On Tuesday, an elite group of restaurateurs and professional foodies will meet at Cooper Union for the first ever Welcome Conference. Organized by Eleven Madison Park co-owner Will Guidara and former Per Se general manager Anthony Rudolf, the daylong program will focus on mastering the so-called art of hospitality.
“You constantly have to go outside the box,” says Rudolf. Here, some ways he and other top names in the industry are doing just that:
Online stalking
“We Google customers every single time,” admits Nick Kokonas, co-owner of Chicago’s Alinea, which boasts three Michelin stars.
Patrons’ online photos are hunted down in advance of their arrival so they can be greeted by name. Alinea’s crew also scans the Web for diners’ interests and professions in order to create a more personalized experience. “For example, we had an architect, and we put him with one of our staff members who has an interest [in] architecture and art history,” he says.
Pampering the kiddies
One December night, a family from Spain was dining at Eleven Madison Park when it started snowing heavily. The two children, who didn’t get snow where they were from, were elated by the falling flakes, so Guidara and his staff really went the extra mile.
“At 11:30 on a Saturday night, we found a store that was still open and selling sleds,” Guidara recalls. “We bought them sleds so that they could spend [the next] day sledding in Central Park. You should’ve seen their faces.”
Diner dossiers
“We keep amazing records of every single time a customer comes into our establishment,” says Kokonas of Alinea, which boasts a detailed database on its 190,000 diners.
“Before you come in, we will look up your last visit, what you ate, what you liked, what you didn’t like, how many bathroom breaks you took,” he reveals. “We take extensive notes.”
Each day, a chef report is e-mailed to the front of house with all the PONs — “persons of note” — on it. Past ones included a New York-based editor who, during his last visit, had his credit card denied three times for the $727.29 charge. Special attention is paid when FOAs — “Friends of Alinea,” generally those who have been to the restaurant at least 30 times — stop in.
Eavesdropping
One time, Guidara overheard diners at Eleven Madison Park talking before catching a flight back home.
“They were saying the only thing they missed on their trip was a classic New York hot dog,” says Guidara. “So we went out and got them a tray of hot dogs from the cart down the street. They were thrilled.”
Knowing when to butt out
People often go to restaurants for special occasions: big birthdays, proposals and even last suppers.
The key to making these moments special, says Per Se alum Rudolf, is to keep out of the way.
“It may sound a bit counterintuitive, but if 50 years from now they are remembering how great the restaurant was and not how special the proposal was, that’s a problem,” he says. “The food and the beverage is secondary.”