'Fine casual' means taking the cultural priorities that fine dining, at its best, believes in.
A great restaurant doesn't distinguish itself by how few mistakes it makes but by how well they handle those mistakes.
At my restaurants, we have training drills before every meal. We talk about what we did yesterday that was great and what we can improve today.
It is sad that the more 'successful' a neighborhood becomes, the more it gradually takes on a recognizable, common look, as the same banks, drugstore chains and national brands move in.
I learned that you shouldn't take your most esoteric concept and fit it into the largest space with the highest fixed costs. It puts too much pressure on the restaurant to hit grand slams every day when there just aren't enough people who want to watch that sport.
If somebody doesn't want to cook at home or has more family members than they have room for, then it's great to be in a city that's got restaurants that are actually busy on the holidays.
When push comes to shove, baseball is one of my favorite things in the world.
What you can do is present existing flavors in a fresh way, in a fresh context.
How can you franchise hospitality?
I run in London, in San Francisco - any city that's got a waterfront or park.
The cooking standards for Italian food are less demanding than for French. All you need are some fried mozzarella and five pastas, and you're in business.
If someone said, 'You've got to eat your next two meals at American fast-food restaurants,' I would do one meal at Chipotle and one meal at Popeyes fried chicken.
One of my great teachers was the late Jean-Claude Vrinat of Taillevent in Paris.
There are a zillion variables to a hamburger. What part of the animal went into it. What coarseness. What temperature.
Hospitality is almost impossible to teach. It's all about hiring the right people.
Short of hiring a new staff, consider giving subpar workers a chance to improve. Tell them why they're not measuring up and give them a set amount of time to make specific improvements.
Diners are upset that restaurants aren't honoring reservations, and a lot of restaurants help bring this on by overbooking.
Hospitality knows no gender or race.
Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. Those two simple prepositions - for and to - express it all.
Hospitality exists when you believe that the other person is on your side.
