Rant: Without Proper Hospitality, A Restaurant Will Fail

"Hospitality is the virtue of a great soul that cares for the whole universe through the ties of humanity."
--Chevalier Louis de Jaucourt in Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers

In short, hospitality is the warm, friendly reception and treatment of your guests. It's important in many areas, including restaurants, but it doesn't seem everyone understands its vital role. That failure can have a negative impact on a restaurant's bottomline so restaurant owners, and their employees, need to ensure that hospitality is a crucial element of their operations. It may sound simple, but then why are there otherwise good restaurants which fail in this regard?

The concept of hospitality was front and center in my mind last week as I attended a preview of Kaia, a new Greek restaurant in Boston's South End. Kaia is under the umbrella of Xenia Greek Hospitality, a restaurant group which also owns the excellent Krasi Meze + Wine, Hecate, Bar Vlaha, and Greco truly Greek. I'm a huge fan of their restaurants, and expect Kaia will be another winner. The food and drink at their restaurants excels but there's another significant element which elevates your dining experience at these spots. 

The Xenia website states: "At Xenia Greek Hospitality, we are inspired by the ancient Greek concept which is built on guest-friendship. Today, we often forget how important not only the food being served is, but most importantly how it is being served. With a single visit to any of our concepts, you can experience the highest level of hospitality, with care and attention to all our guests, so you feel welcomed in our home." 

Some restaurants only give lip service to the concept of hospitality, but the Xenia group truly embraces its spirit and practice. I have met many of the people behind the Xenia group, such as Stefanos Ougrinis, Demetri Tsolakis, Natasha Breshinsky, Brendan Pelley, Evan Turner, and Chris Marcin. And each and every one of them has been an exemplar of hospitality. In addition, they are truly sincere in their hospitality. It's not merely a front, but a concept they embrace heart and soul. They pass on their belief in hospitality to their employees, and it's evident as well at all of their restaurants. The level of hospitality at the Xenia restaurants is a significant reason for their success. 

People dine out not just for good food and drink, but also for the experience. They want to be treated well, as a beloved guest, so if the hospitality is lacking, their experience suffers. And they won't want to repeat such a failed experience. Have your chef make the best food possible, have your sommelier compile a killer wine list, have your bartender concoct an awesome cocktail program, but without the element of hospitality, the experience becomes a failure.

When I consider my favorite restaurants, the commonality of them is that they provide excellent hospitality. Sure, I love the food and drink at these restaurants, but without proper hospitality, they wouldn't be considered my favorites. 

How important is the hospitality of a restaurant to you?

Rant: Making Hospitality Better With A Japanese Proverb

Servers, consider this hypothetical: You have been asked to serve a once-in-a-lifetime table of customers. How would your service differ in this experience over your usual service?

Take some time to ponder your answer. Be honest with your answer. You aren't giving a public response so there is no need to put up a front.

Now, if you answered that your service might be better, more extensive, more accommodating, more personable, or something similar, then maybe you need to change your mindset concerning service. Maybe you need to learn some Japanese.

Ichigo ichie is a Japanese proverb that can be literally translated as “one time, one meeting,” or more loosely translated as "one chance in a lifetime" or "never again." The underlying meaning of the proverb is that you need to cherish every encounter in your life as if it will never be experienced again, as if it were a once-in-a-lifetime event. Even if you meet the same people at multiple encounters, each of those encounters is unique in its own way, and you never know if that meeting will be the last one.

This proverb is a central component of Japanese hospitality, also known as Omotenashi. I'm not going to go into depth on the concept of omotenashi in this post, but will concentrate on ichigo ichie. Japanese servers cherish the moment with each guest, understanding this might be their only encounter with this person so they want to present their best face and give their best service. You give your all, for every guest, at all times. You don't adjust your service as to whether you feel someone is a big tipper or not.

This is far from an easy concept to enact, especially considering what we are taught in our American culture. In addition, for this concept to best work, customers need to embrace it as well. They need to accept each restaurant visit as something unique, a once in a lifetime meal. There needs to be a mutual respect between customer and server. The customer needs to strive to be the best they can be as well. And it might be far easier to get servers to change than customers. How many customers are going to be open to lessons in how they can be a better customer?

Let this be a starting point for further discussion. The Japanese certainly have fascinating thoughts on hospitality and maybe they can be adapted for the U.S. hospitality industry. Or maybe the U.S. isn't ready for such a change.