‘Brand Experiences Create Memories.’

“We will be the number one restaurant in the world.”That’s what restauranteur Will Guidara wrote on a cocktail napkin whilst sitting in a hotel bar after the prestigious World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in 2010. That year, Guidara’s Eleven Madison Park in New York had placed last on the list. There was nothing to smile about and Guidara and chef Daniel Humm needed to do a lot of work to climb the ranks of the world’s most sought-after fine dining experiences.

And work they did. After the prophetic mission statement drafted on that napkin, Guidara introduced his now-infamous philosophy, “Unreasonable Hospitality.” He thought, “You need to be unreasonable to see a world that doesn’t yet exist.” That meant creating a service culture that shifted from getting every detail right to offering bespoke, over-the-top hospitality to guests.

His philosophy paid off. In the ten years that followed, Eleven Madison Park went from an average brasserie to a 3-star…