Setting the Table The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business

1. Setting the TableThe Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business By Danny Meyer

2. Danny Meyer • Danny Meyer is the President of Union Square Hospitality Group, which includes Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Tabla, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, Shake Shack, The Modern, Cafe 2 and Terrace 5 at New York City's Museum of Modern Art, and Hudson Yards Catering. • Danny, his restaurants and chefs have earned an unprecedented 17 James Beard Awards. • In October, 2006, HarperCollins released Danny's latest book, Setting the Table, examining the power of hospitality in restaurants, business, and life. • An active national leader in the fight against hunger, Danny has long served on the boards of Share Our Strength and City Harvest. • He is equally active in civic affairs, serving on the executive committees of NYC & Co, Union Square Partnership, and the Madison Square Park Conservancy.

3. Description • In October 1985, at age twenty-seven, Danny Meyer, with a good idea and scant experience, opened what would become one of New York City's most revered restaurants—Union Square Cafe. • Little more than twenty years later, Danny is the CEO of one of the world's most dynamic restaurant organizations, which includes eleven unique dining establishments, each at the top of its game. How has he done it? How has he consistently beaten the odds and set the competitive bar in one of the toughest trades around?

4. In this landmark book, Danny shares the lessons he's learned while developing the winning recipe for doing the business he calls "enlightened hospitality." • This innovative philosophy emphasizes putting the power of hospitality to work in a new and counterintuitive way: The first and most important application of hospitality is to the people who work for you, and then, in descending order of priority, to the guests, the community, the suppliers, and the investors. • This way of prioritizing stands the more traditional business models on their heads, but Danny considers it the foundation of every success that he and his restaurants have achieved.

5. Some of Danny's other insights: • Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. These two simple concepts—for and to—express it all. • Context, context, context, trumps the outdated location, location, location. • Shared ownership develops when guests talk about a restaurant as if it's theirs. That sense of affiliation builds trust and invariably leads to repeat business. • Err on the side of generosity: You get more by first giving more. • Wherever your center lies, know it, name it, believe in it. When you cede your core values to someone else, it's time to quit.

6. Setting the Table • Full of behind-the-scenes history on the creation of Danny's most famous restaurants and the anecdotes, advice, and lessons he has accumulated on his long and ecstatic journey to the top of the American restaurant scene, Setting the Table is a treasure trove of innovative insights that are applicable to any business or organization.

7. Chapters • The First Course • In Business • The Restaurant Takes Root • Turning Over the Rocks • Who Ever Wrote the Rule…? • No Turning Back • The 51 Percent Solution • Broadcasting the Message, Tuning in the Feedback

8. Chapters • Constant, Gentle Pressure • The Road to Success is Paved with Mistakes Well Handled • The Virtuous Cycled of Enlightened Hospitality • Context, Context, Context. • The Art of Hospitality

9. Blue Book • Please write a 1 pager for the following chapters • You should be able to use quite a bit from this information in HRT383 • Both in person and in the reports

10. Chapter 1 -The First Course • Please rewrite this chapter “pretending” you have made it big in the Industry. • Please thank all the people that have/will made/make a difference in your life

11. Chapters 2 & 3In Business & The Restaurant Takes Root • Please reflect on the things that went wrong the first week in the RKR and compare these to Danny Meyer’s experience.

12. Chapters 4 & 5Turning Over the RocksWho Ever Wrote the Rule…? • Who Ever Wrote the Rule…? • What would you do different if you had your own restaurant?

13. Chapters 6 & 7No Turning BackThe 51 Percent Solution • Danny Meyer opened 2 restaurant concepts in one location; 11 Madison Park - French Bistro & Tabla – Indian • What 2 concepts would you use?

14. Read Chapter 9 Constant, Gentle Pressure • Are you an effective leader? • Would Danny Meyer hire you? • H/R • Operations • Accounting & Finances • P/R & Marketing • IT • Business Development • Community investment

15. Chapter 10The Road to Success is Paved with Mistakes Well Handled • Please give an example of an error in the RKR and how is was and/or should have been solved

16. Chapters 11 & 12The Virtuous Cycled of Enlightened Hospitality,Context, Context, Context. • What are your “YES” criteria for New Ventures in your life/career

17. Chapter 13The Art of Hospitality • Define “The Art of Hospitality”

18. Statistics indicate that about two-third of restaurants fail within three years of opening. A number of new restaurants tend to fail within the first year of their opening. If you like to know why certain restaurants have been so successful compared to other restaurants, this is the book that I recommend that you read. “Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business” is written by Danny Myer, the most successful and innovative restaurant entrepreneur in New York.

19. Win in the Competitive Restaurant Industry The author answers how a restaurant owner has been able to win in the competitive restaurant industry. Myer has operated Union Square café, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Tabla, Blue Smoky, Jazz Standard, Shake Shack, The Modern, Café 2, and Terrace 5, and Hudson Yards Catering in New York.

20. Offering Hospitality In this book, the author highlights the significance of hospitality as the basis of all his restaurants’ successes. He emphasizes that offering hospitality is far different from simply offering service.

21. Moment of Truth According to the author, hospitality occurs when there is a certain degree of human interaction between service providers and customers. For example, when a hostess greets customers in a restaurant, customers usually note immediately whether the hostess greets them sincerely by evaluating the hostess’s smile, gesture, and eye contact.

22. Hospitality as a Dialogue Furthermore, the author views hospitality as a dialogue between a service provider and customers; he considers service as a monologue which t focuses on technical delivery of a service product. Thus, true hospitality only exists when there is mutual communication between service provider and customers.

23. Who Provides True Hospitality? According to the author, only true, optimistic and team-oriented people have the potential to provide true hospitality to customers; this is not something that one can obtain or improve by simply training one’s employees.

24. Emotion vs. Technique The author contends that he has been able to provide consistent hospitality to his customers because of his restaurants’ rigid employee recruitment policies. More specifically, the author pinpoints five emotional skills-- optimistic warmth, intelligence, work ethnic, empathy, and self-awareness, and integrity-- which he expects his employees to possess. In Meyer’s view, these emotional skills are more important than technical skills in providing hospitality service.

25. Customers’ Personal Information Danny Myer ALSO describes in detail his innovative and competitive service strategy throughout the book. For example, He uses customers’ personal information strategically in providing hospitality. He obtains customers’ personal information tactfully, using a reservation book or online reservation system.

26. Use of OpenTable As a result, his restaurants’ staffs and managers are able to call customers by their last names when the staff greets customers initially, even though the customers are not regular patrons. In addition to the use of customers’ information, the author offers a free dessert wine or a house dessert as a token of hospitality to customers who have to wait a long time to be seated.

27. Please Read This book is easy and enjoyable to read. Meyer explains the multifaceted value of hospitality humorously, relying upon his diverse restaurant operation experiences. This book sheds some value light on the area of service management.