Over Christmas I’ve been reading a book about the restaurant business called ‘Setting the Table, by one of the most successful restauranteurs in America, Danny Meyer. It’s definitely worth reading if you’re in any way connected to the hospitality or service business. There’s a short video interview with Danny Meyer here. He says a lot of sensible things about how to move beyond just providing basic service into providing hospitality and making a closer connection with the individual customer. Anyway, one interesting thing about Meyer’s philosophy from an Internet point of view is the way he talks about community and business:

Invest in your community. A business that understands how powerful it is to create wealth for the community stands a much higher chance of creating wealth for its own investors. I have yet to see a house lose any of its value when a garden is planted in its front yard. And each time one householder plants a garden, chances are neighbors will follow suit. (p.114).

Amazon UK stocks the book for the European market; it’s quite widely available in the US.