Press Release: 2026 Gotham Book Prize
Gotham Book Prize Announces 2026 Winner: I Regret Almost Everything by Keith McNally
The sixth-annual, $50,000 Gotham Book Prize is awarded to the author of the best book set in or about New York City—and for the first time, will be honored in-person at an event hosted by the Museum of the City of New York
Previous winners include Paradise Bronx by Ian Frazier (2025), Movement by Nicole Gelinas (2025), Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead (2024), The Sewing Girl’s Tale by John Wood Sweet (2023), Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana (2023), Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott (2022), and Deacon King Kong by James McBride (2021)
NEW YORK (May 11, 2026) — Today, the Gotham Book Prize, an annual award first created in the early months of the pandemic to encourage and honor writing about New York City, announced the winner of its sixth-annual prize: I Regret Almost Everything by Keith McNally, the legendary downtown restaurateur and founder of institutions including Balthazar, Minetta Tavern, and The Odeon. The winner, as selected by a jury made up of leading New Yorkers and authors, will receive the $50,000 prize and be celebrated at a new awards ceremony at the Museum of the City of New York on May 28th.
"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," said Keith McNally, winner of the 2026 Gotham Book Prize.
“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,” said Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson, Co-Founders of the Gotham Book Prize.
The Gotham Book Prize was created in mid-2020 by Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson to recognize the culture that has made New York City special for generations and to uplift the creative community during the challenging early months of the pandemic. The $50,000 Gotham Book Prize is awarded annually to the best book published that calendar year, either fiction or nonfiction, that either is about New York City or takes place in New York City.
“The Museum of the City of New York is honored to partner with and host the Gotham Book Prize, a celebration of the writers and storytellers who capture the richness, complexity, and spirit of this city. Books like I Regret Almost Everything remind us that New York’s cultural life is shaped not only by its institutions, but by the voices and lived experiences of the people who define it. We are proud to welcome this important event to the Museum and to be part of recognizing work that reflects and advances New York’s enduring creative legacy,” said Stephanie Hill Wilchfort, Ronay Menschel Director and President, Museum of the City of New York and member of the Gotham Book Prize jury.
Keith McNally, dubbed “The Restaurateur Who Invented Downtown” by the New York Times, founded Balthazar Restaurant, Balthazar Bakery, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, Pravda, Schiller’s Liquor Bar, Morandi, Cherche Midi, Lucky Strike, Nell’s, Café Luxembourg and the Odeon. His flagship restaurant, Balthazar, became one of the most celebrated and imitated brasseries in the world, and helped define downtown Manhattan’s cultural identity for a generation. McNally is the co-author of The Balthazar Cookbook and Schiller’s Liquor Bar Cocktail Collection, and the writer and director of two features, End of the Night and Far from Berlin. He lives in downtown New York.
In I Regret Almost Everything (Gallery Books), Keith McNally takes readers on a journey through his remarkable life, from his working-class roots in London to his current status as one of New York City’s leading restaurateurs and icons. Along the way, McNally details his angst of being a child actor, his early restaurant days as a busboy, the instability of his two marriages and family relationships, his 1980s rise to fame with the Odeon and Nell’s, his time spent writing and directing two films, his devastating stroke in 2016 and his recent Instagram notoriety. The memoir is eloquent, opinionated and often humorous, peppered with stories of his friendships with larger-than-life New York personalities including Anna Wintour, Lorne Michaels, and more.
Previous winners include:
- 2025: Paradise Bronx by Ian Frazier and Movement by Nicole Gelinas
- 2024: Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
- 2023: The Sewing Girl’s Tale by John Wood Sweet and Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana
- 2022: Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott
- 2021: Deacon King Kong by James McBride
Gotham Book Prize co-founder Howard Wolfson works for Bloomberg Philanthropies, serving as its Education program lead. Bradley Tusk, the other co-founder, is a venture capitalist, political strategist, philanthropist, and author. The two became friends while working on Mayor Bloomberg’s 2009 re-election campaign. In May 2022, Tusk opened P&T Knitwear, an independent bookstore event space, and NYC’s only free podcast studio on the Lower East Side, named after a 1950s garment shop operated by his grandfather on Allen Street after surviving the Holocaust and immigrating from a displaced persons camp in Germany.
“From Staten Island to the South Bronx, this year’s finalists take us to landfills, burned out lots, courtrooms, bedrooms, the past and the future. But Keith McNally’s memoir pulls us into an unmistakably Empire State of Mind. Eloquent, ambitious, score-settling, painful, and wise, I Regret Almost Everything is a tour de force,” said Tom Healy, member of the Gotham Book Prize jury.
"I was shocked by how much I loved McNally's book--a moving and masterfully told story of immigration, disability, and the culinary industry that shaped the very fabric of New York City, from the 'lowest' line cooks to A-list celebs. For me, a Gotham Book Prize winner is one where every New Yorker can see their story,” said Patricia Park, a member of the Gotham Book Prize jury.
“Keith McNally transformed the restaurant culture of New York City. He understood that dining is not about food but about connecting with people and his book reveals the intense effort and creativity that led to a new genre that attracted a local and global following. McNally is a brilliant storyteller and restaurateur,” said Mitchell Moss, a member of the Gotham Book Prize jury.
“The Gotham book prize is such an important recognition of works of fiction and nonfiction that celebrate and elaborate on the greatness that is New York City,” said Dr. Christina Greer, member of the Gotham Book Prize jury.
