Today in Shelf Awareness, a daily newsletter
about the book trade: 

“Danny Meyer, legendary restaurateur and owner of Union Square
Café, Gramercy Tavern and other eateries in New York City and author of Setting the
Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business, was
asked to define hospitality in a recent USA Today interview: 

"Service can be
measured based on how well a product was technically delivered. Hospitality
can be measured based upon how the recipient of that service felt.
Hospitality exists when something happens for you, not to you. It exists when
you believe the other person is on your side. Service is truly a monologue.
Hospitality has to be a dialogue." [Emphasis added]

The HarperCollins
website includes some of Danny’s other insights:

• Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. These two simple concepts—for and to—express it all.
• Context, context, context, trumps the outdated location, location, location.
• Shared ownership develops when guests talk about a restaurant as if it’s theirs. That sense of affiliation builds trust and invariably leads to repeat business.
• Err on the side of generosity: You get more by first giving more.
• Wherever your center lies, know it, name it, believe in it. When you cede your core values to someone else, it’s time to quit. 

Looks like I’m getting another
audio book.

For me, audio
books are a life saver. I especially
like the abridged versions. Unfortunately, iTunes’ selection is very limited.

The abridged version of
this book is available
on Audible.com.