make it nice

We called our new company Make It Nice, after Daniel’s signature phrase, back when his English was less refined. It had quickly become shorthand within the restaurant for “Pay a little extra attention to this”—whether “this” was a table of friends, or a dish, or even a side-work project. By that point, expectations were so clear, a team member could say, “Make it nice,” to one of their colleagues, and without any further explanation, they would.

The symmetry of the words themselves appealed, reinforcing that this was a restaurant run by both sides of the wall. The kitchen “makes” food; in the dining room, we were “nice.” (We were so adamant about breaking down the walls that divided us that—as you may have noticed—we didn’t even use the common terms “back of house” and “front of house.” Instead, we always referred to them as “the kitchen” and “the dining room.”) Plus, “make” and “nice” had the same number of letters.

It was the perfect name for our company, encompassing both excellence and hospitality.

Unreasonable Hospitality, Will Guidara