In 2022, McLaren’s rising star Lando Norris found himself at one of Jack Zimmerman’s restaurants for what was supposed to be a low-key dinner after finishing sixth at the U.S. Grand Prix. The British driver was joined by chart-topper Zedd for a late-night bite at Devil May Care in downtown Austin, which quickly led to the pair jumping behind the DJ booth, with Norris getting an impromptu crash course in mixing tracks. “You don’t tell Zedd he can’t DJ,” Zimmerman, the founder of Nova Hospitality, says with a grin as he recalls the legendary party that eventually spilled next door to his Vegas-style nightclub, Mayfair.
That was the first night I met Zimmerman. It was well past 2am when he ushered me into the glitzy venue where Norris (a hobbyist DJ at the time) was putting on a show for hundreds of racing fans who were thrilled to have scored the hottest after-party ticket in town. But as the celebration raged on, Austin’s undisputed nightlife impresario wasn’t basking in the spotlight. Zimmerman, who has cemented his bars, clubs and restaurants as the hottest of spots when F1 shows up in the Texas capital, quietly slipped away just as the party hit its peak.
