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Setting the Table

Setting the Table by Danny Meyer. Reviewed by Jane Sunley.

I've long been an admirer of Danny Meyer, the New York restaurateur with a string of high profile restaurant successes to his credit. This New York Times best seller is much more than a book about hospitality. Written as an autobiography, it is an important and highly credible business book all about service excellence.

The background chapters (cheesy, American, occasionally quite funny) establish why Danny set out to wow the New York diner and food critic alike. He then charts his business journey from the first inkling of an idea for his Union Square Cafe through nine other successful ventures, to his fast food revelation, Shake Shack (click here to check out the queues in Madison Square Park).

Danny has taken the service principles we all know and really made them sing for their supper:

People first - OK so his 'virtuous circle of enlightened hospitality' might be a wordy title but it puts in a nutshell how to really start with the people to make your business work.

Danny's philosophy is a lesson in restaurant priorities. He manages the top line and the bottom follows, he focuses on the welcome, the vibe, the quality of food and wine and the integrity of the person serving. He is totally committed to his people and to delivering results through them.

When recruiting he looks for only three things: intelligence, fun and motivation. Easier said than done but he will not compromise.

This book set light bulbs off for me every couple of pages or so and my well thumbed copy has lots of little markers sticking out of the pages. Danny's managed to do what anyone who runs a service business is aiming for, and it works, consistently. One of his 'tricks' has been to plan seating so that he can engineer potentially mutually beneficial meetings between diners. It might seem a bit manipulative but it's paid off well for him. His restaurants have become venues for the 'movers and shakers' and all of this has been great self-generated PR for him and his company.

Danny's book is very honest about the times things haven't gone well and there are good lessons to be learned from this. There are some entertaining stories about his encounters with the critics and how he's learned from his mistakes. He comes across as a pretty humble guy with an amazing attention to detail. He's a people watcher; he notices people's needs and wants to make their experiences in his restaurants special. He says hospitality is present when something happens for you and is absent when it happens to you. To keep this up as the empire has grown, he's put it fantastic systems for guest care.

He was into CSR (corporate social responsibility) before it probably even had this title. He took space in downmarket areas and by using local produce and working with the neighbourhood, he's made a significant impact on improving the areas he operates in. He's created a strong sense of shared ownership for himself and his partners, his employees and his guests. His guests talk about his restaurants as if they own them. And remember he started doing this over 20 years ago. This is a guy who practices what he preaches.

The lessons within this superb book could apply to every service business and everyone in service should read it.

PS If you're a chef or just love food you probably have The Union Square Cafe cookbook in your collection but check out Danny's latest offering Mix Shake Stir: Recipes from Danny Meyer's Acclaimed New York City Restaurants.

13 November 2009