Unreasonable Hospitality

The Remarkable Power of Giving People More than They Expect

By: Will Guidara

Narrated by: Will Guidara

Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

The must-listen New York Times bestseller that's redefining hospitality and inspiring people in every industry.

- Featured in FX's The Bear and Showtime's Billions
- JP Morgan NextList Pick

Will Guidara was twenty-six when he took the helm of Eleven Madison Park, a struggling two-star brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic room. Eleven years later, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world.

How did Guidara pull off this unprecedented transformation? Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. Guidara’s team surprised a family who had never seen snow with a magical sledding trip to Central Park after their dinner; they filled a private dining room with sand, complete with mai-tais and beach chairs, to console a couple with a cancelled vacation. And his hospitality extended beyond those dining at the restaurant to his own team, who learned to deliver praise and criticism with intention; why the answer to some of the most pernicious business dilemmas is to give more—not less; and the magic that can happen when a busser starts thinking like an owner.

Today, every business can choose to be a hospitality business—and we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences. Featuring sparkling stories of his journey through restaurants, with the industry’s most famous players like Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer, Guidara urges us all to find the magic in what we do—for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve.

©2022 Will Guidara (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Guidara makes his nonfiction debut with an enthusiastic guide for leaders [and asserts] sage advice about leadership.”–Kirkus Review

"Will Guidara is one of the very best in the hospitality business, but this book is for everyone. His insights on how to be a great entrepreneur cut through the noise."–David Chang, chef and founder of Momofuku, and host of Ugly Delicious

“Working alongside Will Guidara is the ultimate masterclass in how to thoughtfully improve the lives of those around you. He is now sharing his truly remarkable gift with the world in this keenly observant and heartfelt must-read, for anyone looking to stand out from the pack.”–Dan Levy, Emmy® award winning writer, actor, director, and producer of Schitt's Creek

Lessons about life, restaurants and relentless pursuit for perfection!

An in credible journey Lessons about life, restaurants and relentless pursuit for perfection! Thank you Will for sharing this with the world!

Outstanding story! So much inspiration!

This is a must read for anyone in the people business! Will’s ability to capture your heart and mind through his wonderful storytelling is truly remarkable and inspirational. Best book I read in 2022!

Amazing Thoughts on Service

I think all service companies should use this book to help improve the thinking on service and impact we have on our customers, users, patients, and buyers.

Read it.

For the hospitality obsessed

I’m no longer in the restaurant business, but I got excited about bringing my hospitality skills to my new work life and I got so excited about this book!

Great!

Will shines a bright light onto the ins and outs of hospitality. His passion is admirable and his story is told well from his heart and soul.

Great business book that will change you

Buy this book. It has changed my thinking and in turn will impact my business. It is applicable to life as much as business

Inspiring 100%

It was a very inspirational book. I loved it. I enjoyed every single chapter, and I hope the next reader or listener enjoys it as much as I do. Thank you, Will.

A slap in the face….

I just completed my first read of the year - Unreasonable Hospitality, by Will Guidara.

If you are one of the those driven professionals who prides yourself in how well you treat people, your commitment to excellence, your commitment to going the extra mile for customer experience, Will's book is going to feel like a slap in the face.

Will's unrelenting commitment to giving his customers the best experience possible will challenge every "pat" you have ever given yourself on the back.

He and his team's pursuit of excellence that brought about Unreasonable Hospitality, catapulted his restaurant, Eleven Madison Park to the top of the 50 Best Restaurants in the World list in 2017.

I was challenged on every page, I was challenged in every chapter and I walk away from his book asking myself if I care as much as he and his team did.

It is the perfect challenge for me at the beginning of a new year. I highly recommend it.

5 STARS!!

Favorite read of the year!! Elegant yet powerful! I highly recommend this book to anyone who works with people.

Advice for the vacuum

In rural Idaho, four stars from a major publication or the even the local paper is something that just doesn’t happen. But we serve the customer who eat and frequent the four stars of the world. I’m our efforts to stand with the best in what we do (which is certainly a luxury experience at every level) this book challenges our team to step up. Our leaders to stand unabashedly and unapologetically up for high standards. And tools to bring a team, often untrained and possibly uninspired to join us on a mission to be one of the worlds best. A few more tools in our kit from this book won’t hurt! In fact it may just be what we need to accomplish a goal to be best in the world.