David Schwimmer toasts the fine-dining world in ‘Feed the Beast’

David Schwimmer is certainly no stranger to the fine dining scene — especially in the River West neighborhood where he still maintains a part-time Chicago residence. However, the actor admitted he would have liked to have had a bit more time to prepare for his culinary role on “Feed the Beast.”

In the new 10-part AMC drama series (debuting at 9 p.m. on Sunday), Schwimmer plays Tommy Moran, who opens a high-end Greek restaurant in the Bronx with his lifelong friend Dion Patras (Jim Sturgess), who recently has been released from prison but secretly still owes a lot of money to the Mob.

“Unfortunately, because I was so busy doing press for [‘American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson’], I only had about three days to get ready for this project,” said Schwimmer, calling from New York earlier this week.

Yet, even with that limited amount of time, Schwimmer reached out to a number of the top sommeliers in New York (where the new series is set and filmed) and “asked them if they could please carve out some time in their schedules to give me a crash course. … I obviously know how to open a bottle of wine and pour. After all, I spent seven years working as a waiter. But to appear realistic as a [wine expert] and co-owner of a fine-dining Greek restaurant, I wanted to capture all the right nuances.

“In the first episode, for example, I don’t only open the bottles but have to talk knowledgeably about the various vintages. I needed an education. After all, these [sommeliers] are amazing. When they open a bottle, it is truly a thing of beauty! It is so effortless and graceful. One som came to my house, and I simply videotaped him opening bottles, and describing them, and pouring them, and presenting the bottle. I then studied those videotapes and tried to mimic what he did.

“I wanted to hope the sommeliers who are out there would watch me and think I knew what I was doing!”

His Tommy Moran in “Feed the Beast” is an emotionally damaged man and single father to a 10-year-old mixed-race son, who witnessed the tragic death of his mother — and has not spoken one word in the year since.

From Schwimmer’s point of view, the fact that he is married and the father of a 5-year-old daughter “really does give me a much greater perspective as a father and husband. … I think it gives me more of a depth of understanding of the kind of pain Tommy Moran must be going through. … These characters in this series are broken people who are trying to put the pieces of their lives back together.”

That was a big part of his attraction to “Feed the Beast”: “Frankly, I’m drawn to characters like that — people who are flawed or damaged and trying to improve their lot in life.”

Becoming involved in this project naturally included Schwimmer getting to work closely with “The Way Back” actor Sturgess — “a lovely guy, but it was lucky that we just got on with each other as soon as we met. Of course, we have very different energies in terms of our characters.”

As we chatted, Schwimmer noted there’s a bit of an irony between his real life and this new TV series. “In Chicago, I do live in Greek Town, and in the show we’re opening a high-end Greek restaurant,” but the actor pointed out that the eatery created for “Feed the Beast” is not “like anything I’ve set foot in before.”

That said, the fictional restaurant does share an atmosphere with many places where he’s dined in both New York and Chicago. “It’s a reclaimed old piano factory that has been completely gutted and redone as a restaurant. You see the history of the place, with all the old pianos in the background, but turned into something kind of new.”

As our conversation turned to Chicago, where Schwimmer has maintained a connection since his years at Northwestern, the former “Friends” star exclaimed, “I can’t believe how much my neighborhood has changed since I first bought my condo some 15 years ago or so,” noting the huge increase in au courant restaurants opening in the area, plus such high-profile venues as the tony Soho House private club.

Schwimmer confirmed that his Chicago ties will continue and he even pointed to a new project he’s shepherding for his beloved Lookingglass Theater in Streeterville. “There’s a play I discovered in London, and I’m working with the playwright and director to adapt it for the city of Chicago.”

The play, “Beyond Caring,” written by Alexander Zeldin, is, according to Schwimmer, “a great play that we are reconstructing to address temp workers in Chicago.” It will open in March at Lookingglass.

Recently, Schwimmer snared great reviews for his performance as attorney Robert Kardashian in Ryan Murphy’s “The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.” What really blew Schwimmer’s mind was “the fact it became like a watercooler show. I didn’t think that was possible anymore — something people would talk about during the week and look forward to watching the next episode.”

Before we parted, I had to ask Schwimmer if it took any arm-twisting on the part of the “Late Late Show” producers to get him to participate in host James Corden’s rapping duel. Thebit — which included a rap-off with Rebel Wilson the night Schwimmer was on — featured quite a few jabs at Schwimmer’s decade-long run on “Friends.”

Schwimmer laughed heartily and said he fully expected the “Friends” tweaks. “I was fully aware that I’d have to take those hits, when I agreed to do it. It was a total blast.

“Listen, if you can’t laugh at yourself, you might as well hang it up!”