Unreasonable Hospitality - Will Guidara - Top Book Pick!
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Food Memoir
Rating: 9/10
The author, an award winning restauranter, is passionate about many things in the business he has devoted his life to, none more so than this. That hospitality is an essential act of service. That restaurants need take the four-star approach from the kitchen to the dining room.
Think of it like this, service is black and white, hospitality is colour.
Simply defined, hospitality is about how to treat people, how to make people feel like they belong, how to be welcoming, how to listen and most of all how to be curious. It’s a dialogue, not a monologue. It’s an interaction, not a transaction.
It doesn’t need to be lavish, but it needs to be priceless. Tailored to the person on the receiving end, thoughtful and unique. In effect, it needs to be crafted. Who among us doesn’t hunger for this measure of care to have afforded us?
There is much about the author’s philosophy that translates beyond this particular industry. One of my favourites is the charitable assumption. An act of empathy and patience in the face of something that may not be meeting your expectations.
Footnote: Will created a role that he called The Dreamweaver, someone whose job it was to take the intel gathered tableside and create an experience for the patron. A small sampling of those grace notes…
On their last night in New York, a family travelling from Spain were in awe of the snow falling outside the restaurant, the first they had ever seen. The staff went out and bought sleds and handed them over as the family left, letting them know they had enough time to hit a couple of hills.
Googling the names on the reservations so they could greet diners by name and maybe even know of a special occasion being celebrated.
When a family heading home was chatting about all the wonderful meals they had in the city, only sorry they missed a street vendor hot dog, the general manager ran outside to grab one. Begging the chef to cut it in four sections and plate it up.
Book Pairing(s): Garlic & Sapphires by Ruth Riechl, Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci, Our Lady Of Perpetual Hunger by Lisa Donovan
