#33, Mark Maynard: 30-Year New York City Hospitality Veteran turned Consultant & Coach

Mark's the best! He walked into Union Square Cafe more than 30 years ago and only left what became the Danny Meyer-founded Union Square Hospitality Group group recently, having scaled the dizzy heights of a restaurant group that was as iconic and successful as it was disruptive, creating a whole new perspective on how to serve guests and manage the staff that do so, all of which Mark played a large part in. I got to know him better at his last big project at USHG, the ass-kicking Porchlight bar in NY, and we sat down to shoot the shit about just about everything, from being part of Jose Andres' World Kitchen serving people fleeing the war in Ukraine, to diversity 2023-style in restaurant hiring, to the tip controversy (spicy!), to his biggest mistake as a manager, and how he distills that 30 years of expertise to help his consulting clients turbo-charge their business with his new firm, Maynard Consulting. Special thanks to the Institute of Culinary Education in NY  for loaning us a location to record in, and to the one and only Tony Sachs for donating a 50-odd-years-old mini of fine bourbon whisky for us to crack open to get the ball rolling!Maynard Consulting: https://www.maynardconsulting.net  Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-maynard-b8a2976  (Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries:  [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is. They need to be able to hang. Oh, plus we don't edit, we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, nor listener or “reach” stats, either, and no, you can't sit in on the interview (or lurk on the Zoom.)  And our AI automatically deletes pitch emails that are clearly written using AI. Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/ Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos Old Duff Genever on Faceboo...