The real-life “Soup Nazi”, immortalized in the Seinfeld episode of the same name, is franchising his soup outlets across North America. And it seems like tthe episode was not too far off the mark, when it comes to his behavior.
The brusque chef who inspired Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi” episode is franchising across North America, but don’t expect the rude New York treatment at the hundreds of planned take-out soup outlets.Franchisees from Princeton to Toronto won’t shout “No soup for you!” at customers. They’ll be “strongly discouraged” from mentioning the “Soup Nazi” or comedian Jerry Seinfeld, whom chef Al Yeganeh claims he made famous.Franchise employees and customers will be under Yeganeh’s watchful eye via WebCam, and would-be soup buyers will have to follow Yeganeh’s strict posted rules, like “Have your money ready!” and “Move to the extreme left after ordering!”Yeganeh, owner of Soup Kitchen International, a midtown Manhattan tourist attraction since the 1995 Seinfeld episode, has even tougher rules for journalists: Only e-mailed questions will be answered and no personal or follow-up questions are allowed. Yeganeh hung up on an Associated Press reporter who had lined up an interview — before a single question was asked — then refused all further requests for an interview.Yeganeh and his partners aim to franchise 1,000 outlets at shopping mall food courts, airport kiosks and other high-traffic U.S. and Canadian locations within seven years; they’ve signed deals for 123 so far.They also plan to sell refrigerated soup in markets, starting soon with five in New York and northern New Jersey.
