Yeganeh, who banned Jerry Seinfeld from his stall after the “Soup Nazi” episode aired in November 1995, lives just a short walk from his original soup stall, but did not show up for a ceremonial cutting of a zucchini to reopen the venue.

“That’s his mystique,” said Bertrand. “He’s an artist and all artists are a little bit eccentric. This is his passion, he takes pride and he takes his soup very, very seriously.

But while the “Soup Nazi” character made his famous, “he’s never embraced Seinfeld,”