现在是时候重新考虑丹尼·迈耶（Danny Meyer）的“设置桌子”

我第一次听到这个名字丹尼·迈耶（Danny Meyer）was from my mom. She was a New York native and avid diner who had just come from her first meal at The Modern, his fine-dining restaurant that had recently opened in the Museum of Modern Art. She had been sitting at the bar when Meyer, the founder of Union Square Hospitality Group, paused long enough to make eye contact. She recognized him, but before she realized who he was, the flutter of familiarity prompted her to blurt out an inappropriately familiar hello. He said hello right back. My mom described this as the kind of warm but politely vague hello someone gives a person who they know they should know, but can't bring themselves to register a name. My mom was so struck by how warmly he, one of the most legendarily successful restaurateurs of our time, treated her.

几年后，在我在PDT和MomofukuSämBar上获得调酒后，我读了Meyer的规范文字，设置桌子：酒店业的转变能力，and it changed my life. I saw a lot of myself in this book: I am a white male child of wealthy parents who had countless chances to travel the world recreationally. Like Meyer, I blew off my LSATs because I had found such an emotionally fulfilling job working in the service industry. I loved the experience of making miracles happen for people: serving them the perfect cocktail and turning their day around. I loved getting the grumpy guest because it was an opportunity, a challenge.

设置表,a纽约时报最畅销的人，充满了奇妙的建议：酒店适用于所有人，而不仅仅是您的付费客户；错误是机会；领导需要“持续，柔和的压力”；耐心是一种美德。这本书帮助公众看到餐厅的工作是真实，有价值的作品，需要特定技能和很多牺牲。

The book also helped to create a monster: the hyper-entitled guests with too much leverage. A lot has changed in the 14 years since this book's publication, and it's time to reconsider the message of this book as we start to plan for the restaurant industry's post-pandemic future.

最中心和持久的概念之一布置餐桌是“开明的款待”。这个概念声称将员工评价比客户重视。对此至关重要的是“ 51％”的想法，这意味着您想雇用一个技能为51％的“情绪智力”的人。这本书引起了令人困惑的警告：“在开明的款待哲学中，员工不断地搁置个人需求并无私地照顾他人。实际上，这是一种自私的行为。”这听起来可能是肛门，但实际上有些险恶。

The true exemplars of hospitality are the ones whounquestioningly向客人的欲望投降，而不管要求多么荒谬。这个想法是我们需要考虑的事情，因为该行业继续摆脱持续的大流行，该行业摧毁了企业和把工人under enormous pressure and considerable personal risk- 以嘉宾体验的名义。

我想知道迈耶可能会想到这本书，鉴于过去一年的大流行引起的估计，他通过电子邮件提供了这一说法：

"If I were to add anything new to布置餐桌—我在2006年写的—这将是更充分地强调建立一个多元化团队并为那些不总是在桌子上坐下的人创造一种理解和属于的氛围的必要。

并不新鲜的是，我们仍然致力于“找到是”，并且可以理解的是，不阅读[布置餐桌], one might misinterpret our ethos to mean that we put the customer first, or that the 'customer is always right.' It's a roadmap that has always guided our culture and our decisions at USHG and one that has become ever more crucial in a year that revealed all the shortcomings of our industry's infrastructure to protect our most vulnerable."

在2018年，我共同创立了餐厅工作者社区基金会，这是一家非营利组织，筹集资金来支持改善餐饮业工人生活质量的努力。行业工人面临公平治疗的相当大结构障碍。截至2021年1月，餐馆工人的中位工资为$ 21,470；小费的做法是加剧不平等的奴隶制遗产。带薪病假是相对较新的特权。好像我们需要的最后一件事是一本畅销书，说出无限亲切的款待的优点，无论费用是多少。需要明确的是，这里发生的事情要比14年前出版的一本书要多得多。

Jameson Brown, the Chief Experience Engineer of Me Sous, a grocery box delivery service, has worked in New York City fine-dining spots including Jean Georges, The Pool, and the Mark Hotel. "That book is what inspired me to transition from the kitchen to front of house," he said. "It empowered me to know that I could use my personality and emotional intelligence in a way that was impactful to me. When dealing with guests, I would ask myself, 'What would Danny do?' But there is a culture in fine dining that says how good you are is based on how much abuse you can take with grace."

詹姆森（Jameson）是黑人，他回想起2015年的一次时光，当时，一位桌子上的一个男人在整个饭菜中称他为“男孩”。客人最终问詹姆森的名字，但决定称他为查理。他不高兴，把这件事带给了他的经理，他说他可以忍受它，要么回家。

怪异的客人期望的故事是服务行业的标志。是的，有望被允许滥用服务人员的人要求餐馆可以选择义务，在许多情况下。餐厅运营平台Misebox的创始人兼首席执行官Dana Koteen在Union Square Hospitality Group的Maialino工作了四年，他说：“我们作为一个行业，我们应该让我们的客人负责。我们的错是创造了这些问题怪物。”我的行业资深人士兼前同事塔拉·麦克马伦（Tara MacMullen）补充说：“我们已经进入了一个角落。我们已经训练了客人，以我们的方式说“是”是我们的工作。头脑没有吹来，出了点问题。”

An anecdote in布置餐桌that's emblematic of the kind of unattainable standard set by the book is when Meyer regales the reader with the time when a guest at USHG's now-shuttered Tabla forgot their phone and wallet in a cab. A staff member consoled the distraught guests, while another called the woman's cell phone, reaching the driver, and eventually retrieved the phone and wallet before the meal was over. Meyer marvels that the whole experience only cost $31, the price of the round-trip cab ride, but netted the restaurant much more in word-of-mouth PR. Meyer had told the staff to create a "legend" from the incident—something that the guest would never forget, and repeat to friends over and over. But the problem with legends is that eventually a lot of people hear about them, and then inevitably they become quotidian.

仔细观察这个驾驶室轶事，还有很多要考虑的事情要考虑：工作人员同意在不熟悉的地方与出租车司机见面，这是什么样的个人风险？那个工作人员在跑步时忽略了什么职责？谁必须为他们覆盖？结果是否有任何来宾经历，为什么他们的经历不那么重要？更重要的是，这是什么样的先例？是的，那个人继续成为一个虔诚的常规，但是他们告诉朋友，您现在期望如果您将手机和钱包留在出租车中，一家贵餐厅的服务人员将充当您的个人代客？

介绍的世界观布置餐桌代表了一颗奇妙的北极星，但像星星一样，它作为一个实际目的地是无法实现的，而且采取行动是不公平的。自发布以来，它一直是许多从餐饮行业开始的人的首选。但是，对于希望自我教育在餐馆工作的现实的人们，重要的是要经过玫瑰色的图片很重要布置餐桌绘画并质疑IT拥护的弯曲心态。这可能对客户来说很棒，但这对员工来说是真正的成本，这是一个太高的成本。