Unreasonable Hospitality

Essential lessons in hospitality for every business, from the former co-owner of the legendary restaurant Eleven Madison Park.

In 2006, Will Guidara and Swiss chef Daniel Humm were placed at the helm of Eleven Madison Park. The establishment, a brasserie with an identity crisis, was in desperate need of magic. In 2017, Eleven Madison Park was named the best restaurant in the world, legendary for its memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality as much as its food.

How did Eleven Madison Park pull off this radical transformation? The answer is simple - its world-class hospitality. Guidara's team would send a family who had never seen snow to Central Park with a sled on a snowy night or track down the cab that a guest had left their iPhone in to retrieve the device. His hospitality extended beyond the dining room and into the kitchen, where he encouraged his entire restaurant team to learn continuously, tap into their own passions, and think like owners no matter their roles.

We can all transform ordinary business transactions into an extraordinary hospitality experience. Through sparkling stories of Guidara's journey through the restaurant industry, featuring the industry's most famous players like Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer, Guidara urges us all to find the magic in what we do—for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve.