A Winning Recipe

A burger and a frozen custard at Shake Shack, a bowl of curried shrimp at Tabla, a rack of barbecued ribs at Blue Smoke; the breadth of cuisines served at the New York City restaurants owned by Danny Meyer are as diverse as the man himself. Restaurateur, CEO, management guru, community activist, best-selling author; although his responsibilities are many, he still maintains a sense of balance.

His self-proclaimed mantra? "Patience and equanimity."

Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Groups, explains, "I don't get knocked off my surfboard too easily. I'm a believer that life is just one wave after the next. There is no wave out there that is worth wasting your energy getting angry about. The best thing to do is to master how to ride them."

This analogy carries over to his restaurants: Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Tabla, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, Shake Shack, and The Modern, Cafe 2 and Terrace 5 at the Museum of Modern Art, and now Maialino, as well as Union Square Events.

"The style with which a company rides the tough waves and addresses mistakes can define its heart, soul, and talent. Our company is populated with surfers, fortunately, since in the restaurant business you can always count on another wave," he writes in his best-selling book, Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business.

Hospitality is the linchpin of his operation. "Long after people forget how delicious the food was and how beautiful the dining room is they're going to remember how you made them feel and that's hospitality," imparts the easy-going 52-year-old. "Oftentimes, people confuse the word service for hospitality. They are two very different things. Service describes whether or not you did what you were supposed to do, whereas hospitality describes how you made another human being feel."

It all started in 1985, when at the age of 27, Meyer launched Union Square Cafe, a new breed of American eatery pairing imaginative food and wine with attentive hospitality, comfortable surroundings, and outstanding value considering the quality of the food. A critical success from the outset, the restaurant is also credited with having helped fuel the resurgence and continued growth of the Union Square neighborhood over the past 20 years.

In 1994, Meyer opened his second restaurant, Gramercy Tavern, offering refined American cuisine and warm hospitality in an historic building. In late 1998, Meyer welcomed guests to yet two more restaurants, Eleven Madison Park and Tabla, each situated in a stunning Art Deco building that overlooks 150-year-old Madison Square Park and the Flatiron Building. With the opening of these restaurants, Meyer also officially formed Union Square Hospitality Group.

Hospitality Cycle

Numerous elements go into creating hospitality—what seems to be an intangible in all of Meyer's establishments. "We create a cycle where we begin by applying hospitality to our staff and then to our customers, the community in which we do business, our suppliers, and lastly to our investors," declares Meyer. "We believe in this virtuous cycle where one good thing keeps leading to something even better."

In his business model, this has proven to be wildly successful. Meyer puts his employees first because the only way to earn loyalty with guests is to ensure employees are motivated, enthusiastic, and proud to be part of the organization. When asked for his proudest accomplishment, he quickly says, "It is the quality of the people I've been fortunate enough to surround myself with." His team of 1,500 all had to complete rigorous employee training that includes a meeting with Meyer that takes place within their first four weeks of employment.

Meyer is an advocate of properly planned meetings. "The greatest and only remaining luxury in the world is time. No matter how much money you have, you're not going to get any more time. Once you understand time is our most precious resource you realize you have a responsibility to use others' time incredibly effectively. If you've been asked to read something before the meeting, read it. No one wants to go to a meeting and be recited to. No one wants to go to a meeting that starts late and ends late; where they are never asked their opinion or their opinion is asked but not heard."

Barista Olympics Motivates

"Bonfires" are what Union Square Hospitality Group calls its employee meetings. "These are not just informational but for teambuilding as well," Meyer explains.

One of his favorites was created by Will Guidara, the general manager of Eleven Madison Park, called the "Barista Olympics." A recurring competition, each Union Square Hospitality Group restaurant sends its best coffee maker to compete. Coffee, espresso, cappuccino, and specialty drinks are created as colleagues cheer on their respective restaurants. The site of the competition is Cafe 2 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), always on a Tuesday when the museum is closed to the public.

"We'll have four to five hundred employees cheering on the competitors. It's a brilliant idea because it has also made the coffee better at all of our restaurants because no one wants to lose, everyone wants to win," Meyer says.

It was in 2004 that the Union Square Hospitality Group was selected to create and operate the dining facilities at the newly renovated and expanded MoMA. They are Cafe 2 and Terrace 5, two cafes; The Modern, a fine dining restaurant; and the food service for MoMA's staff.

Taking It To the Kitchen

It is Meyer's affiliation with the MoMA that led him to create a catering company. A preferred caterer for museum events, there was not enough space in the MoMA for a catering kitchen, so Meyer had to build an additional kitchen elsewhere. Originally named Hudson Yards Catering for the emerging neighborhood in which the commissary is located, Meyer was persuaded to change it to Union Square Events by colleagues and investors who insisted that in the world of events you are selling security. No one knew who was behind Hudson Yards Catering, but many know the impressive restaurants that are part of the Union Square Hospitality Group. Meyer says he has applied the strategy of enlightened hospitality to this business as well, while trying to add something fresh to the experience of off-premises catering.

The company recently celebrated its new identity with an event for 200 planners in its catering kitchen. "We brought people up in the freight elevator, the same elevator our truck goes up and down in. We set up a bar and candles in this 100-year-old elevator where 20 people could go up at a time. No one knew what they were in for. Many bonded during that ride and stayed together during the whole party."

Guests viewed the smoking room where a whole hog was being prepared and the area where stocks are made— only for this occasion the stockpots were filled with ice and champagne. Appetizers, entrees, and desserts were served hot out of the oven.

"It was a great opportunity for people to have lots of human and culinary contact and the glitz factor was zero," says Meyer. "This keeps with the trend we're seeing where companies are shying away from showiness and flashiness and are opting for experiences that emphasize togetherness."

A Technophobe Embraces Technology

A hands-on leader, Meyer is a constant in all of his restaurants. It helps that he can walk to seven of them in five minutes from his office on Union Square. Despite being a self-proclaimed technophobe, Meyer was an early adopter of OpenTable, an online service that allows diners to select and a reserve a table at 13,000 eateries around the world, including all of Union Square Hospitality Group's establishments. It also allows restaurateurs to create a database of personal information and preferences about all customers, allowing staff to treat anyone like a regular.

"OpenTable changed my life. It allows me to know who is dining where every minute of the day. It even tells me the table they are at," says Meyer.

A far cry from the day Meyer recalls the reservation book at Union Square Cafe went missing. "We didn't know what to do. Everyone was running all over the place trying to find it," he says. "Now, I store information about each guest, like what their favorite table is, who their favorite server is, what they're allergic to, and their birthday."

Meyer, revered as a restaurateur, is now trying another role—that of management guru. He recently unveiled Hospitality Quotient, or HQ, an education and consulting business that will teach companies across all industries how to improve their customer service.

"We're putting the power of hospitality to work for companies who are already amazingly good at what they do," asserts Meyer. "They're adding to their arsenal the ability to make their customers, employees, and communities feel incredibly good at the same time."

Thanks to his father's travel business, Meyer spent much of his childhood eating, traveling to far-off places, and sowing the seeds for his passion for food and wine.

Not only did his parents and grandparents influence him growing up but so did his family's housekeeper. "Her name was Mary Smith, and she taught me that nothing matters more than love and goodness and that's a constant place I strive to be." If you've ever had the opportunity to dine at one of his tables, you'll realize he is accomplishing that goal.

Check out our web exclusive on one of Danny Meyer's other ventures -- concession stand grub!

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