A Brand Experience – D’Amico Style

Returning home to Minneapolis last night after a speaking engagement on the west coast I decided to head over to the new D’Amico Kitchen at Chambers Hotel and enjoy a beautiful Friday night on the patio.  Long a fan of the D’Amico & Partners restaurants (their D’Amico & Suns Turkey Dried Cherry Salad is the all time best) I was excited to hit their newest addition to downtown Minneapolis.   And they didn’t disappoint. The stunning outdoor space, music and awesome menu were enough to make my Friday night special.   However, the highlight of evening turned out to be the Passion on Purpose service and brand experience delivered by team D’Amico.

Midway through dinner I sent my fork south to the patio floor.  I flagged down a D’Amico staffer eager to remedy the situation with a new utensil.  However, a bit of time passed, no return from said staffer.  No new utensil.  So, we tracked down the silverware on our own and continued with dinner.  Not  a deal breaker in my mind, after all, I was the one that made the mishap to begin with.  The D’Amico staffer returned, apologized for the delay and indicated the message he relayed was misunderstood and our waitress didn’t carry through and deliver the fork in timely fashion.  He offered to buy desert for us to apologize for the delay and make certain we left with a smile on our face.  I was more than impressed and we thanked him for the offer.  Concluding dinner we made mention to our waitress that we’d take a pass on the free desert and just continue enjoying the evening with another libation.  And she promptly returned with the round of cocktails and shared with me that our entire bill would be taken care of.  Now I wasn’t just impressed, I was floored and also indicated that was completely unnecessary.  The food was outstanding, the service spectacular and we had and all around great evening.  She said her Manager insisted.  And I knew I had to meet this Manager.

Our waitress returned with Angie Thyren, the Restaurant Manager at D’Amico Kitchen.  I thanked her for the generosity but also wanted to understand her decision.  Why did she make the call to comp the tab when desert or a round of drinks alone would have been even more than expected for a utensil delay?  Angie didn’t hesitate, “It’s simple, really.  You can leave here feeling ok about us, or you can leave here feeling like we did everything we possibly could to make your Friday night special.  You chose to spend your night with us and we want you to leave here a fan and come back again.”  Mission accomplished Angie.  You get it.  You aspire to deliver more than just good food in a nice atmosphere.  You want to deliver an experience that people never forget.  It’s a great example of Passion on Purpose on display in the workplace.  What a difference an engaged leader, passionate about her brand, delivering a customer experience with purpose can make.  D’Amico & Partners earned my brand loyalty a long time ago.  I’ve been dining at their restaurants for years.  And I can tell you now, when I want a special night out in downtown Minneapolis, I’ll be making my reservations with Angie and team D’Amico.  I  know they will deliver for me every time out!  Branding is all about proactively managing your image, reputation and experience.  Angie delivers and also understands that brand is no longer just what you say about you, it’s what everyone says about you.  I say when you want a special dinner/night out in Minneapolis, head over to D’Amico Kitchen at Chambers Hotel.  They have it nailed!