Let’s Talk about the New Hospitality Economy and How It Benefits Disney
Did you hear that Victoria & Albert’s recently earned recognition as the best restaurant in the United States?
As a Disney fan, you may enjoy that seemingly trivial tidbit, but it matters greatly to chefs and restaurateurs.
They build entire menus to earn such accolades. One such eatery had previously claimed the title of the best restaurant in the world in 2017.
Surprisingly, I’m here to talk about that place and its offshoots rather than Victoria & Albert’s.
That’s because the former owner of the restaurant in question argues that we’re entering a new era.
According to this expert, the hospitality economy has arrived. How will Disney benefit?
The Bear and the Restaurants That Inspired It
Like many of you, I’m obsessed with The Bear, the Hulu series that recently unveiled its second season.
While the first season of The Bear earned many accolades, including a Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series, the new batch of episodes is objectively better.
Several shocking guest stars appear, including Emmy and Academy Award-winning performers…and recent ones at that.
One of those performers cameos in the most impactful episode of the second season.
In that story, an established character temps at one of the finest restaurants in the world.
While the tale is fictional, the restaurant in question, Alinea, actually places ninth in that list I linked above, the one where Victoria & Albert’s wins.
However, the inspiration for the episode’s best subplot, something involving Chicagoland pizza, stems from a different establishment, Eleven Madison Park.
In 2017, this restaurant earned the title of Best Restaurant in the World by the most prestigious publication for such voting.Before then, the executive chef there, Daniel Humm, had won recognition as THE best chef in the world.
As odd as the statement sounds, those two titles don’t often go hand-in-hand. The best restaurant rarely claims the best chef as well.
The intriguing part is what happened to elevate the restaurant itself to the level of its chef.
That story famously involves $2 hot dogs and a job title known as The Dreamweaver. And that subject is where Disney enters the conversation.
The Hot Dog That Changed Fine Dining
Before the pandemic, Will Guidara, along with Humm and some investors, co-owned Eleven Madison Park.
Nobody questioned the greatness of Humm as a culinary artist, but his status slightly overshadowed the restaurant itself.
One fateful day changed that, and Guidara takes the credit here. You can listen to him explain what happened in his Ted Talk:
I’d encourage you to watch the entire piece to recognize how the future ties into Disney’s greatest area of expertise.
I’ve queued it to the hot dog story, though. The gist is that a group of foodies visited New York City and ate at all the fine-dining restaurants.
During a table chat, they agreed that their sole collective disappointment was that they hadn’t eaten a cheap New York hot dog.
So, Guidara ran to a hot dog cart, grabbed a $2 hot dog, and asked the chef to serve it.
While that sounds absurd in theory, the guests delighted in this lovely touch, one that personalized their fine-dining experience.
Yes, a cheap hot dog somehow elevated a dining experience that costs about $350 per person.
All the other classic restaurants, like the legendary Le Bernardin, delivered plate after plate of exquisite cuisine.
Guidara’s action checked off a different box. As he describes the act of benevolence, it’s “one size fits one.”
Yes, every customer is different and should be treated as such.
The entrepreneur adds, “In restaurants, our reason for being is to make people feel seen. It’s to make them feel welcome. It’s to give them a sense of belonging.”
Please read that again but swap in “At Disney theme parks…” for “In restaurants…”
That’s the Disney experience summarized, isn’t it? Cast members spread Pixie Dust through acts of kindness, thereby plussing our visits.
The Start of the Hospitality Economy
That hot dog story is several years old now and has been retold hundreds of times.
For the fine-dining industry, it’s a defining moment, though.
Once Guidara persuaded Humm to serve that hot dog, albeit in a plussed manner, everything changed at Eleven Madison Park.
The customers heard that kindness was on the menu and excitedly rushed to visit.
Perhaps even more importantly, the restaurant’s employees felt their emotions soar as they performed these random acts of kindness.
Staff morale spiked, leading to a novel idea. Eleven Madison Park created a new position, The Dreamweaver.
This worker’s sole responsibility involved piecing together information about the diners and then creating unforgettable memories for them.
You can read the details here, but the gist is that before Guidara left the company, he fervently believed in “foolishly spending” five percent of the restaurant’s budget.
Moreover, Guidara thinks that in providing a guest with an experience they would “remember forever,” he switched careers and pivoted to a job of “serving memories.”
His philosophy of making people feel seen ties into another developing societal phenomenon.
The next generation of customers is more interested in the experiential.
That’s the start of the hospitality economy wherein you, as a customer, choose a place based on how you expect it to make you feel.
For many consumers, most restaurants, retailers, and entertainment options are generally the same.
That’s a byproduct of society utilizing service industries which comprise 65 percent of businesses.
When a company differentiates itself via hospitality, you remember the action and are thereby more likely to visit that place instead.
In doing so, you’ve entered the hospitality economy.
How the Hospitality Economy Benefits Disney
Disney attempted to tap into this experiential-based hospitality economy with the failed Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.
The idea itself wasn’t the problem there inasmuch as the price. Disney had the right idea, though, and Guidara’s comments reinforce this fact.
His business philosophy prioritizes treating customers as unique individuals, not commodities.
The restaurateur describes the hiring of The Dreamweaver as an investment in this idea. He enumerates several benefits of the premise as well.
Most significantly, the staff grew happier during the workday, and the employees felt more empowered as well.
The workers developed a stronger sense of creativity from their attempts to please others.
Also, they became more present when interacting with guests so that they could gain ideas for these acts.
Overall, the switch to an emphasis on hospitality created a culture of positivity for everyone in the building, including the customers.
Guidara created an entire team in the emerging business of people-pleasing.
Disney entered that business in 1955 with the opening of Disneyland.
Nobody has more practice with random acts of kindness than Disney cast members.
Guidara summarizes the burgeoning hospitality economy thusly:
“Making good products is no longer enough. Serving them efficiently is no longer enough. It’s how we make people feel that matters most of all.”
In The Bear, a Grinch-like character’s heart grew three sizes when they felt the joy of providing genuine hospitality for the first time.
Disney cast members already experience this often, and it’s something that park officials would do well to emphasize moving forward.
While Disney has always been far ahead of the hospitality curve, its experience will differentiate it for the next generation of vacationers.
The explosive success of The Bear season two should speed up the societal shift toward this emerging hospitality economy, and that’s Disney’s wheelhouse.
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!
Photo: Disney