Pacifica Stories

Authentic relationships and hospitality are hallmarks of the Pacifica experience. Strong relationships between students and teachers, within the student body, with parents, and with the community are essential to a strong community. These relationships are founded on the Great Commandment - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.  From this commandment in scripture, we create community, love one another, build relationships and offer hospitality. This coming year, how can we become unreasonable in our hospitality?

The staff will be reading our staff will be reading Will Guidara's book, Unreasonable Hospitality. 

I would frame Unreasonable Hospitality not simply as a book about restaurants, but as a book about leadership, service, culture, excellence, and the intentional care of others. These themes connect naturally to Pacifica's mission of teaching students to think and live well.

At first glance, a book about restaurants may seem like an unusual summer reading choice. Yet Unreasonable Hospitality is not really a book about food. It is a book about people.

Will Guidara tells the story of transforming Eleven Madison Park from a respected New York restaurant into one of the most celebrated restaurants in the world. Surprisingly, the transformation did not happen because of better recipes, more talented chefs, or a larger budget. It happened because the team became committed to a radical idea: people matter more than transactions.

Guidara argues that excellence is not enough. Technical skill, competence, and achievement are important, but they only take us so far. What people remember most is how they were treated. They remember generosity, kindness, attentiveness, and the feeling that someone genuinely cared.

Throughout the book, Guidara challenges readers to consider how small acts of intentionality can create extraordinary experiences. Whether in a restaurant, classroom, workplace, family, or friendship, hospitality has the power to transform ordinary moments into meaningful ones.

At Pacifica, we seek to cultivate lives marked by wisdom, courage, character, and service. This book offers a compelling invitation to think deeply about how we treat others and how excellence and kindness together can create communities where people flourish.