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Darren McHugh

@darrenlmchugh

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Hospitalitarian • London & Dublin
Head of Operations
@history__hospitality

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It was in 2007 that Chef Adam Byatt first introduced me to Setting the Table by Danny Meyer. One morning while setting up the dining room he thrust his copy at me through the hatch of what was then the kitchen table at Trinity Restaurant. I read it in one sitting. Alongside an eclectic and ever evolving array of books, articles, paintings, songs and newspaper cuttings, it has remained on the staff reading list of every restaurant I’ve managed as a beacon of hospitality. All of this was before the advent of social media of course where up until that point my only exposure to Union Square Cafe would have been the restaurant’s own cookbook. I dashed off a hastily worded email enquiring about the possibility of spending some time at the restaurant, receiving a reply almost immediately saying they’d be delighted to have me and to let them know when I was going to be in New York City. The back of house office at Union Square Cafe, 21 East 16th Street was small. The briefing sheet was being compiled for that afternoon’s service and I was asked did I have an inspirational quote to add to the ones already listed at the bottom. Perhaps something we might say in the restaurant back in London. I hesitated. “Well, we tend to say, ‘...make nice...’ quite a lot.” Spluttered out like this it didn’t seem inspirational at all. Every restaurant develops its own language, phrasing, vocabulary, shorthand. At Trinity, partaking in the most rudimentary of tasks to finally serving guests you were always urged to “make nice.” Borne out of a sense of immediacy you would hear this grammatically incorrect phrase countless times over the course of a day, week, month. I think it’s these shared words that create inspirational and resonant service cultures and if you’re fortunate to work with people who embody the same aspirations, you not only get to experience one but to also participate in its gestation. When staff members pass their probation period, I gift them a copy of this book in the hope that they too will be inspired by it and that over the course of their career, they will always remember to make nice. by @darrenlmchugh

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7 years ago

💨🔫 taken in Restaurant Story by @darrenlmchugh

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5 months ago

🖊️📮🎄 taken in Christmas by @darrenlmchugh

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8 months ago

🐈🇹🇷 taken in Istanbul, Turkey by @darrenlmchugh

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a year ago

🚀🇹🇷 taken in Çiya by @darrenlmchugh

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a year ago

taken in V&A East by @darrenlmchugh

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a year ago

🎂 taken in The Eagle, Farringdon by @darrenlmchugh

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a year ago

taken in London, United Kingdom by @darrenlmchugh

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a year ago

🍋🔥 by @darrenlmchugh

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a year ago

🔨🛁 by @darrenlmchugh

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a year ago

🖊️📮🎄 by @darrenlmchugh

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2 years ago

New work ID by @annnnnnushk_a ✨ taken in Restaurant Story by @darrenlmchugh

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2 years ago