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Unreasonable Hospitality
What It’s About
How to turn anything you serve into a lifelong memory. Will Guidara, co-owner of Eleven Madison Park, walks through how he took his Michelin-starred restaurant to the number-one spot in the world by holding his team to a single standard: don't just be excellent, be unreasonably hospitable. Stories, principles, and a playbook for building a culture that lasts.
Three Key Ideas
Service vs. Genuine Hospitality
Technical execution gets the job done, but making people feel truly cared for requires a separate, deliberate investment in human warmth.
Personalized, Unreasonable Gestures
The most memorable moments come from tailored, over-the-top acts of attention, not expensive gifts or flawless systems.
Culture Built from Within
Lasting hospitality cultures grow from daily rituals, charitable leadership, and letting people own what they love.
Read a Sample
Unreasonable Hospitality
The $2 Hot Dog That Beat a $300 Tasting Menu
Picture this. Four tourists from Europe are sitting at a table at Eleven Madison Park, one of the most celebrated fine dining restaurants on Earth. They've just finished a multi-course tasting menu that cost hundreds of dollars a person. The food was impeccable, and the wine pairings were sublime. Every plate they've had was a masterpiece of technique and flavor.
But as Will Guidara, the restaurant's co-owner, walks past their table, he overhears something that stops him cold. The guests are talking about all the incredible things they ate on their New York trip, the pizza, the bagels, the pastrami sandwich. Then one of them says, with real disappointment: "The only thing we didn't get to try was a dirty water hot dog from a street cart."
Guidara doesn't hesitate. He walks out the front door of his four-star restaurant, jogs to the nearest Sabrett cart and buys a $2 hot dog. He brings it back to the kitchen and asks the chef to cut it into four perfect pieces and plate it on fine china. Then he delivers it to the table with a straight face.
Who It’s For
- Anyone who leads a team and wants to build a culture where people genuinely care about their work.
- Anyone who runs a business where customer experience is the main differentiator from competitors.
- Anyone who wants practical frameworks for feedback, hiring, and managing through difficult times.
- Anyone who believes their industry is too transactional and wants to bring more humanity to it.
About the Author: Will Guidara
Will Guidara is a restaurateur best known as co-owner of Eleven Madison Park in New York City, which he ran alongside chef Daniel Humm. Under his leadership, the restaurant earned three Michelin stars and was named the best restaurant in the world in 2017 by the World's 50 Best Restaurants list.
Guidara grew up around the restaurant industry, the son of a senior executive at Restaurant Associates, and later trained at Cornell's hotel school. He is regarded as one of the leading voices on hospitality culture in the United States.
