Danny Meyer is one of the world’s most successful and admired restaurateurs. He is the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, which includes Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Tabla, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, Shake Shack, The Modern, Cafe 2, Terrace 5, and Hudson Yards Catering. Each USHG restaurant is lovingly hand crafted and distinctive, and each strives to distinguish itself with warm hospitality and consistent excellence.
Meyer shares the secrets of his success with his revolutionary – and winning – philosophy about “Enlightened Hospitality” in SETTING THE TABLE: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business. He also reveals his leadership style, which shakes up traditional thinking about management principles and people skills. According to Meyer, it takes great service and great hospitality to rise to the top: Service is the technical delivery of the product while hospitality is how the delivery of that product makes its recipient feel. His philosophy inverts classic business priorities, stressing the importance of developing strong in-house relationships before everything else. As he describes it, “I’ve learned how crucially important it is to put hospitality to work first for the people who work for me and subsequently for all the other people and stakeholders who are in any way affected by our business – our guests, community, suppliers, and investors – in an intentionally descending order.”
The principles Meyer shares can be applied to any business: dry cleaners, cable operators, financial institutions, airlines. Subsequently, he has become a sought after speaker by companies of every stripe. He has spoken to national restaurant chains, financial management companies, small business organizations, food industry leaders, and medical groups.
Meyer lives in New York where he spends any free time he has with his wife, Audrey, and their four children, Hallie, Charles, Gretchen, and Peyton.
Praise for Setting the Table:
“The principles [Meyer] has embraced (and which he spells out in his new book, Setting the Table) are as applicable to airlines, dry cleaners, and cable operators as they are to restaurateurs.”
—Fast Company
“[Meyer’s] book is filled with insights and advice both for restaurateurs and for people running other businesses… Anyone in the hospitality industry would do well to consult Setting the Table.”
—Wall Street Journal
“Danny Meyer’s marvelous book is not just about restaurants, but about how to really learn a business, create a distinctive strategy, engage a team in continually improving that strategy, and integrate the success of a business and the success of its community. This book is full of wisdom for entrepreneurs, and for every manager.”
—Michael Porter, Bishop William Lawrence University Professor, Harvard Business School
“Rightly renowned entrpreneur-restaurateur Danny Meyer dazzlingly demonstrates here that he can nourish our minds as well as please our palates. A feast for action-oriented executives, entrepreneurs, and investors.”
—Steve Forbes, President and CEO of Forbes
“Danny Meyer builds great restaurants through an old-fashioned mix of good food and personal service. He’s an innovator who has mastered the art of marketing. He’s a leader who has developed world class teams. He’s a trendsetter who is always one step ahead of the times. And, he’s a competitor who partnered with an entire industry to bring new meaning to the concept of community service. ”
—Kenneth I. Chenault, CEO of American Express
“In Setting the Table, Danny Meyer outlines the principles of, and the experiences behind, his philosophy of enlightened hospitality, principles that have elevated him to his current position as one of the world’s most successful and admired restaurateurs. It is essential reading for anyone interested in restaurants and the importance of the hospitality industry to the economy of the 21st century.”
—Nicholas Lander, restaurant correspondent of The Financial Times
“Restaurateur Danny Meyer offers a rich menu of business tips.”
—Time
More About Danny Meyer
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Meyer grew up in a family that relished great food, cooking, get-togethers and travel. Meyer worked for his father’s travel business as a tour guide in Rome during college, and returned to study international politics. He minored in the study of trattorias, spending at least as much time at the table as he did in the classroom. After graduating from Trinity College, Meyer landed in Chicago and took a job as Cook County Field Director for John Anderson’s 1980 independent presidential campaign. Pursuing his true passions for food and wine, he gained his first restaurant experience in 1984 as an assistant manager at Pesca, an Italian seafood restaurant in New York City. He then returned to Europe to study cooking as a culinary stagière in Italy and France.
In 1985, at age 27, Meyer launched Union Square Cafe, pioneering a new breed of American eatery pairing imaginative food and wine with caring hospitality, comfortable surroundings and outstanding value. Union Square Cafe has twice garnered the New York Times’ three-star rating and has been voted Zagat Survey’s Most Popular Restaurant in New York City for an unprecedented seven years. In addition to redefining the casual, fine dining restaurant, Union Square Cafe is widely noted as having sparked the dramatic resurgence of the Union Square neighborhood.
In 1994, Meyer opened Gramercy Tavern, offering refined American cuisine and warm hospitality in an historic landmark building. The restaurant was awarded three stars in the New York Times, and was voted Zagat Survey’s Most Popular Restaurant in New York City in 2003, 2005, and again in 2006.
In 1998, Meyer opened two restaurants, Eleven Madison Park and Tabla, each situated in a stunning art deco building overlooking Madison Square Park. With the opening of these restaurants, he also formed Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG). Eleven Madison Park features pure, market-driven cuisine rooted in Provence; among numerous accolades, EMP received the 2004 James Beard Award for Best Service in America. The ground-breaking Tabla serves New Indian Cuisine, has earned three stars from theNew York Times, and has been Top Indian Restaurant in New York City in the Zagat survey, Citysearch, and Time Out NY.
In 2002, USHG opened Blue Smoke and Jazz Standard, offering real pit barbecue and world class live jazz. The restaurant and jazz club were named Best Barbecue and Best Jazz Club in 2003 by Citysearch.com.
In summer 2004, USHG launched Shake Shack, a food kiosk in Madison Square Park serving burgers, hot dogs, frozen custard, wine and beer, with a portion of sales benefiting the historic park. In November of the same year, USHG opened three dining facilities at the newly renovated and expanded Museum of Modern Art. They include a fine dining restaurant, The Modern, and two cafes, Cafe 2 and Terrace 5. The Modern soon won Best New Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation.
USHG’s newest project is the launch of an off-premise, fine dining catering business, Hudson Yards Catering (HYC). Hudson Yards Catering brings a fresh culinary and hospitality point-of-view to the catering field.
Active in the fight against hunger, Meyer serves on the boards of Share Our Strength and City Harvest. He is equally active in civic affairs, serving as Co-Chair of the Union Square Partnership and on the executive committees of NYC & Co and the Madison Square Park Conservancy.
Meyer, his restaurants, and chefs have earned 17 James Beard Awards, including the first-ever Outstanding Restaurateur, Outstanding Restaurant of the Year, Best Chef, Outstanding Service, Outstanding Wine Service, Humanitarian of the Year, Who’s Who of Food & Beverage, and Best Restaurant Graphic Design.
Meyer co-authored the Union Square Cafe Cookbook with Chef Michael Romano. The book earned the IACP Julia Child Award for the best new cookbook by a first-time author and was followed up with the highly acclaimed Second Helpings from Union Square Cafe.