Arguably the biggest restauranteur in New York City and possibly the country, Danny Meyer's name is synonomous with hospitality. He is the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, which includes such New York restaurant institutions as Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, Shake Shack, North End Grill, Untitled, Maialino, Blue Smoke, Union Square Events, Cafe 2, Terrace 5, and his business "school" Hospitality Quotient.
"Virtually nothing else is important as how one is made to feel in a business transaction. Hospitality exists when you feel the other person is on your side. The converse is just as true. Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. These two simple propositions - for and to - express it all."
The first few chapters read nothing short of food porn, satisfying any foodie's craving. While describing his family background, Danny tells in equisite detail the foods he sampled throughout Europe and his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Danny can't remember a time when he wasn't interested in food. Having a father who owned a travel company, he and his family were periodically taking trips to Europe, sampling foods throughout Europe in local trattorias to high-end restaurants. Throughout his young travels, Danny's mother encouraged him to keep a journal, and soon Danny was documenting all the smells, tastes, and textures from some of the best restaurants throughout the continent.
Fast-forward a few years and Danny started to work as a tour guide in Rome throughout college for his father's company. While earning a degree in International Politics, Danny couldn't help but feed his own craving and visit as many trattoria's across Italy as possible. On each visit he took note of the menus, the decor, the subtle differences in tastes of the same dishes, and the overall feel of the restaurants. He was thus learning as much outside of the classroom on his own about restaurants, as he was inside the classroom studying politics.
Danny then landed in New York City, taking a job in sales which had him earning more than $125,000 a year. After a few years, though, he wasn't happy. He then decided it was time to pursue his own passion and returned to Italy to attend culinary school. After a few months of studying, Danny then returned to New York and landed a job as assistant manager at restaurant Pesca at a mere $250 a week. It was this restaurant where he met and started to build professional and personal relationships that would stay with him for life. They included first meeting his wife Audrey, who was a server at the restaurant, and Chef Michael Romano, who would eventually become the culinary director of Union Square Hospitality Group.
At the young age of 27, Danny decided he was finally ready to open his first restaurant. In October, 1985, he opened Union Square Cafe, which was Danny's vision of an Italian trattoria set in a New York City setting. USC would eventually become one of New York City's most popular dining destinations, and helped build up the then desolate area of Union Square.
Danny spent nine years perfecting his management technique at Union Square Cafe before he finally, and hesitantly, decided to open a second restaurant, and it wasn't easy. For the first time he was managing a crew and did not know how to go about it. He learned "on the fly" how to deal with unhappy customers, and learned very quickly to be careful what you say to the press. He literally fought battles outside his restaurant and was the target of protestors. He learned very quickly that to have a successful business, you must be present.
One story that sticks out is when he took his wife, Audrey, out for her birthday to restaurant Lutece. Lutece was once a grand four-star restaurant in New York City under the direction of legendary French Chef Andre Soltner. As Andre emerged from the kitchen to say hello to guests in the dining room, he approached Danny's table, and after saying "Happy Birthday" to Audrey, turned to Danny and said "I'm in my restaurant. Why aren't you in yours?" After that night, Danny never missed a night of work again.
Over the next three years, and after hiring Michael Romano as Executive Chef of USC, the restaurant started to hit its stride. Among the many publications and awards it started to receive, USC earned three stars from the New York Times, and Danny started to emerge as a promising manager and leader. Under the direction of his mentors, one including Pat Cetta, who was co-owner of Spark's Steakhouse, Danny began to realize his own view of hospitality.
One such story is dubbed "The Salt Shaker". Pat had visited Danny and told him to clear off a table. He asked Danny to place a salt shaker where he deemed it to be perfect. Danny placed it dead center on the table. Pat then moved it. Danny placed it back in the center. Pat then moved it again. He made Danny realize that the only person who knows where that salt shaker should be is you, and your employees are always going to throw it off-center. With constant, gentle pressure, you should make them realize where you always want it placed, and it should never be moved from that spot.
Pat also made him realize not to follow trends, and never do anything for the "wow" factor. After visiting USC for a night, Danny presented Pat a new dish of "Fried Oyster Caesar Salad". Danny was certain this dish was a winner and would help him get noticed by The New York Times. Pat's response, "This dish is nothing more than mental masturbation. You're clearly doing it to get noticed by Florence Fabricant. And the bad news is she won't even like it. I guarantee you that shit is coming off your menu in two months - and if I were you, I'd take it off in two minutes. You know better than that, luvah!"
With some hesitation and doubts, Danny finally expanded and opened Gramercy Tavern in 1994 with Executive Chef Tom Colicchio. Although Gramercy Tavern has garnered some of the best awards possible in the industry, including three stars from The New York Times twice, and Outstanding Restaurant from The James Beard Foundation, the first year or two proved tough on Danny, who was struggling with owning two businesses for the first time. He quickly rised above his own doubts and over the obstacles quickly, though, and opened two more properties just four years later.
In 1998 Danny opened Tabla and Eleven Madison Park, at 11 Madison Avenue, once again opening properties overlooking a park and helped revitalize a community. With the opening of these two properties, Union Square Hospitality Group was officially born, and soon thereafter, Danny and his new team went on to open Blue Smoke, Shake Shack, The Modern, Cafe 2, Terrace 5, Hudson Yards Catering (now Union Square Events), Maialino, North End Grill, and Untitled.
With the exception of Tabla which closed in December of 2010, the USHG restaurant group is now striving and doing better than ever. Danny's formula for creating amazing guest experiences pairing top-notch hospitality and stellar food has created much success for him, his family, his employees, and the communities that surround them.
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in opening a business in the hospitality industry.
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