Setting the Table by Danny Meyer - Book Review

Bought this book on the basis it was recommended to my by Amazon based on my other purchases so I figured for £0.01 it was worth a look. I will say however the first 60 or so pages I was thinking what on earth are people on about? but then it becomes interesting. The first section in my opinion which is less interesting is mainly about Danny growing up, his family and his student days travelling round Europe eating things. For me this is not something that particularly interests me but builds up to the point where he is deciding what to do with his life and his uncle says - well you love eating and food why not a restaurant? It follows how they started by picking the location but the developed problems with the infrastructure and so on which they learned from in their second restaurant. (ie coat room wasn't big enough for everyones coats and the kitchen was small and tight. He also states that a lot of his business decisions are about the opportunities you don't take as well as the ones you do take. He also points out the problems they had with human resources and issues as they grew and put into place round tables and staff consultations to try and head off issues before they became a majour problem. I would however say this book is more aimed at a business with staff ie a larger B&B or small hotel or perhaps as a learning tool for someone who intends on expanding their business to several properties. Therefore I would recommend this as an interesting read as well as a useful tool for someone heading in that direction. ISBN 9780462099255