Pre-Meal for Oct 1, 2025Introducing Dialogues

Happy Wednesday!

I define hospitality in lots of different ways, but this is the one I always return to: hospitality is about being creative and intentional in pursuit of our relationships, whether those relationships are with the people we work with, the people we serve, or the people we love.

I’m excited to announce a new way to put that definition into play.

I love a conversation deck; I’ve got a drawer full of them, and the exchanges they’ve inspired have been surprising and unforgettable. But I find I don’t pull those decks out as much as I should — it can feel too weighty to invite people to gather with the intention of going deep.

On the other hand, I’m always down for a game of cards: cribbage with my dad; poker or spades with my friends, hearts around the kitchen table.

Last winter, I had the impulse to put those two loves together to create Dialogues. Dialogues is a card deck (two, actually), with a twist: every Jack, Queen, King and Ace features two questions. You deal and play your favorite game, the same way you always do. But first, the dealer calls a face card — and whenever that face card hits the table, whoever played it pauses to answer one of the questions on the card.

One deck offers lighthearted icebreakers, while the other invites deeper conversations. Both allow you to play the games you love with the people you love spending time with — with moments of genuine connection woven into the flow of play.

I wanted the deck to be as special as the moments I hoped it would inspire, so I called in the mad geniuses at theory11, the same crew I worked with to create the magic show at NoMad and the magic trick dessert experience at Eleven Madison Park. And I wanted the cards to be beautiful, so I unleashed the brilliant Don Clark at Invisible Creature on the design. I couldn’t be happier with the result.

Many of us are craving more analog ways to connect, and a game of cards has always been fertile ground for a great conversation. But Danny Meyer taught me that magic happens when you bring intention to intuition — like turning a simple hand of cards into a joyful way to deepen our most important relationships.

Have a good service,

Will