People who have come to appreciate well-sourced and well-cooked food refuse to pay too much for food that they wouldn't want to pay anything for.
I've been in love with Washington ever since renting my very first apartment there many years ago while working as a Senate intern.
You cannot open a major New York restaurant today and not be aware that showbiz will play a role.
Good service means never having to ask for anything.
More and more museums will look at restaurants and chefs differently - as if they are curating art.
My staff's job is to adjust to circumstances with technical precision and artful grace so that every patron has a wonderful experience.
Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. Those two simple prepositions - for and to - express it all.
I never get sick on airplanes which is incredible. You're basically in a flying petri dish.
I gasp for air if I don't get to breathe Italian air once a year.
When push comes to shove baseball is one of my favorite things in the world.
A delicious meal cooked by a colleague for many others nourishes not only the body but also the soul.
In an age when so many groups are rolling out restaurants faster than your local baker makes donuts my goal is that each restaurant feels hand-crafted. That they have their own soul.
I'm a big believer that you can try to change the world based on philosophy doctrine and belief. But I think the thing that really drives the world is hedonism the pleasure factor.
It is sad that the more 'successful' a neighborhood becomes the more it gradually takes on a recognizable common look as the same banks drugstore chains and national brands move in.
Shake Shack started off as a summer hot dog cart in Madison Square Park. It was not meant to be a company - it was completely accidental. It started off as an expression of community building.
I grew up in a reform Jewish family in St. Louis. Our idea of Judaism was no bar mitzvahs and a Christmas tree that had a skirt at the bottom embroidered with the names of my grandparents.
Ninety-five percent of all brussels sprouts come from California.
If somebody doesn't want to cook at home or has more family members than they have room for then it's great to be in a city that's got restaurants that are actually busy on the holidays.
People use restaurants to do business to do politics to socialize.
Union Square Cafe is all soul not brain.
Wearing a baseball cap or sleeveless shirt in a white-tablecloth restaurant is rude and makes other diners upset just like someone on a cellphone.
The only thing I hate is when bad food is paraded as something great and people are charging a lot for it.
Fine casual' means taking the cultural priorities that fine dining at its best believes in.
I think that more and more and more really talented restauranteurs and chefs from the fine dining world are going to try their hand at fine casual. They're going to say 'Why not us?'
If someone said 'You've got to eat your next two meals at American fast-food restaurants ' I would do one meal at Chipotle and one meal at Popeyes fried chicken.
I run in London in San Francisco - any city that's got a waterfront or park.
Constant gentle pressure is my preferred technique for leadership guidance and coaching.
A cocktail done right can really show your guests that you care.
Festive cocktails mean color lots of color.
My dad gave me the gene to enjoy cooking and to enjoy consuming good food and wine.
Restaurants with small courses that give the customer choices and that don't obligate them to spend a fortune are going to do very well.
The most important thing you can do is make the distinction between customer service and guest hospitality. You need both things to thrive but they are completely different.
Use your time well. Everyone gets time equally. It doesn't matter how much money you make.
A great restaurant doesn't distinguish itself by how few mistakes it makes but by how well they handle those mistakes.
At my restaurants we have training drills before every meal. We talk about what we did yesterday that was great and what we can improve today.
The cooking standards for Italian food are less demanding than for French. All you need are some fried mozzarella and five pastas and you're in business.
Diners are upset that restaurants aren't honoring reservations and a lot of restaurants help bring this on by overbooking.
Steak and its accompaniments - wine vegetables potatoes and generous desserts - is a primal source of pleasure to which many people can relate.
London has become one of the great world destinations for someone who likes food.
If you develop a dialogue with me and take an interest in me I'll want to give you the business. It's human nature.
Hospitality exists when you believe that the other person is on your side.
Life is a series of waves to be embraced and overcome.
One great worker equals three not-so-great workers so it's worth paying terrific people not just for today but to find people that we think have upward mobility to become tomorrow's leaders.
One of my great teachers was the late Jean-Claude Vrinat of Taillevent in Paris.
Hospitality is almost impossible to teach. It's all about hiring the right people.
Short of hiring a new staff consider giving subpar workers a chance to improve. Tell them why they're not measuring up and give them a set amount of time to make specific improvements.
I feel like not knowing Joe Torre is a hole in my New York experience.
Be aware of textural elements throughout a party like silverware stemware and linens. But the biggest element is metaphorical: it's your own touch. How are you making people feel?
You wouldn't have the same art on the walls at every restaurant or the same waiter uniforms. Neither should you have the same service style at every restaurant.
There are a zillion variables to a hamburger. What part of the animal went into it. What coarseness. What temperature.
Long before Starbucks popularized the phrase 'the third place' - somewhere to interact outside of work and home - it was neighborhood restaurants that helped to define places like Union Square.
Some people are near- or farsighted - I'm thorn-sighted. The thorns on the rose are in really sharp definition for me the rose petals a little fuzzier.
Every restaurant needs to have a point of view.