This book is required reading if you’re a member of Beatons Bookshop and Tearooms and its expanding team of staff and franchisees. And rightly so!
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The book bursts with the flavour of a man whose palette is stimulated equally by his love of family, fraternity and food, and is written as if we’re friends over dinner reminiscing. At its heart is that old fashioned much maligned word: ‘hospitality’. Meyer restores it to its rightful place – at the centre of every business table. We discover his recipe for success – one I now subscribe to – a philosophy rolled out with ‘constant gentle pressure’. If you want a management training tool that will whet appetites and inspire rather than offer dry advice, read then apply.
Being more tea-lover than ‘foodie’, I hadn’t heard of Danny Meyer – but he’s a legend in the US and in the food industry. Why? He has that rare mix of Chutzpah tempered by wisdom, and a managerial platform which carries the unmistakable flavour of integrity. Not content with one kind of restaurant he’s taken on a whole gamut of culinary and corporate challenges, successfully creating new eating experiences from ‘Shake Shack’ in a New York Park to the hallowed arena of the Museum of Modern Art. Tried and tested ingredients (in every sense) turn out what he calls ‘enlightened hospitality’ and he generously shares his methods with his readers - many of whom are no doubt his rivals.
Three elements make this a book a good read:
· humble and down to earth – Meyer is as comfortable sharing his failures as his successes
· illustrative of where intuition and practicality meet – useful for any business today
· emotionally intelligent – the ‘new/old’ element ‘big business’ sometimes forgets
Finally, it’s free of any reference to social media or online engagement... that IS refreshing!
The book takes us chronologically from his bum steer towards the legal profession, to setting up exceptional fine (but warmly delivered) dining at Eleven Madison Park, Tabla (a New York take on Indian food), to Shake Shack – the extraordinary burger, hot dog and frozen custard stand in Madison Square Park (2004) – and the audacious (and problem child) ‘Blue Smoke’ inspired by his housekeeper Mary Francis Smith who used to serve him fried chicken, devilled eggs and collard greens!
I did miss something in this book... what even talented Danny Meyer can’t magic up - the smells and the first-hand experience of eating in his establishments through the page. A visit to Tabla and the MoMa are now on my wish list for New York, and I want to investigate Madison Park too. Naturally, Beatons endeavour to keep the book in stock at all times. And I rather think that Mr Meyer would approve of his book’s positioning on the shelves, where it surveys the Beatons team delivering their brand of ‘gracious hospitality’ inspired by his example across the pond.
Liz Darcy Jones
House Poet, Spring 2014