Unreasonable Hospitality

As we used to say, the goal was ballet, not football. These invisible traffic rules allowed the staff to move in an orderly fashion around the room without dodging one another or relying on verbal cues like “Excuse me” or “Behind.”

my experience, people usually want to be heard more than they want to be agreed with. Even if neither of them managed to change the other’s mind, at the very least they’d have shown each other respect by taking the time to listen. Even if they didn’t achieve resolution, they’d both feel lighter when they headed off to bed.

Another, and probably my favorite: when a couple got engaged at the restaurant, we would pour them complimentary glasses of champagne, like every restaurant does. But their champagne flutes were different than all the others in the dining room—they were crystal flutes I’d partnered with Tiffany to provide. At the end of their meal, we’d send the co

great leaders make leaders. You don’t want to have a hundred keys; you win when you end up with only one—the key to the front door. Once they’d turned over some of these responsibilities, they’d have more time to make their own contributions.

Some of the best advice I ever got about starting in a new organization is: Don’t cannonball. Ease into the pool. I’ve passed this advice on to those joining my own: no matter how talented you are, or how much you have to add, give yourself time to understand the organization before you try to impact it.

I had given away thousands of dishes, and many, many (many) thousands of dollars’ worth of food by that point in my career, and yet I can confidently say that nobody had ever responded the way that table responded to that hot dog. In fact, before they left, each person at the table told me it was the highlight not only of the meal, but of their tri

they put you right back in the moment, so that you’re not just recounting the experience, but reliving it. Second, the story itself tells you that while you were having the experience, you were seen and heard.

Then they’d look up and recognize their own coat. It was amazing to pull off a magic trick right at the end, blowing the guests’ minds one last time; I never got tired of seeing it.

To help focus and filter our ideas, I created a fictional character—a hedonistic, fifty-three-year-old gourmand and music lover, living and breaking hearts in the South of France—so we could design the public spaces of the NoMad as if they were rooms in his private home. We then held focused meetings to brainstorm all the elements that would make t

In the spirit of surprise and delight, we hid flasks of whiskey in hollowed volumes scattered throughout. If you found one of these real-life Easter eggs, it was yours to enjoy.