Hospitality is a creative profession far beyond the kitchen. This chapter reveals how to ignite creativity in your frontline staff through the "I Am the Restaurant" philosophy. It presents a powerful internal monologue that defines true employee engagement, followed by ten actionable principles: radical openness that eliminates grudges, personal interest cultivated through kitchen immersion and competitor reconnaissance, mood discipline as a professional standard, professiona

We've all seen the pattern. A successful actor, a bored banker, a retired athlete decides to "open a restaurant." They have the capital, the name, and the dream. Twelve months later, the "for lease" sign is back in the window. Why? Because they confuse having a restaurant with living in one. There are three distinct species of restaurant owners. The first is the "Dilettante" — driven by glamour, by the fantasy of having a place to call their own.