Setting the Table
by Danny Meyer
Meyer's memoir of building his restaurants around 'enlightened hospitality': staff first, then guests, community, suppliers and investors, in that order. It is a business book disguised as a food story, and the chapters on hiring for emotional skills and on handling mistakes are excellent. Written in 2006 and still assigned in hospitality schools.
Read it if…
you lead a service team and want a philosophy that puts employees first without ignoring results.
Skip it if…
you want quick tactics; this is narrative and principle.
Three things you will actually use
- Hire for the fifty-one percent that is emotional skill.
- Turn mistakes into memorable recoveries.
- Put staff first and watch service follow.
Do this first
Write your stakeholders in priority order and check whether your calendar agrees.
Our verdict
A thoughtful, generous business memoir; the source of much that followed.
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