"Setting the Table" by Danny Meyer

[adegiulio]

...Power of Hospitality in Business"

I started reading this today. It's the story of his entry into the restaurant business and outlines what he thinks is important. It starts off slow, but now it is starting to get interesting...

Anyone else read it or have any comments?

[MichaelB]

...Power of Hospitality in Business"

I started reading this today. It's the story of his entry into the restaurant business and outlines what he thinks is important. It starts off slow, but now it is starting to get interesting...

Anyone else read it or have any comments?

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Picked it up last Tuesday and read it overnight. I enjoyed it, even if there were a few places it dragged. The management style he advocates can be applied in virtually any service business.

[Bux]

I read an advance copy a few months ago. I imaging it's basically the same as published minus most of the typos. It's as much a book about Business as it is about the Restaurant business and as such may require some skimming by those only interested in the restaurant aspect. Note that it's published as a business book and some less than astute booksellers may neglect to put some copies in the food aisle.

Business is not my forte or interest and I found it dragged a bit later on in the book, but only for a while. I've always been a fan of Danny's, yet I've never completely agreed with his philosophy as I understood it. I'll endure less than perfectly hospitable service for great food and not return to a restaurant where the service surpasses the quality of the food. Still, all other things being close to equal, hospitality counts, and it counts more with the general public, than it does with me. Still, truly inhospitable service has driven me from returning to certain restaurants and excellent service has persuaded me to give the food another chance. To an extent, restaurants are like other retail stores and services.

There were some key parts I noted, but unfortunately, I passed those notes on to someone else who was going to read the book after she lent it to me. The one intersting thing about Danny and the USHG, is that they're moving on to "haut-er" cuisine with The Modern and the new chef at Eleven Madison Park. I expect more of that with Mike Anthony at Gramercy Tavern, although I expect that with its high popularity ratings with current diners, he's going to have to make changes slowly. The new menu isn't scheduled for implementation until January.