Setting the Table
The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business
By Danny Meyer
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.
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?



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.
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Context, context, context, trumps the outdated location,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.
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.
Chapters
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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
Chapters
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
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
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
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
Chapters 2 & 3
In 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.
Chapters 4 & 5
Turning Over the Rocks
Who Ever Wrote the Rule…?


Who Ever Wrote the Rule…?
What would you do different if you had your
own restaurant?
Chapters 6 & 7
No Turning Back
The 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?
Read Chapter *
Broadcasting the Message






Press
Food Critics in NY
Fixing Problems
Complaint Letters
P/R
Who are the Food Critics in LA?
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

Chapter 10
The 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
Chapters 11 & 12
The Virtuous Cycled of
Enlightened Hospitality,
Context, Context, Context.

What are your “YES” criteria for New
Ventures in your life/career
Chapter 13
The Art of Hospitality

Define “The Art of Hospitality”
Statistics indicate that about twothird 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.