Unreasonable Hospitality

JUN 8, 2026

Written by the 'service' owner of Eleven Madison Park, Will Guidara. EMP is one of the top restaurants in the world, and he catalogues the journey to get there. Part management-philosophy / part exploration of human psychology.

This book reminds me of an old post I read about Penn & Teller. The whole point of a magic show is to go to some length of preparation that is totally 'unreasonable' to do. And the audience is wowed as a result.

It turns out fine dining is much more like a magic show. There are hand-signals the hosts exchange to wordlessly communicate. They try and create 'legends' of delight like buying a hot dog off the street and plating it for guests enjoying their last meal in NYC, asking where you parked to feed the meter, and addressing you by name as you walk in.

There are a ton of gems in here, but the top ones I remember:

  • The 95-5 rule. Spend 95% of your budget ruthlessly and efficiently. Spend 5% on stuff that you can't really justify but makes for those little moments of magic (the spoons at the gelato cart at the MOMA).
  • The power of service. Most restaurants spend an inordinate amount of time on the food, and personally the quality of the food is the thing I'm least interested in sacrificing.
  • The Dreamweaver. EMP hired a couple of folks called "dreamweavers". Their whole job description was to spark little moments of magic. Packing lunches for people heading to the airport. Painting portraits.

Then there's a lot of interesting restaurant-y tidbits too: how much reviews matter for a restaurant, the fact that when you are reaching for the next higher star level you are operating at a max loss, how much the staff needs to think of everything: from the music, to the orientation of the dishware, to the system for taking reservations.

More broadly, this book has made me re-think the way that I treat others, and wonder if there's ways (big or small) where I can create a little bit more magic and convenience in their lives. When thinking about designing products, making them feel easy, comfortable, and welcoming, goes so much further than friction and confusion.