Will Guidara: building the number 1 restaurant in the world

A simple idea helped Will Guidara build the number 1 rated restaurant in the world. Simple but unintuitive. When Guidara purchased the restaurant he was working at: Eleven Madison Park, it was already in S. Pellegrino’s list of top 50 restaurants in the world, but just barely. It was at number 50.

Guidara and head chef Daniel Humm managed to push the restaurant into the top 10 within 2 years by being detail oriented and obsessing over customer happiness.

But no matter how hard they tried, they could not win the coveted number 1 spot.

They reduced the number of seatings each night so that they could focus on serving the diners better. Every detail was choreographed. Dishes were served right on time based on how fast or slow the diner ate. 

The detail on things beyond food was also extreme. For example, light was dimmed gradually as the night wore on. Tables had focused light cones because that allowed the light to shine on the food, but kept the diners faces softly lit.

Even the music was thoughtfully curated based on the energy of the diners. Early sitting, peak time, and closing time each had different playlists. Volume was adjusted constantly based on the conversations flowing through the restaurant.

Guidara also created a “dreamweavers” team. Whose sole job was to create surprise moments for the diners.

No detail was spared. And yet, they found it hard to break through the top 5.

Till Guidara took his team to the top ranked restaurants in the world. Guidara decided to help his team study the restaurants they could not beat.

This seemed very helpful. His team enjoyed the outing, and quickly made a list of ideas they could copy.

But Guidara flipped the exercise. He wasn’t interested in benchmarking his competition. Because he wasn’t interested in becoming like them. He wanted to be unique. He wanted to outshine them.

So Guidara asked his team to throw away the list they had made, and focus on reverse benchmarking: what were the things these restaurants were not doing brilliantly? What were they not good at that Eleven Madison Park could excel at?

This was the right question! 

One of Guidara’s team’s ideas was based on the observation that all the top restaurants focus on the wine menu. They have a knowledgeable wine sommelier. And pair wine with courses. But no one focused on folks who didn’t drink wine.

Guidara changed that. He assigned a guy to become a coffee sommelier. And another to become a beer sommelier! 

These new ideas helped set Eleven Madison Park apart. In 2017, they finally earned the coveted number one spot on S. Pelligrino’s best restaurants in the world list! They were also the most searched for Michelin ranked restaurant in the world. 

Action Summary:

• Play your own game. Make your own rules. Don’t look at others and try to match their performance, unless you are just starting out or are still struggling with mediocre output. Instead, focus on what others are bad at that you can be great at.