I wrote this post in 2024 when I was still in high school. It's an effort to examine food and restaurants through a more discerning lens, looking to identify specific creative elements that are used to create an atmosphere of hospitality for guests. It compiled many of my questions and thoughts regarding why well-loved or renowned successful restaurants are the way they are. While my opinions have aged a bit, many of these open questions are(shocker) still open.

-Adrian 2026-02-11

I want to know more about service philosophies

What does this mean? What is the goal of the dining room experience as far as how the FOH staff operates? Are they trying to wow the guest, or to create a simple, intimate connection with them and just provide good food.

At avec, the tables are super close so guests are encouraged to interact and be present with each other. I remember the wait staff being super open and friendly—our server spoke with us about my interest and connected me with dylan—rather than being formal and "serving" us. The interior of the restaurant is all backlit wood, filling the narrow restaurant with comfort rather than claustrophobia. The customer is treated like a guest to their home.

In comparison, a place like Alinea aims to almost treat the customer like an audience member at a magic show. Often described as culinary theater, the experience at Alinea is supposed to shock and awe; it should never be static, and never be comfortable.

It's intentionally done to make the guest wonder whether or not they're at the right place, and to induce a certain degree of excitement before entering. Breaking taffy bubbles, arranging dishes on the tablecloth; the staff perform a variety of convoluted roles involved with the food as the night progresses.

Both of these restaurants are unequivocally "successful", but they're incredibly different. They both serve their customers very well and provide a wonderful experience, but by implementing vastly different philosophies.

So how are these philosophies put into place? IE, what kinds of things am I trying to learn from these people? Some components are the people, the dining room, and the menus.

I want to know more about how your staff interacts with guests

questions

How do you hire your staff? What kinds of personality traits do you look for? In training, what kinds of philosophies or concepts are you stressing on your staff to always be implementing? Is there a way an FOH staff could work that is not objectively wrong, but just not a good fit for your restaurant? Or on the other hand, how does one of your servers go above and beyond in their role to provide hospitality? What's your opinion on "the customer is always right"? For you, what's the "correct" way for staff to handle an angry or complaining customer?

notes

I want to know more about spaces(decor, ambience)

This can connect into fashion, into furniture design, into room decor, into architecture

questions

Why did you decorate your interior this way? What kind of ambience or vibe were you looking to create and why? What's the first feeling you want your diner to have when they walk into your restaurant? Is that feeling supposed to stay all night, or should it change throughout the course of the meal?

notes

This melds silver and table ware, the colors of a restaurant, what a service team wears. I I think how an interior is set up gets at the heart of a restaurants creative identity of what kind of experience they'd like to offer(obviously, because that's where the experience takes place)

I think the fashion aspect of this is interesting! What do the service staff wear? These choices would definitely impact the way the staff are viewed by the customers, and in turn the restaurant experience as a whole.

Boka is black and shiny, cosmopolitan, their servers wear navy vests over dress shirts. Their seats are very round with shiny black cushions; the restaurant is decently small and intimate just like their kitchen. It's located in a residential **area.

Alinea and ever are weird and futuristic and theatrical

Oriole and yuu are black, but not closed off. Very spacious dining rooms with open kitchens: oriole has a glass window while yuu takes it a step further and actually has chefs on the line be able to drop and intro food to guests at the bar

Indienne is green and maroon, their servers wear aprons over dress shirts. Their seats are a variety of earth tone colors with rounded edges; the restaurant has a nice high ceiling and open spaces between the seats and is located within a larger building complex. It's located in a metropolitan area, River North

Benu is brown and drab, their servers wear these tan robe things and are primarily asian

Menus

notes

I think menus are really interesting. In them, restaurants extend their creative identity to the target demographic for their business, as well as the kind of transactional relationship(less glamorous, but just as important) that the restaurant hopes to create.

At Kasama, the daytime is casual Filipino pastry and sandwich goods while the night is formal, Michelin starred tasting menu. It's impossible for them to treat both sides with the same degree of care or attention to detail—not disrespecting the day goods, it's a different kind of food but still delicious—so how do they balance those experiences?

I would imagine that the day customers are repeat locals: familiar, comfortable, almost like friends from the area who know what they're getting. The night customers are probably more fine dining oriented, come from farther away, and expecting to have a memorable experience filled with surprises worth their check. I bet the staff have to treat these two experiences differently as they prepare and execute them.

Alinea is all tasting!

Indienne is all tasting!

Duck Sel is all tasting!

Boka is a la carte

avec is a la carte

my hypothesis is that restaurants whose philosophies are to have the guests receive a super fun and cool and WOW experience will do all tasting, while more casual guest focused restaurants go for a la carte to give options

What do I like?

Young owners

Often ethnic

Strong service hospitality mentality

"Cool"

Needs to have a certain vibe

• farm-to-table places like blue hill, chez panisse, TFL(an exception, it excites me a crap ton but not because of its farm to table identity, rather TK and french excellence and the culture and ridiculous progeny etc) don't excite me all that much
• creative guru stuff like disfrutar, alinea, creativity for the sake of creativity doesn't excite me
• old school french places—the old guard— like Daniel, Jean Georges, Le Bernadin, I can appreciate their excellence but they don't excite me all that much
• I love restaurants with a clear cut, distinctive identity that I resonate with. If there is a message they are trying to convey through their food and I think is interesting, I like them a lot. Indienne, Kasama, Benu, Cote, Central, Den, Kato
• I think the common theme between these is they're almost all very young, very hot, and super intent on their specific message or identity. I can clearly identify how they're different, and why I like them
• I don't think I'm a big fan of "excellence". It's too broad and fluffy for me to really latch onto and find compelling. I need to have a little bit more than just that to really excite me.