 15-minute drive. I live at exit 17 off the Mass Pike, in Newton, and two of my businesses are three blocks apart, and my real estate office is five minutes from there.
What’s the one food you never want to cook again? I’m an adventurous eater! I can’t think of anything that gives me nightmares.
What kind of restaurant is Boston missing right now? An active, contemporary restaurant with a happening bar scene with dancing for adults in their thirties, forties, and up. I hear that request on a weekly basis from diners. It’s just a huge complaint.
What’s your most missed Boston restaurant? Jasper’s was a happening spot. I loved the bar scene; it was one of Boston’s best bar scenes. It was packed, every night.
Who was your most memorable customer? Will Smith! He came to the old Bob the Chef’s restaurant, he and his current wife. They were young, funny, and outgoing. She was pregnant at the time. Most entertainers are cordial, but they let you know not to interrupt them and talk for a half-hour. I sat down and dined with him, he gave out autographs, and he was very happy to be there.
If you had to eat your last meal in Boston, what would it be? I’d go to Lydia Shire’s Scampo, and I’d have her cook me something special, because she’s very creative and she loves exciting foods. And I’d have a nice bottle of high-end champagne.
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com.
