Book Summaries

By Jeremy SilvaArts Books

Book Summaries episodes

June 04, 2021 Restaurant Man by Joe Bastianich Summary
This Restaurant Man Book Summary is also available as a blog post at https://jsilva.blog/2021/03/19/restaurant-man-summary/
My Favorite Quotes from Restaurant Man
Once you’ve been hungry, things are never the same.
The road to excess does not lead to the palace of wisdom.
When you fire someone, you are securing and enforcing the position of everyone in the restaurant.
Once your ego is making the decisions, it’s over.
Quality tells, every time.
Discounting is degrading the quality of your service and undermines the professionalism of the restauranteur.
We are in the business of exceeding expectations.
Everything on the table sends a message. A big statement is not to put salt and pepper on the table. If you are a chef driven restaurant, why would you allow your customers to alter the flavor of the food?
Failure and victory are not so far apart.
Never make decisions on your best day, and never make decisions on your worst day, make all your decisions on medium days.

Key Questions
What is this meal really worth in terms of the experience?
If there are misspellings on the menu, how much do you think the people who created it really care?
Would you want your doctor to give you a discount? Would you go to a different doctor because he offered a 25% discount?
If you are a chef-driven restaurant, why would you allow your customers to alter the flavor of the food?
14 min
May 20, 2021Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey Summary
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://jsilva.blog/2020/11/09/greenlights-summary/
My Favorite Quotes from Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
Knowing the truth, seeing the truth, and telling the truth are all different experiences.

To lose the power of confrontation is to lose the power of unity.

It’s better to jump than to fall.

The intellect should simplify things, not make them more cerebral.

We often don’t get what we want because we quit early or we didn’t take the necessary risk to get it.

We are all made for every moment we encounter.

If we stay in the process and within the joy of the doing, we will never choke at the finish line.

Have immortal finish lines.

Sometimes which choice you make is not as important as making a choice and committing to it.

Some people look for an excuse to do, others look for an excuse not to.

It is not about whether you win or lose, it’s about accepting the challenge. When you accept the challenge you have already won.

Great leaders are not always in front, they also know who to follow.

We must be aware of what we attract in life because it is no accident or coincidence.

Time and truth, two constants you can rely on. One shows up for the first time, every time, while the other never leaves.

I hope to give my children an opportunity to find what they love to do, work to be great at it, pursue it, and do it.
13 min
May 17, 2021Nobu: A Memoir Book Summary
This episode is also available as a blog post: Nobu: A Memoir Book Summary.
My Favorite Quotes from Nobu: A Memoir
Keep moving forward, even if it’s just a millimeter a day.

The character of the people who work at a restaurant is more important than its size or reputation.

I would rather be known as a good man than for my restaurant to be known for making money.

Put your heart into your work.

Guests can always tell whether or not we have prepared their meal with heart and soul. Food that has been made from the heart will touch the hearts of those who eat it.

The only way to ensure that our guests go home happy is to notice when something isn’t right before they tell us and to act on it immediately.

You can only be considered a full-fledged chef once you can pass on the skills you have learned from others to up-and-coming chefs. Only when an apprentice finally reaches your level can you call yourself a master.

It takes time to teach others. If we only consider the work we need to do that particular day, it would be far faster to do it ourselves. If we don’t teach others and cultivate their skills, we will never have time to do the work we really want to do.

Putting our guests’ satisfaction first is crucial, as long as we do that, results will always follow.

Cooking is very truthful. A dish made by a chef who longs with heart and soul to explore new things tastes very different from a dish made by a chef who feels obligated to come up with something new.

As long as our focus remains superficial, we will get no closer to the true nature of our work. If we haven’t grasped its essence and don’t love it from the bottom of our heart, our work will never bear fruit. Once we have found the essence of our profession and start doing it purely for the love of it, our hard work will always open the path before us.

Instead of trying to beat or make more profit than someone else, the real contest is to do our best for the sake of our guests.

True competition increases the quality of both parties. With this type of competition, rivals can coexist and prosper together.

If we don’t consciously seek true competition which develops the level of all involved, it is impossible for a restaurant to grow.

Being an example is more effective than reprimanding.

You can’t teach someone to have a hungry spirit.

Appropriate advice, given at the right moment, can trigger dramatic development.

Here is the URL to my book summary https://jsilva.blog/2021/05/14/nobu-book-summary/
27 min
May 12, 2021 Humble Pie by Gordon Ramsay Summary
This episode is an audio version of my blog post summary of Humble Pie by Gordon Ramsay.
15 min
May 11, 2021A Promised Land by Barack Obama Summary
This episode is an audio version of my blog post A Promised Land by Barack Obama Summary.
My Favorite Quotes from A Promised Land
Enthusiasm makes up for a host of deficiencies.

The power to inspire is rare.

You don’t choose the time, the time chooses you.

People are moved by emotion, not facts.

It is important to take the long view. To stay focused on your goals rather than getting hung up on the daily ups and downs.

There is a direct link between doing your work and having your wishes come true.

No problem that lands on the president’s desk has a clean one-hundred percent solution.

Most presidents labor without knowing the economic impact of their actions.

The absence of catastrophe, and the preservation of normalcy, do not attract attention.

Having at least one contrarian in the room makes us think harder about the issues.

Sometimes your most important work involves the stuff nobody notices.

Resolve without foresight is worse than useless.

To be known, to be heard, and to have one’s unique identity recognized and seen as worthy is a universal human desire.

Getting things done means subjecting yourself to criticism. The alternative, playing it safe and avoiding controversy, is a recipe for mediocrity.
47 min
May 06, 2021 How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Summary
This episode is also available as a blog post: How to Win Friends and Influence People Summary.
21 min
May 04, 2021 The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande Summary
This episode is also available as a blog post at https://jsilva.blog/2021/02/19/checklist-manifesto-summary/
19 min
April 28, 2021 Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill Summary
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://jsilva.blog/2020/03/02/think-grow-rich-summary/
46 min
April 26, 2021 The Art of War by Sun Tzu Book Summary
This is my summary of The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://jsilva.blog/2018/08/27/book-summary-art-of-war/
14 min
April 09, 2021 Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker Summary
This is an audio recording of my book summary of Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker. The episode is also available as a blog post at https://jsilva.blog/2021/03/05/managing-oneself-summary/
11 min