Chefs at the finest restaurants in the world had long been celebrated for being unreasonable about the food they served. At Eleven Madison Park, they set out to discover what could happen if they were just as unreasonable about how they made people feel.
A struggling two-star New York City brasserie when Will Guidara took the helm, it had four stars from The New York Times, three Michelin stars, and was named the best restaurant in the world eleven years later. Will Guidara and his team achieved this transformation by offering hospitality that was so memorable and over the top, it can only be described as unreasonable.
The team consistently gave people more than they expected - filling a private dining room with sand, mai tais, and beach chairs to console a couple after a cancelled vacation, or surprising a family who had never seen snow with a sledding trip to Central Park. That hospitality-first culture worked because it extended beyond the guests to their own team too. They learned to deliver praise and criticism with intention; how to build your bottom line by giving more, not less; and the magic that happens when a waiter is empowered to think like an owner.