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| First Person |
Soul Food
Danny Meyer (as told to Constance Gustke)
08/02/2004
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“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is my guiding motto. In
other words, the four walls of my restaurant are a false contour. Whatever
hospitality exists inside these walls must exist outside these walls, or it is
not real. In the case of each of our restaurants, I ask: how can we extend that
hospitality? That question leads to work within our community. We literally have
five restaurants and a jazz club within an 11-block radius, and each one has a
diverse community in which it is very much involved.
 I define the word
“hospitality” as being on the customer’s side, and it is shown in a number of
ways: supporting causes customers are interested in outside of the restaurant,
offering a warm welcome at the front door and maintaining good pricing on the
menu. It is a philosophy based on nourishment and nurture, and the underlying
message is that you get more when you give more. There is a definite correlation
between how much profit we earn over time and how generous our restaurants are
in terms of our hospitality.
There are many examples of how we show we are on
our guests’ side. For example, a couple walked into the Union Square Café one
day, and they were arguing about the possibility of getting a parking ticket. I was
at the front door and greeted them as they argued. I thought, “I just want to
make you guys happy.” I said, “It sounds like you parked at a meter. Why don’t
you get comfortable and enjoy yourselves. I’ll go feed the meter for you.”
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