You can't hide from New York's Eleven Madison Park. As New York's Alan Sytsma explains at Grub Street, mâitre d' Justin Roller googles everyone who has a reservation at the restaurant on any given night. He searches for personal information — birth date, anniversary, profession — so he can give proper salutations when the party arrives. Once he discovers something concrete, he jumps on it. "If I find out a guest is from Montana, and I know we have a server from there, we'll put them together," Roller explains. Systma adds:
Same goes for guests who own jazz clubs, who can be paired with a sommelier that happens to be into jazz. In other words, before customers even step through the door, the restaurant's staff has a pretty good idea of the things it can do to specifically blow their minds. [Grub Street]
While some might think having a complete stranger know everything about you down to your Social Security number (just kidding... I think) is kind of nutty, general manager Kirk Kelewae argues that it's part of the restaurant's charm. "We want to evoke a sense of being welcomed home," he says. Read more about Eleven Madison Park's blend of old-school service and internet sleuthing at Grub Street.
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