I miss in-person dining

As most of you (if not all of you) know I’m in the restaurant business. Not to toot my horn but I’m really good at what I do. I’ve known since I was 17 that I wanted to work in food & beverage and be around people. I grew up in a huge family where food was central in just about everything we did. My grandmother was the consummate hostess, she made everyone feel welcome in her home. And, she cooked everything for everyone. Holidays were sometimes 100 people for dinner; it was the best. I carry on that legacy; we often host holiday parties for 80+ and last year I had 40 people for Thanksgiving. 

I actually have a degree in Hotel/Restaurant Management (and a minor in Psychology). Now, the interesting thing about having a degree in hotels/restaurants is that it doesn’t mean a damn thing. It’s not like a law or medical degree where you get it and then become a doctor or a lawyer. I didn’t graduate at 21 from college and then became a GM of a hotel; that would NEVER happen. I had to start from the bottom and work my way up.

Right before my junior year of college, I learned how to serve a table after I talked my way into a serving position in Providence, Rhode Island (where I went to college). I sort of had experience but not really. But, I know the art of bullshit and I was hired. I received zero training on my first day and fumbled my way through earning sympathy tips for the first two weeks. Most of the other servers treated me like crap because I sucked at serving tables but was figuring it out and actually earning tips. The restaurant I worked at had two floors, the bottom was the bar, lounge, and had a large deck overlooking the Narragansett River. Upstairs was the formal dining room and they had a team that worked up there all the time. I was not part of that team until one day I got called up. I was so nervous, didn’t know much, and was working the fancy part of the restaurant. This was where people were spending hundreds of dollars and tips were big. It was daunting. Steve, who was also a server and about 40 (he was SO OLD in my eyes) took me under his wing. He taught me everything I know about how to work a section, upsell, and build trust with people quickly. Soon, I earned my spot upstairs and was finally accepted by everyone else. I loved working at that restaurant and still talk to several of my former colleagues. Sadly, Steve’s last name is Smith and there are a lot of them in Rhode Island and I haven’t been able to track him down. Can someone do that for me? 

I didn’t get into the restaurant business to become wealthy. I got into it because I love it, I love people, and food, and wine, and cocktails, and creating memories for people. In my first job out of college, I made a whopping $26,000 a year (this was in 2000) in Atlantic City. I had months where I would feed myself and my dog Cheerios at the end of the month because I couldn’t afford to buy food until I got paid. What I didn’t expect was to become a teacher & mentor to so many, sometimes I was the one stable person in someone else’s life. My job, wherever I was, was always rewarding because it wasn’t always “work” for me. 

As I moved up and got better jobs it really became my life. I worked 80 hour weeks; I lived and breathed my work. When I met my husband he thought I was crazy for working so much and so hard for so little. But, I was young and earning my spot. This business is volatile. People quit without notice or are fired with no replacement, people call out leaving you to scramble for coverage, owners are finicky, Chef’s egos are big (but they are my favorite people). As someone who works in the front of the house you just have to deal with all that and somehow keep service going. It’s a skill and one I honed sharply in my 20’s & 30’s. Oh, the stories I can tell. 

The best part of the restaurant is working service on a busy night. The energy in the full dining room, a busy bar, a waiting list, food in the window needing to be taken out, bottles of wine to be opened. The thrum of the restaurant is intoxicating to me. Throw me all the curveballs; BRING IT. Then, at the end of the night, I’d sit down to eat dinner at 10 or 11 with a glass of wine and reflect on service. What went well, what didn’t, did the special sell or not, what server was bringing the drama, how did the host handle the door. And, then we’d laugh about something ridiculous a line cook or busser or a guest did. Often, those dinners went until 2 or 3 AM and involved a lot of wine but I was with my people. 

Right now, it’s a tale of two restaurants for me. I met my now business partner 8 years ago at a gala event. He was the Chef and I was running service for 550. I’d never met him but had of course heard about him. We did service and it went great. The food was gorgeous, service went well, the charity made a ton of money. As I was saying goodbye and thank you to volunteers the Chef (this big, surfer-looking guy) sidles over with two glasses of champagne. He looks at me and says, “So, we are opening this restaurant with an event space and we really don’t know what we’re doing. You, however, clearly know what you’re doing, can you come to talk to us?” We joke now that he literally picked me up at a charity event. 

We opened the restaurant and event space. It was a hit from day one. It still is. It’s a beautiful restaurant, the food is amazing, our cocktail and wine program is killer. It’s ALWAYS busy. The event space is gorgeous and also always busy. We decided to open a restaurant in the suburbs, in the town where I actually live. It’s like a food desert out here unless you want teriyaki or crappy pizza. I was SURE if we duplicated what we did in Seattle we would be successful. There were so many people like me; parents working full time, had some disposable income, could stop in and grab dinner on the way home for their families. And, it could be a date night spot too. Boy, was I wrong. We opened in November 2018 with much anticipation from my town and the surrounding communities. The locals had so many things to say and were downright mean to our staff who were working so hard to make them happy. I talked with guests who kept giving me tips on what the Chef should do with the food and how I could do my job better. It was humbling for all of us. And, it was crazy and we were shocked. They didn’t like us! So, we kept adjusting the menu and the prices to adapt to the community we had become a part of. We had a loyal following of people but it just wasn’t cutting it. We were so close but not quite there. 

Chef and I decided we would launch off-site catering. I have strong connections in the event community and was constantly turning down business because we didn’t’ have the space in our Seattle kitchen. Now, we had a huge kitchen to do production out of; it was exciting for us. We toured other facilities, met with other catering companies, did price & menu comparisons. I prospected business for us and we were ready to launch on March 16, 2020. Washington State shut down on March 15, 2020. 

We closed both restaurants until June. No one knew what would happen. I focused on my family and cooked a lot, and decided to start this blog at the urging of my husband and a former employee of mine. We re-opened for takeout only and then the Governor ok’d 25% capacity so we opened both for dine-in and take out. We modified service, laid out a plan for staff and guests so everyone knew what was going on while they were in our care. The Governor bumped up capacity to 50%. Our Seattle restaurant was doing well but was still losing money. But our suburb one just could not catch a break.  

This brings us to today. No more inside dining, takeout only, no PPP money left, and no hope in sight for Congress to pass the Restaurants Act to help us. Remember when I said I didn’t get into this business to become wealthy? I’m likely to never see a dime of my investment in this restaurant. If I do, maybe it’ll be in ten years. I’ve made my peace with it. The “failure” stings and bruises my ego a bit. How do we have one spot that does so well and one that just never hit its stride? We were so close to turning the corner. 

My friends have been amazing in their support; they order several times a month. They rave about the food and the people.  But my circle of friends can’t sustain my business. Today, restaurants are making weekly what they would make on a Friday night, our included. I don’t know if we will reopen at all. 

I have long believed things happen for a reason. What’s meant to happen does and sometimes you don’t know what it is until it’s happening. I also firmly believe that everything works out in the end. I don’t know where this started for me but I’m the most optimistic person I know. Even though I’m unemployed, I’m letting it go. I can’t do anything about the situation we are in. I can’t control the pandemic. And, I’m much more fortunate than so many millions of people around the world. What I will say, if you are able to support your local restaurants please do. Order cocktails because they make the restaurant so much more money than food. Tip big. Restaurant jobs are important to everyone’s lives. What would a world look like if your only options were franchised or fast food? What would it look like if you didn’t have Chefs trying interesting things out and supporting local farmers or fisherman or ranchers? I don’t want to live in that world. I want to get back to full restaurants and bars. I want to be laughing at 2 AM with my business partner while we drink red wine and eat dinner together. 

I have a lot of free time if you need a business consultant.