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Hospitalidade Irracional
Will Guidara was twenty-six when he took the helm of Eleven Madison Park, a struggling two-star brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic room. Eleven years later, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world.
How did Guidara pull off this unprecedented transformation? Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. Guidara’s team surprised a family who had never seen snow with a magical sledding trip to Central Park after their dinner; they filled a private dining room with sand, complete with mai-tais and beach chairs, to console a couple with a cancelled vacation. And his hospitality extended beyond those dining at the restaurant to his own team, who learned to deliver praise and criticism with intention; why the answer to some of the most pernicious business dilemmas is to give more—not less; and the magic that can happen when a busser starts thinking like an owner.
Today, every business can choose to be a hospitality business—and we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences. Featuring sparkling stories of his journey through restaurants, with the industry’s most famous players like Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer, Guidara urges us all to find the magic in what we do—for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve.
How did Guidara pull off this unprecedented transformation? Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. Guidara’s team surprised a family who had never seen snow with a magical sledding trip to Central Park after their dinner; they filled a private dining room with sand, complete with mai-tais and beach chairs, to console a couple with a cancelled vacation. And his hospitality extended beyond those dining at the restaurant to his own team, who learned to deliver praise and criticism with intention; why the answer to some of the most pernicious business dilemmas is to give more—not less; and the magic that can happen when a busser starts thinking like an owner.
Today, every business can choose to be a hospitality business—and we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences. Featuring sparkling stories of his journey through restaurants, with the industry’s most famous players like Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer, Guidara urges us all to find the magic in what we do—for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2022
8202 people are currently reading
53066 people want to read
About the author
Will Guidara
8 books157 followersWill Guidara is a graduate of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. He began his dining room training at Spago Beverly Hills and attended culinary school in the North of Spain. Prior to joining Eleven Madison Park, he served as the director of operations of the restaurants at The Museum of Modern Art. He became general manager of Eleven Madison Park in 2006.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,654 reviews
January 15, 2023
Let me start by saying that I'm not in the hospitality business, but have certainly worked in service and have a service-oriented career, so I'm kind of the audience, but not also really for the book. I was just... whelmed.
The thing is, it's an average book about management. Great story - Guidara details his meteoric rise in the storied Eleven Madison Park, from being a student at Cornell's hospitality program and working his way up in Danny Meyer's restaurant empire - it just didn't necessarily resonate with me in a few ways. Specifically, most of the book is focused on the 7 years in which he and his partner, Daniel Humm, transformed the restaurant from a 3-star brasserie starting at the bottom of the list of the top 50 restaurants in the world, to being named literally the best restaurant in the world. Instead of focusing on the specifics of this journey, however, Guidara spends a lot of pages peddling old business adages that are then summarized in a quippy bolded sentence seemingly for the TL;DR crowd.
To his credit, a lot of these are oldies but goodies. Anyone who's worked in their lives appreciates a leader who is inclusive and apologizes; promotes from within; invests in their teams, etc. But I can also get those lessons from listening to any business management podcast or reading any number of memoirs. What was most valuable from someone who ran Eleven Madison Park were the stories of specific, bespoke experiences that elevated this restaurant over others by offering what he keeps referring to - the unreasonable hospitality of it all. Yet, those stories are relegated in a quick montage in one of the last chapters of the book after sitting through very basic lessons on business. Because there's such a saturation of management books, I really need any that I spend time on to be exceptional, and the fact that not once does he talk about compensation for his dedicated staff (not taking credit for their work, not laying anyone off, promoting from within are all, imo, extremely reasonable hospitality to one's employees) makes me take the whole thing less seriously.
It's also not lost on me that this book comes out at the height of the nepo baby discourse in the zeitgeist. His dad is a mentioned a lot as a mentor, as is Guidara's age, but the connections are rarely made. The access he had to the hospitality from childhood; the getting a job from his dad to learn about management, the access to Cornell and thus to Daniel Boulud, the financial backing of working at a company like Danny Meyer's empire... it's rough to then read words like "oh, everyone can do this, and not just fine dining restaurants." Yes, I'm sure that a lot of GMs can dish out a few bucks for a monster bag size of candy, but the brain power it requires is often taken up by how they're going to stay afloat, feed their families, etc. Everyone understands the paper thin margins most independent restaurants are running on. I'm not going to expect my hole in the wall take out place to give extras, because during a recession, they can't fall back on profits from Shake Shack to hold them over.
Is it good that a fine-dining restaurant breaks the tradition of not allowing their staff to dine there because a lot of old ones are elitist and awful? Of course, but I'm not giving gold stars to basic human decency. Treating people decently? It's okay. Could use improvement.
Now, if Daniel Humm wants to take that private instagram where they record all the "Legends" (little (or sometimes big) things they do for guests) and detail the Dream Weavers and turn that into a book - I'm there. That's the experience I'm looking for in a book about unreasonable hospitality, rather than a lesson I could get turning on CNBC.
The thing is, it's an average book about management. Great story - Guidara details his meteoric rise in the storied Eleven Madison Park, from being a student at Cornell's hospitality program and working his way up in Danny Meyer's restaurant empire - it just didn't necessarily resonate with me in a few ways. Specifically, most of the book is focused on the 7 years in which he and his partner, Daniel Humm, transformed the restaurant from a 3-star brasserie starting at the bottom of the list of the top 50 restaurants in the world, to being named literally the best restaurant in the world. Instead of focusing on the specifics of this journey, however, Guidara spends a lot of pages peddling old business adages that are then summarized in a quippy bolded sentence seemingly for the TL;DR crowd.
To his credit, a lot of these are oldies but goodies. Anyone who's worked in their lives appreciates a leader who is inclusive and apologizes; promotes from within; invests in their teams, etc. But I can also get those lessons from listening to any business management podcast or reading any number of memoirs. What was most valuable from someone who ran Eleven Madison Park were the stories of specific, bespoke experiences that elevated this restaurant over others by offering what he keeps referring to - the unreasonable hospitality of it all. Yet, those stories are relegated in a quick montage in one of the last chapters of the book after sitting through very basic lessons on business. Because there's such a saturation of management books, I really need any that I spend time on to be exceptional, and the fact that not once does he talk about compensation for his dedicated staff (not taking credit for their work, not laying anyone off, promoting from within are all, imo, extremely reasonable hospitality to one's employees) makes me take the whole thing less seriously.
It's also not lost on me that this book comes out at the height of the nepo baby discourse in the zeitgeist. His dad is a mentioned a lot as a mentor, as is Guidara's age, but the connections are rarely made. The access he had to the hospitality from childhood; the getting a job from his dad to learn about management, the access to Cornell and thus to Daniel Boulud, the financial backing of working at a company like Danny Meyer's empire... it's rough to then read words like "oh, everyone can do this, and not just fine dining restaurants." Yes, I'm sure that a lot of GMs can dish out a few bucks for a monster bag size of candy, but the brain power it requires is often taken up by how they're going to stay afloat, feed their families, etc. Everyone understands the paper thin margins most independent restaurants are running on. I'm not going to expect my hole in the wall take out place to give extras, because during a recession, they can't fall back on profits from Shake Shack to hold them over.
Is it good that a fine-dining restaurant breaks the tradition of not allowing their staff to dine there because a lot of old ones are elitist and awful? Of course, but I'm not giving gold stars to basic human decency. Treating people decently? It's okay. Could use improvement.
Now, if Daniel Humm wants to take that private instagram where they record all the "Legends" (little (or sometimes big) things they do for guests) and detail the Dream Weavers and turn that into a book - I'm there. That's the experience I'm looking for in a book about unreasonable hospitality, rather than a lesson I could get turning on CNBC.
February 18, 2024
I LOOOVEDDD this book!! If any of the following 3 things apply to you, you’ve gotta read this:
1. You love Richie’s staging episode in season 2 of The Bear.
2. You’re business minded, lead in any aspect, or are honestly just employed.
3. You care about people.
1. You love Richie’s staging episode in season 2 of The Bear.
2. You’re business minded, lead in any aspect, or are honestly just employed.
3. You care about people.
December 23, 2022
Reading this book I learned that we all are in the hospitality business, it is all on how we make people feel.
April 25, 2023
Insufferable
I have reasonable expectations for most business books to deliver on the premise in their title. Sadly I am often disappointed that most business books could have been summed up in 1 page. And so, like always, I had reasonable expectations about Unreasonable Hospitality.
It was worse.
This isn’t a business book. It was an autobiography. There are no “a-ha” moments. It’s just a story - his story. The tone was bland sometimes and arrogant most times. It felt very formulaic and lacked any personality or humility. It was just chapter after chapter of “this happened, this problem arose and here’s how I fixed it.” Big emphasis on “I.”
I don’t think it helps to have your restaurant friends high five you and give you rave reviews on a book that contributes nothing new or interesting to the world. This is what I assume happened here because there’s no way this grueling bore of a book could get such good ratings.
Here are two quotes from the book that sum up how highly he thinks of himself.
“In moments like this, in an effort to not look bad in front of their team, leaders tend to brush mistakes under the rug, foolishly hoping that everyone will forget they’ve happened. Instead, I once again stood up in pre-meal to take responsibility and apologize.”
This one is a humble brag. “I’m better than other leaders.” Okay dude.
“I overheard the four guests crowing about the culinary adventures they’d had in New York: “We’ve been everywhere! Daniel, Per Se, Momofuku, now Eleven Madison Park. The only thing we didn’t eat was a street hot dog.” If you’d been in the dining room that day, you’d have seen an animated bulb appear over my head, like in a cartoon.
I dropped the dirty dishes off in the kitchen and ran out to buy a hot dog from Abraham, who manned the Sabrett’s cart on our corner. Then the hard part: I brought the hot dog back to the kitchen and asked Daniel to plate it. He looked at me like I’d gone crazy. I was always trying to push the boundaries, but serving what New Yorkers call a dirty-water dog at a four-star restaurant? I held my ground and told him to trust me—that it was important to me—and he finally agreed to cut the hot dog into four perfect pieces, adding a swoosh of mustard, a swoosh of ketchup, and perfect quenelles of sauerkraut and relish to each plate.
Before we brought out their final savory course, I admitted to the guests that I’d been eavesdropping: “We’re thrilled you chose us for your last meal in New York, but we didn’t want you to go home with any culinary regrets,” I said, as the kitchen servers set the artistically plated hot dog sections down at each place. They freaked out.
I had given away thousands of dishes, and many, many (many) thousands of dollars’ worth of food by that point in my career, and yet I can confidently say that nobody had ever responded the way that table responded to that hot dog. In fact, before they left, each person at the table told me it was the highlight not only of the meal, but of their trip to New York. They’d be telling the story for the rest of their lives.”
I read this out loud to a friend at the airport while we waited on our flight and some people nearby were listening and they all bust out laughing. One guy said “my parents ran restaurants. That was ridiculous what you just read.”
One of the worst books I have ever read. Ever.
I have reasonable expectations for most business books to deliver on the premise in their title. Sadly I am often disappointed that most business books could have been summed up in 1 page. And so, like always, I had reasonable expectations about Unreasonable Hospitality.
It was worse.
This isn’t a business book. It was an autobiography. There are no “a-ha” moments. It’s just a story - his story. The tone was bland sometimes and arrogant most times. It felt very formulaic and lacked any personality or humility. It was just chapter after chapter of “this happened, this problem arose and here’s how I fixed it.” Big emphasis on “I.”
I don’t think it helps to have your restaurant friends high five you and give you rave reviews on a book that contributes nothing new or interesting to the world. This is what I assume happened here because there’s no way this grueling bore of a book could get such good ratings.
Here are two quotes from the book that sum up how highly he thinks of himself.
“In moments like this, in an effort to not look bad in front of their team, leaders tend to brush mistakes under the rug, foolishly hoping that everyone will forget they’ve happened. Instead, I once again stood up in pre-meal to take responsibility and apologize.”
This one is a humble brag. “I’m better than other leaders.” Okay dude.
“I overheard the four guests crowing about the culinary adventures they’d had in New York: “We’ve been everywhere! Daniel, Per Se, Momofuku, now Eleven Madison Park. The only thing we didn’t eat was a street hot dog.” If you’d been in the dining room that day, you’d have seen an animated bulb appear over my head, like in a cartoon.
I dropped the dirty dishes off in the kitchen and ran out to buy a hot dog from Abraham, who manned the Sabrett’s cart on our corner. Then the hard part: I brought the hot dog back to the kitchen and asked Daniel to plate it. He looked at me like I’d gone crazy. I was always trying to push the boundaries, but serving what New Yorkers call a dirty-water dog at a four-star restaurant? I held my ground and told him to trust me—that it was important to me—and he finally agreed to cut the hot dog into four perfect pieces, adding a swoosh of mustard, a swoosh of ketchup, and perfect quenelles of sauerkraut and relish to each plate.
Before we brought out their final savory course, I admitted to the guests that I’d been eavesdropping: “We’re thrilled you chose us for your last meal in New York, but we didn’t want you to go home with any culinary regrets,” I said, as the kitchen servers set the artistically plated hot dog sections down at each place. They freaked out.
I had given away thousands of dishes, and many, many (many) thousands of dollars’ worth of food by that point in my career, and yet I can confidently say that nobody had ever responded the way that table responded to that hot dog. In fact, before they left, each person at the table told me it was the highlight not only of the meal, but of their trip to New York. They’d be telling the story for the rest of their lives.”
I read this out loud to a friend at the airport while we waited on our flight and some people nearby were listening and they all bust out laughing. One guy said “my parents ran restaurants. That was ridiculous what you just read.”
One of the worst books I have ever read. Ever.
August 15, 2023
“Kim there’s people that are dying.” There’s some good, or maybe, fun stuff in this book, but more often than not it boils down to the question, is hospitality motivated by profit actually hospitality?
April 12, 2025
I had high expectations for this book and it delivered. This book brings together so many things I love to learn about: leadership, the best restaurants in the world, and joyful extravagance. It’s the perfect balance of stories and principles; you’re given meat but with plenty of sauce 😄
I’ve been interested in the best restaurants in the world for 12+ years ever since I was transfixed half way in my driveway reading about Alinea and Noma in the Wall Street Journal magazine until it was so dark I couldn’t read the page anymore. So while hearing the story of Daniel Humm and Will Guidara’s restaurant evolution was deeply rewarding, hearing the cheerleaders along the way from Daniel Boulud to Magnus Nilsson felt like something akin to a family reunion.
But beyond my own niche interests, Guidara writes with great joy and generosity about the principles of unreasonable hospitality and inspires us all to go the extra mile to serve and love people just a little more.
I’ve been interested in the best restaurants in the world for 12+ years ever since I was transfixed half way in my driveway reading about Alinea and Noma in the Wall Street Journal magazine until it was so dark I couldn’t read the page anymore. So while hearing the story of Daniel Humm and Will Guidara’s restaurant evolution was deeply rewarding, hearing the cheerleaders along the way from Daniel Boulud to Magnus Nilsson felt like something akin to a family reunion.
But beyond my own niche interests, Guidara writes with great joy and generosity about the principles of unreasonable hospitality and inspires us all to go the extra mile to serve and love people just a little more.
July 3, 2025
I really loved this book! I loved how it not only talked about the importance of living with intention, but gave practical steps about how to live with intention in all areas of your life. One thing I am still thinking through is that it seems that often times Will was driven by accolades. Now, I am not in the restaurant business, and I do think Will more often than not trusted his gut on building his business, I am still pondering what it looks like to not be so reliant on outsider praise. Too vulnerable? Well, on another note, if anyone wants to chat about The Bear, hit my line.
January 13, 2024
Loved this for a bunch of reasons!! The theme of going above and beyond to make people happy was contagious. I loved the creativity of the Legends - the idea that you are providing someone with a personal story, rather than just a lavish experience. In a world moving towards automation, it shined a light on the joy and irreplaceability of human interaction. It also made me want to think of ways to implement unreasonable hospitality in my job & life.
“Adversity is a terrible thing to waste”
“When you start focusing on extending the charitable assumption to the people around you, you find yourself giving it to yourself a bit more as well”
“While it was a terrible experience, it was also a privileged peek at a mistake I never wanted to make”
“You must be able to name for yourself why your work matters”
“Adversity is a terrible thing to waste”
“When you start focusing on extending the charitable assumption to the people around you, you find yourself giving it to yourself a bit more as well”
“While it was a terrible experience, it was also a privileged peek at a mistake I never wanted to make”
“You must be able to name for yourself why your work matters”
March 21, 2023
This was a fun read. I love learning about worlds I have absolutely no business knowing anything about—the inner workings of the nyc fine dining / restaurant scene is one of those worlds.
Also, it was amazing to realize toward the end of the book that the author is married to Christina Tosi (Milk Bar founder). He writes about how they met which I shamelessly loved.
This book gave me one main takeaway: to be more attentive and thoughtful not only to those I come across in my work, but also to the loved ones in my life.
Also, it was amazing to realize toward the end of the book that the author is married to Christina Tosi (Milk Bar founder). He writes about how they met which I shamelessly loved.
This book gave me one main takeaway: to be more attentive and thoughtful not only to those I come across in my work, but also to the loved ones in my life.
April 19, 2024
Listened as an audio book and loved every minute. As someone who has worked mostly in the hospitality industry, I genuinely loved hearing and learning from Guidara! I would highly recommend to anyone, especially if you work in an industry that works with people.
July 28, 2023
I loved this book. I haven’t shut up about it since I started reading it (my coworkers can confirm this). It had so many great lessons about leadership, managing a team, striving for excellence, etc. that I actually went to find a highlighter (and settled for a yellow Crayola marker). Highly recommend.
January 28, 2024
If you’ve been around me in the past few weeks, I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about this book because it has simply been that good. Hospitality is so important in this life, and there are so many different ways to do it. I’ve always loved the way that food brings people together and this book only added to that. This book is inspiring in so many ways. So now, who wants to join me at Eleven Madison Park???
February 28, 2025
The last thing I expected when I picked up a nonfiction book about hospitality was to cry, the stories of people's thoughtfulness and hospitality were truly beautiful.
July 1, 2025
One of my new favorite books!! I love how it challenged me to think about hospitality vs service, active creativity, leadership, and intentionality :)
July 10, 2025
I LOVED this book!! So many things to think about in relation to ministry and loving people well. And, it's all in the context of food and restaurants, so what else is there for me to say?! :)
December 18, 2025
one of my top books of the year hands down.
November 5, 2024
This book is great (@Rainer). Also wildly spiritual but disguised as not (very aware author is probs not Christian haha). HOSPITALITY!!!!! A fruit of the spirit 💅🏼 (not a gift of the spirit, fight me on this). ‘twas a fun read and an informative one. I so want to grow in this discipline. To “give people more than they expect”. What a godly mission. I hope that one day when people think of me they think “she’s so hospitable”. How slay would that be. A lot of quotes taken. Peep them. I want to actually take his ideas to heart and implement inside my salt company and church. And personal life ofc. Book also made me miss waitressing hahaha. What a magical job *sigh*. OKAY BYE IM VERY BEHIND ON MY 2024 GOAL 😭
June 29, 2025
Perfect book to read before starting something new. Also new dream unlocked to eat at one of the restaurants in this book !! Until then maybe I’ll just order some granola from the website
March 27, 2023
Fun read. Will Guidara shares reflections on leadership and his philosophy of “unreasonable hospitality” based on his career in various roles from Union Square Hospitality to running his own hospitality group (and eventually taking Eleven Madison Park to the #1 rated restaurant in the world). Fun reading all the ways they’d surprise & delight customers (putting coins in the parking meter for guests, serving up a special hot dog, etc.). A lot of the same themes as Danny Meyer’s “Setting the Table”. Knocked a star because nothing about it was super earth shattering, but still enjoyed it.
February 23, 2025
this was specifically focused on hospitality which i’ve never thought much about other than- “oh my server is so funny/kind”. with dining, food always is front of mind, but i never considered the effort it takes to orchestrate a great dining experience.
takeaways: the little things matter, stay disciplined and in budget for 95% so you can feel guiltless and be extravagant for 5%. going the extra mile to think about how you make someone feel and how you can better curate their experience will always be worth it, even if there’s an upfront cost. alas, so many ties to ux.
i had ~15 pages left of this, i went to a birthday dinner at buddakan and realized that the hospitality that our server treated us with was half the reason why our dining experience was so good. after reading this, i’ll be bringing new eyes to restaurants (and any other services).
takeaways: the little things matter, stay disciplined and in budget for 95% so you can feel guiltless and be extravagant for 5%. going the extra mile to think about how you make someone feel and how you can better curate their experience will always be worth it, even if there’s an upfront cost. alas, so many ties to ux.
i had ~15 pages left of this, i went to a birthday dinner at buddakan and realized that the hospitality that our server treated us with was half the reason why our dining experience was so good. after reading this, i’ll be bringing new eyes to restaurants (and any other services).
February 2, 2025
Not sure I’ll remember a ton of specifics from this book, but I like the idea of doing more than people expect you to do. Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
March 17, 2025
Honestly loooooved this and Jessi put it perfectly that this business book read just like a memoir, which is why it was so enjoyable. Learning can be so fun when the teacher opens himself up to generously honest depictions of his great, mediocre, and troubling experiences.
May 21, 2025
I’m going to preface this with a few points real quick.
1.) I had to read this book for work however I’m no stranger to self-help/leadership books. I majored in Business Administration for my undergrad so imagine how many of these types of books I’ve had to read lol
2.) I’m not in the food service industry although where I work, we interact with people every day and engage in common customer service tactics. I worked in food service as a teenager for a couple years so I’m familiar with some things. I’m sure this book works differently for people who work in the food service industry.
3.) The author is a nepo baby. I think when talking about success nowadays you must disclose that, and the author tries his hardest not to mention this fact but lets it slip up sometimes. His father is also a successful restaurateur and in chapter 6 the author admits that his father had helped him gain opportunities for employment.
Now let’s get to my actual thoughts…
THIS IS A MEMOIR NOT A SELF-HELP BOOK
I know, I know y’all are probably thinking “But Ryn! This is marketed as a self-help hospitality book”. And it is, you’re right. It’s like 25% self-help book 75% memoir.
The book promises to teach you the hospitality teachings Guidara developed and honed during his time at Eleven Madison Park. However, this feels like a Buzzfeed article with how many buzzwords and phrases are scattered throughout this book. You’ll be 6 paragraphs deep into a section about how they served a customer a hot dog from a cart outside before being hit with a title like,
TREAT YOUR CUSTOMERS LIKE THEY’RE YOUR FAMILY
Oh, wow basic human connection and empathy drives up business? Who would’ve guessed!?
You could essentially read the little TLDR bolded phrases in each chapter and get the same experience from the book as someone who read it all the way through. Because, trust me, Guidara gives us the most basic business lessons interspersed within VERY specific stories of his time at Eleven Madison Park. Which, once again, may work for those working in the food service industry. But as someone who has a desk job, I could pop on a business podcast at my desk and get the same lessons.
• Be an empathetic yet stern boss
• Know your weaknesses and know that it’s ok to apologize as a leader
• Promote from within, invest in your employees because you’ll see their hard work and determination pay off.
• Engage with your employees, learn about them on a personal level to avoid extreme burnout
• Make your customer’s experience unique and worth talking about. Go above and beyond
Pretty generic stuff, right?
The whole book is Guidara going through his experiences in different restaurant environments. From dishwasher to general manager essentially. He collects each of their hospitality teachings like Infinity Stones before going full-on Doctor Frankenstein and engineering all of them into a teaching called “Unreasonable Hospitality”. Which that’s cool and all, but it’s not entirely his invention? It’s cool to see how he has gathered this knowledge and implemented it into his own business, but Guidara seems so keen and proving that he came up with everything that it shrouds him in this “holier than thou” attitude that proves the stereotype that high-end dining is for snobs. He really spends most of the book humble bragging about his success. That hot dog story is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.
And sorry to bring up the nepo baby stuff again, I feel like my head will start spinning like the girl from The Exorcist if I say it one more time, but I feel like it detracts from the experience of the book. Guidara had access to this profession from a young age. He was able to get his foot in the door because of his father, who gifted him a job to develop his son’s management skills. Thus, he was able to get a foot in the door for Cornell which led him to Daniel Boulud and then his job at Eleven Madison Park…and all the money that comes with that prestige. His father is like the Obi-Wan of restaurants and is always available to give him exactly the right advice he needs to hear, because he too owns so many successful restaurants that his son can fall back on if need be. I mean, not every business has another successful business to siphon off of during financial hardship but go off I guess. It’s insincere reading about all these things he does for his customers before stating something like “Well everyone can do it, not just high-end restaurants”. Yeah, sure buddy, every business can afford to give a family a carriage ride through Central Park and still be able to provide unique experiences to their other guests and totally not run out of funds. It’s not like every business has Shake Shack to cover their losses.
TLDR;
JUST LISTEN TO A BUSINESS PODCAST
1.) I had to read this book for work however I’m no stranger to self-help/leadership books. I majored in Business Administration for my undergrad so imagine how many of these types of books I’ve had to read lol
2.) I’m not in the food service industry although where I work, we interact with people every day and engage in common customer service tactics. I worked in food service as a teenager for a couple years so I’m familiar with some things. I’m sure this book works differently for people who work in the food service industry.
3.) The author is a nepo baby. I think when talking about success nowadays you must disclose that, and the author tries his hardest not to mention this fact but lets it slip up sometimes. His father is also a successful restaurateur and in chapter 6 the author admits that his father had helped him gain opportunities for employment.
Now let’s get to my actual thoughts…
THIS IS A MEMOIR NOT A SELF-HELP BOOK
I know, I know y’all are probably thinking “But Ryn! This is marketed as a self-help hospitality book”. And it is, you’re right. It’s like 25% self-help book 75% memoir.
The book promises to teach you the hospitality teachings Guidara developed and honed during his time at Eleven Madison Park. However, this feels like a Buzzfeed article with how many buzzwords and phrases are scattered throughout this book. You’ll be 6 paragraphs deep into a section about how they served a customer a hot dog from a cart outside before being hit with a title like,
TREAT YOUR CUSTOMERS LIKE THEY’RE YOUR FAMILY
Oh, wow basic human connection and empathy drives up business? Who would’ve guessed!?
You could essentially read the little TLDR bolded phrases in each chapter and get the same experience from the book as someone who read it all the way through. Because, trust me, Guidara gives us the most basic business lessons interspersed within VERY specific stories of his time at Eleven Madison Park. Which, once again, may work for those working in the food service industry. But as someone who has a desk job, I could pop on a business podcast at my desk and get the same lessons.
• Be an empathetic yet stern boss
• Know your weaknesses and know that it’s ok to apologize as a leader
• Promote from within, invest in your employees because you’ll see their hard work and determination pay off.
• Engage with your employees, learn about them on a personal level to avoid extreme burnout
• Make your customer’s experience unique and worth talking about. Go above and beyond
Pretty generic stuff, right?
The whole book is Guidara going through his experiences in different restaurant environments. From dishwasher to general manager essentially. He collects each of their hospitality teachings like Infinity Stones before going full-on Doctor Frankenstein and engineering all of them into a teaching called “Unreasonable Hospitality”. Which that’s cool and all, but it’s not entirely his invention? It’s cool to see how he has gathered this knowledge and implemented it into his own business, but Guidara seems so keen and proving that he came up with everything that it shrouds him in this “holier than thou” attitude that proves the stereotype that high-end dining is for snobs. He really spends most of the book humble bragging about his success. That hot dog story is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.
And sorry to bring up the nepo baby stuff again, I feel like my head will start spinning like the girl from The Exorcist if I say it one more time, but I feel like it detracts from the experience of the book. Guidara had access to this profession from a young age. He was able to get his foot in the door because of his father, who gifted him a job to develop his son’s management skills. Thus, he was able to get a foot in the door for Cornell which led him to Daniel Boulud and then his job at Eleven Madison Park…and all the money that comes with that prestige. His father is like the Obi-Wan of restaurants and is always available to give him exactly the right advice he needs to hear, because he too owns so many successful restaurants that his son can fall back on if need be. I mean, not every business has another successful business to siphon off of during financial hardship but go off I guess. It’s insincere reading about all these things he does for his customers before stating something like “Well everyone can do it, not just high-end restaurants”. Yeah, sure buddy, every business can afford to give a family a carriage ride through Central Park and still be able to provide unique experiences to their other guests and totally not run out of funds. It’s not like every business has Shake Shack to cover their losses.
TLDR;
JUST LISTEN TO A BUSINESS PODCAST
December 9, 2023
“Intention means every decision, from the most obviously significant to the seemingly mundane, matters.”
This is not a groundbreaking book, but it a) tells an interesting story about Guidara's own journey and b) has some really practical advice about attaining goals, leadership, and workplace culture. I found his perspectives on intentionality and giving/receiving criticism to be insightful and even a little inspiring.
And the idea of being unreasonable in attaining a goal or in serving people is one that I find very appealing. We get very caught in the reality of "how things are" it can be really hard to give ourselves the space to try something new or even just to try harder at things we've been told aren't worth the effort.
“What criticism offers you, then, is an invitation to have your perspective challenged—or at least to grow by truly considering it. You might stick with a choice you’ve been criticized for or end up somewhere completely different. The endgame isn’t the point as much as the process: you grow when you engage with another perspective and decide to decide again.”
“We all want to be liked, and when you give someone a note about what they could be doing differently and better, you run the risk of losing their goodwill. That’s why I say there is no better way to show someone you care than by being willing to offer them a correction; it’s the purest expression of putting someone else’s needs above your own, which is what hospitality is all about. Praise is affirmation, but criticism is investment.”
January 15, 2024
4/4.5. Read this for: a inside look at EMP’s journey to number 1 restaurant in the world, to learn more about the NYC restaurant scene, and for excellent advice on leadership.
I appreciated the atypical focus on the front of house vs the chef. The amount of work and thought that developed into the service inclusive of the “legends” that EMP is known for is inspiring. Further, the leadership advice rings true for all industries and it made me start to think about the ways my company could give our customers (and employees) more than they expect.
I appreciated the atypical focus on the front of house vs the chef. The amount of work and thought that developed into the service inclusive of the “legends” that EMP is known for is inspiring. Further, the leadership advice rings true for all industries and it made me start to think about the ways my company could give our customers (and employees) more than they expect.
August 16, 2024
I heard Will Guidara speak at The Global Leadership Summit this year and was so inspired by his approach to hospitality that I had to hear more! I listened to this book on my commute this week. This is the story of how he lead his team at Eleven Madison Park on its rise to 4 stars with the New York Times and earning 3 Michelin Stars! While set in a restaurant, many of his ideas are transferrable to any business in any sector! If want to provide excellent service in any industry, this book should be on your list!
July 21, 2024
I feel similarly about this book as I do about most self help / business books. The book starts with a great premise, then spends the last half saying the same thing over and over again. While I loved the first half and really appreciated the backdrop of nyc restaurants (I added a great deal of them to my “to eat at” lists), it was a little too longwinded for me to give higher than a 3. I got bored at the end.
March 10, 2024
There are good books, there are very good books and then there are books that I know will change my life. This is one of them. Although the book is practically about restaurants, the transfer to corporate culture, leadership and hospitality is simple. I haven't learnt so much in a long time and, above all, I've developed a new attitude towards topics. I can only recommend it!
April 18, 2025
This book made me cry and I'm being so for real. Made me want to incorporate principles found here in every aspect of my life, whether I'm in the service industry or not. Couldn't recommend this more!
September 17, 2023
This started soooooo strong and dropped off just as fast in my opinion. I was super excited for it, and the first part (maybe first 1/3?) was the only part worth reading
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