Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect

Guidara and Daniel’s mission statement for Eleven Madison Park became: “To be the four-star restaurant for the next generation” (57). They noted that formal, traditional, high-end restaurants, while still thriving, weren’t at the center of the conversation in their industry; the restaurants that were most exciting were youthful and irreverent and characterized by informality. However, these trendy, up-and-coming restaurants sometimes allowed their hospitality to suffer. Guidara and Daniel wanted EMP to be warmly informal as well, but with excellent hospitality, as well the same high standard of care and intention that was typical of fine dining.

Before he took charge of EMP as the new GM, Guidara’s advance team reported back to him that two factions had formed at the restaurant. The old guard, full of long-time employees who were used to a more lax but personable form of service, was disgruntled; the group of new hires from the fine dining world, in contrast, was concerned with doing things precisely according to their training. Meanwhile, even though EMP had been recently transformed into a fine dining restaurant, complete with a new and complicated menu, the restaurant’s large seating capacity remained the same. Guests grew restless with long wait times, as food took longer to prepare.