344667 Tue Nov 21 02:19:08 -0800 2006 147 29 Not About Food 0 2037716 Just wondering how many of y'all have worked in the food and bev industry. Are (were) you are server, cook, wine rep., bartender, etc...? I have done it all. Cocktail waitress, busgirl, cook, bartender, server, barista, the list goes on :) Tue Nov 21 02:19:08 -0800 2006 25364 momof3 1 2037729 Dishwasher, cook, steward, bartender, commercial fisherman, garbageman, combinations thereof. Tue Nov 21 02:26:55 -0800 2006 2037716 10933 flavrmeistr 1 2037754 Waitress, owner, garde manger, grill, saute, pizza maker. Tue Nov 21 02:33:38 -0800 2006 2037716 10480 Siobhan 1 2037796 I was a child labourer for my parents' restaurant. Started with the dishes, moved to waiting on tables, once I got my driver's license, I was sent out for deliveries, then graduated to bartending and finally broke free when I left home for school. During my 8 years of slavery, I worked beside my dad every single night (even school nights) and into the wee hours of the morning prepping for the next day. I could chop up a storm back then. Today I prefer to stay out of the kitchen and instead choose to lavish my praise and appreciation for everyone else's efforts from my seat in the dining room. Tue Nov 21 02:55:16 -0800 2006 2037716 11750 fickle 1 2037877 Been in the business forever! Love it, even when I'm tortured by it. Barrista, busgirl, cocktail waitress, hostess, manager, bartender, consultant, caterer. All roads somehow lead to this fabulous business. I still have nightmares about forgetting to fire the middle course, and fileting fish at the table. Can't you just use a regular fork? Do you really need a fish fork? But those forks were always so cute.... Tue Nov 21 03:34:28 -0800 2006 2037716 49158 sharonm 1 2038099 have been a busboy, prep cook/dishwasher, and worked as a cook at a KFC. shudder. Tue Nov 21 05:33:06 -0800 2006 2037716 11796 tuqueboy 1 2038115 I started as waitress, than moved to prep, fry, sauté and then baker/pastry. Tue Nov 21 05:46:08 -0800 2006 2037716 22220 Kelli2006 1 2038337 Waitress in college, food & appliance demonstrator at major retail shops on weekends, dinner party caterer in my 20's, breakfast in bed service owner in my 30's til I sold the biz went back to school, and entered a non-food field from there. Utmost respect for those who work in food industry. Tue Nov 21 13:02:48 -0800 2006 2037716 36312 HillJ 1 2038448 barista, hostess, server (in that order) Tue Nov 21 14:34:25 -0800 2006 2037716 14093 Melanie 1 2038461 waitress, bartender, caterer. Tue Nov 21 14:39:11 -0800 2006 2037716 15217 gini 1 2038476 line cook(grll/broiler,pasta, saute), banquet cook, food & beverage purchasing, restaurant management. I got out of the food business. I hated working weekends, and not making good money. Tue Nov 21 14:46:16 -0800 2006 2037716 26725 swsidejim 1 2038569 Dishwasher, prep, cook, tempura cook, sushi chef, bartender. Loved the work but hated the zombie-esque hours. Tue Nov 21 15:23:15 -0800 2006 2037716 13700 ricepad 1 2038615 I have been in and out of the field over the years. I worked for nine days at BK broiling burgers in early high school, then my sanity returned. I had a private chef/caterer business in late high school, cooking then serving at small, formal, weekend dinner parties for an exclusive clientele. Worked in the wine industry doing sales and managed a few retail stores. Studied at the French Culinary Institute and several culinary schools and restaurants in Asia, Africa, and South America. Taught food/culture courses on a ship based university traveling around the world (was also the counselor on board the ship.) Worked on a dairy farm making artisinal raw milk cheese and baking rustic wood fired, brick oven breads. Brewed beer in a brewpub. Been a hard cider maker. Now I'm a consulting chef working with restaurants and farmers, and also a food and beverage writer. In between those other jobs I was a psychologist, wilderness and river guide/cook/mountaineer, corporate trainer, outdoor educator, among other things. Tue Nov 21 15:40:59 -0800 2006 2037716 10732 JMF 1 2038619 I have been on the business end working as an office manager for a bakery, then doing sales. I also worked as an inside sales rep for a produce company, and a barista. Now I am a personal chef. Tue Nov 21 15:43:04 -0800 2006 2037716 14083 cooknKate 1 2038636 Bar Back, Bartender,Server, Wine Runner, Hostess - want to own a B&B - we'll see. Tue Nov 21 15:48:51 -0800 2006 2037716 40018 andlulu 1 2038801 Busser and counter help at a steakhouse, deli prep, dishwasher at a bakery, food waitress at 4 restaurants, cocktail waitress at a nightclub (complete with abbreviated French maid outfit!), croissant baker, bartender at an Indian restaurant, hostess and assistant bookkeeper at a restaurant in the Financial District. Tue Nov 21 16:37:35 -0800 2006 2037716 52113 Seldomsated 1 2038912 caterer, bartender 10 yrs, back in catering, owner/chef. . . wish i loved to do something that didn't make me poor! LOL Tue Nov 21 17:00:40 -0800 2006 2037716 46030 soupkitten 1 2039023 attended culinary school and have worked all front of the house positions. it's an excellent outlet for my masochism. and few outsiders know that restaurant years are the equivalent of "dog years". when i become empress of the universe, i will mandate that everybody work in a restaurant for 6 weeks, so they understand how truly hard it can be. if they refuse or fail, they can only eat at self-serve and tray-service joints for the rest of their lives. Tue Nov 21 17:26:55 -0800 2006 2037716 30273 hotoynoodle 2 2039662 right on! I was a hostess, sandwich counter "cook", catering waitress/bartender/runner/possessor of bloody stumps....12hrs of hard labor, occasional verbal lashings, all for under $100 - what a deal! Tue Nov 21 20:13:40 -0800 2006 2039023 26318 atlantanative 2 2039985 Here, here. Your sous-empress heartily approves. Tue Nov 21 21:56:08 -0800 2006 2039023 13445 Louise 2 2040124 How about just vending machines, not even self service/tray service joints? I've seen some rude people at IKEA who don't bus themselves, leave a mess, try to custom order, let their kids throw food, etc. Tue Nov 21 22:41:00 -0800 2006 2039023 39874 chowser 2 2040567 ..or own a restarantfor 6 weeks, and if they refuse or fail, they are doomed to Burger King forever.... Wed Nov 22 01:56:25 -0800 2006 2039023 10480 Siobhan 2 2074472 i think that wishing everyone would work foodservice/retail for a small portion of their life has become my mantra. some people can be so insensitive! Wed Dec 06 09:28:11 -0800 2006 2039023 48523 loghia 3 2074707 My Sainted Mother(tm) recommended everyone work one summer on a farm and the following in a restaurant. They would learn empathy for every job after. Wed Dec 06 14:03:33 -0800 2006 2074472 11175 The Ranger 2 2108920 Oh, come on, let's make it a YEAR! I've worked in all aspects of fast food, dishwasher, line cook, caviar maker (yes, really), server, busser, line cook, bartender, mid-price casual, fine dining, catering... This list could go on, too bad I love the business so. Yeah, everyone should spend a year working with the public. Mon Dec 18 10:41:02 -0800 2006 2039023 20664 therealbigtasty 3 2276070 I agree. I only worked at a bagel shop for 3 yrs in HS. I always tell friends it's the best job I've ever had, and am dying to get back into it somehow. That little experience taught me to have a real respect for anyone working in the food industry, especially the silent, invisible workers out back. I will never take for granted a clean, efficient space, and will always tip well and be nice. :) Fri Feb 09 10:01:57 -0800 2007 2108920 70339 yumyumyogi 2 2137393 That's exactly my idea! You would have to get licensed to eat at restaurants, just like driving a car. Anyway, I've done it all, from washing dishes to owning and managing, and everything in between, at every possible sort of restaurant. Fri Dec 29 18:59:59 -0800 2006 2039023 35409 uptown jimmy 1 2039123 12 years and counting. dishwasher, busser, server, bartender, host, manager. I took a few years off to try a "real job". It sucked the soul right out of me and I quickly returned to the world of food and bev. Tue Nov 21 17:55:50 -0800 2006 2037716 23908 hilltowner 1 2039184 Cook, dishwasher, server, bartender... It's been a great and "interesting" experience. Tue Nov 21 18:11:56 -0800 2006 2037716 10980 Blueicus 1 2039272 Line, prep, catering, short order, waiting tables. I liked cooking except for the chauvinists (D***heads!), but you'd have to pay me more than Bill Gates to work front of house again. Funniest experience: we always brewed coffee when arriving in the morning for lunch prep. One day it was really weak. Someone made coffee with unground beans. Oops. Tue Nov 21 18:34:03 -0800 2006 2037716 13445 Louise 1 2039277 The food business is pretty ubiquitous. Most people I know have been in it at some point in their lives. One of my favorite jobs ever (and I've been in a lot of different careers, finance, marketing, art, fitness,...) was doing grill at McDonald's. I wasn't "allowed" at the time to do it regularly because I was female (would never fly now) and was stuck behind the counter but it was great getting all that food out, getting into a routine for preparing everything. I was surprised at how regimented the whole process was. I think one reason I liked it was not having to deal with customers, just let me make the burger and leave me alone. Those were also before the "order it your way" days at McD's. (You don't want a pickle? Take it out yourself). I've had other food jobs since and am considering going to bartending school. I thought it would be a good mix with being a personal trainer.;-) Tue Nov 21 18:35:16 -0800 2006 2037716 39874 chowser 1 2039286 granduncles started in 1910, dad in 1946, my time of service 1979 - 1995. the bottom line: the restaurant bidness was very, very, good to my family. Tue Nov 21 18:38:54 -0800 2006 2037716 10730 byrd 2 2052508 Tell us more! Where, what kind of food, what were the keys to maintaining a long running successful restaurant when a ton of others have failed? Tue Nov 28 16:12:20 -0800 2006 2039286 13609 Scagnetti 1 2039306 Server, baking business owner, back to server. Tried the corporate job couldn't stand that two week vacation thing. Now I take six weeks a year, sure there's no pay for that, but I make enough working thirty hours a week, to afford it. Tue Nov 21 18:44:46 -0800 2006 2037716 13011 Missmoo 1 2039861 I had an organic tomato farm and delivered the tomatoes to restaurants myself. I had the chance to spy on many kitchens and saw how different they can be. Some chefs were so nice and others were evil, though only one never paid me. I saw a lot of hard work going on (and a lot of really goodlooking guys). Tue Nov 21 21:15:04 -0800 2006 2037716 11231 Glencora 1 2039871 Bartender. Than bar manager. Tue Nov 21 21:17:39 -0800 2006 2037716 18154 prunefeet 1 2039903 Waitress, cook, did some catering then Home Ec. Ed in college, worked as consumer liasion for a major grocery chain, now I sell houses and cook for the pure joy of it. Tue Nov 21 21:27:25 -0800 2006 2037716 10285 Candy 1 2039907 own a 24 yr old catering co. Tue Nov 21 21:29:18 -0800 2006 2037716 10110 opinionatedchef 1 2039951 Was a cocktail waitress in college. At a restaurant with a very large bar right next door to an airforce base. That was quite a learning experience--but not about the restaurant biz. Have spent my adult life in book publishing rewriting, editing, and producing many, although not exclusively, cookbooks. Tue Nov 21 21:44:12 -0800 2006 2037716 11407 JoanN 1 2039968 I've worked in restaurants since I was 15, owned my own European style bakery/cafe for 11 years, and I am currently the Executive Chef for a large Mid West university. Tue Nov 21 21:50:52 -0800 2006 2037716 18205 mattrapp 1 2040000 I've been trying to get away from it for years! Busboy/waiter/ sommelier...just can't seem to get it out of my system. Now I'm selling real estate, but it's still working with people and taking care of their needs so it's quite similar. Still have restauarant nightmares though - I'm the only one in the place, it's PACKED, and everyone is waving at me, demanding that I take their order!!! When will it ever stop? Tue Nov 21 21:58:20 -0800 2006 2037716 10964 gigi 2 2040170 That's funny. I did a lot of theater in school and still dream that I don't know my lines and everyone is yelling at me. I bet you'll have restaurant dreams forever. Tue Nov 21 22:58:48 -0800 2006 2040000 11231 Glencora 2 2040191 Oh it never will! Lolol - I still have a waitress nightmare once in a while, and it's been a good 20 years since I last worked serving. Ya can't get anything from the bar or out of the kitchen, a busload of people walk in the door, you have to get the folks who just sat in the patio, and the toilets are overflowing. And of course you're the only one on the floor. Tue Nov 21 23:05:12 -0800 2006 2040000 52113 Seldomsated 2 2043124 i have waitressing nightmares all the time, and its been more then 5 years since ive done it. i also worked in a creepy county jail with horrible people and never had one dream about that! ha! Thu Nov 23 01:35:11 -0800 2006 2040000 11685 niccole 2 2044934 I still have a dream about a bar I worked at almost 10 years ago-- end of 2-fer-1 happy hour, me making row after row of martinis and fancy-scmancies, full ticket line, tearing the tickets down as i finish & the floor mgr sticking the tix up as fast as i tear them down-- that horrible ca-chink sound of the ticket line is truly the stuff of nightmares and when i can sometimes hear it faintly through the kitchen door in restaraunts it makes me crazy! Fri Nov 24 17:07:33 -0800 2006 2040000 46030 soupkitten 2 2137403 In my nightmares, I'm moving as though through quicksand while the rest of the restaurant moves at lightening speed, and I struggle to get even one drink order to the table before the end of the shift. Horrible, horrible nightmares. Fri Dec 29 19:02:30 -0800 2006 2040000 35409 uptown jimmy 3 2141968 Or the one where the kitchen is a hundred yards from your section and the people are complaining that the food is cold... Sun Dec 31 19:29:26 -0800 2006 2137403 20664 therealbigtasty 4 2306335 Or you wake up in the middle of the night only to realize that you forgot to bring extra ketchup to table 32...and it was three days ago that you waited on them! Mon Feb 19 06:55:21 -0800 2007 2141968 49815 troutpoint 2 2274444 I haven't worked the door in about 10 years and whenever I get stressed at my current job, I have seating nightmares! I'm trying to juggle reservations, walk-ins, wait times...Argh! The horror! The horror! Thu Feb 08 18:29:10 -0800 2007 2040000 10896 chaddict 1 2040100 Actually just quit my PR job to enter full-time culinary school in January. I was spending so much time on chowhound I figured I might as well make it my official occupation... Tue Nov 21 22:31:40 -0800 2006 2037716 40307 frenetica 1 2040121 I have cooked in many situation since I was teenager (20 years ago)...dinner theater...Japanese....retreat center....prep counter to chef and everything in between! Tue Nov 21 22:39:05 -0800 2006 2037716 22477 jbyoga 1 2040215 Trained in France when it was unusual to be a girl in the kitchen, worked on-off in restos & owned catering business while husband was career officer in Navy, part-owner of a resto & grew some of the product we served, food bank advisor, taught in culinary school, private chef, free-lance teaching, author, and on and on. Currently, I'm enjoying my career as a retired Food Historian. I have never been a bartender or in the wine business. Tue Nov 21 23:16:54 -0800 2006 2037716 15743 Sherri 1 2040446 Wow, I must be the only Chowhound who has never worked in the restaurant business, not even in college. Now that I'm reviewing restaurants, I wish I had at some point. If I had just a bit more time, I'd love to work part-time at a cafe or cheese shop to learn more about food -- while I'm still young enough to spend most of the day on my feet! Wed Nov 22 01:04:22 -0800 2006 2037716 12460 Chowpatty 2 2042128 Not even cafeteria duty when you were in elementry school! I loved that... anything to get out of class... LOL! :) --Dommy! Wed Nov 22 18:53:13 -0800 2006 2040446 10659 Dommy 2 2108921 Go work as a host in one of the many corporate restaurants in town, seriously. It's damned easy to get hired and you'll learn a lot. Of course the food isn't the best. Try an Islands or Chilis or something--I highly recommend it. Mon Dec 18 10:45:14 -0800 2006 2040446 20664 therealbigtasty 1 2040587 Started at age 6 when I "interned" with a neighbor at the local Sea Galley restaurant for a whole dollar. I remember to this day being in awe of an actual refrigerator you could walk into. Hostessed at Elmer's Pancake & Steak House, and was promoted to waitress in high school. "Hashed" in my college dining hall and made it to "head hasher" and then student manager. Ran small, medium & large commercial kitchens from a staff of 10 to 100 & NCAA concessions for up to 80,000 people (took me two years before I could look at a hot dog again). Took some training at the CIA & did FOH fine dining & catering for a while. Now I sell things to restaurants. I actually get to do this at work without feeling guilty. I love my job! Wed Nov 22 02:04:21 -0800 2006 2037716 11191 foodiegrl 1 2040713 Both sides of my family (mom and dad) come from restaurant families, owned a few...my uncle finally sold his last place recently. When I got to be a teenager and looking for a job my Dad (an engineer) pulled me aside and said, "don't ever work in a restaurant, 12 hr days, blah, blah, blah..." Then a year or so later he was ready to jump into it and guess what...all the kids would become workers. My Mom flat refused. Never worked in a restaurant or food service in my life. Wed Nov 22 02:54:22 -0800 2006 2037716 27275 ML8000 1 2040841 Went to a boarding school where everyone had to work in the kitchen at some point, and so I can make mashed potatoes and gravy for 150... Summer job in college, cooked lunches and snacks for a small YWCA summer camp (50 kids), biggest issue was how to use all the USDA surplus foods (oatmeal?) that had been ordered before the summer began. Not, I imagine, the equivalent of restaurant work, since the "customers" all got the same food at the same time and although they could and did complain loudly on occasion, they weren't paying and had to come back. Wed Nov 22 04:08:26 -0800 2006 2037716 14063 Anne H 1 2042052 Different sort of experience, in the 'biz', I worked as a marketing consultant major food manufacturers. I developed products for just about ever aisle of the supermarket (Some I still consider my babies), I worked one on one with consumers of all stripes, soccer moms, health nuts, gourmets, and got exposed to a lot of supply side, everything from organic farms to slaughter houses. We also had a large food service division where we supplies many top restaurants, chains and even the military. One piece of memorabilia from this work that I regret not keeping is the 'airforce one' version of our candy with the presidental seal and evertything... :) It was quite the experience and opened my eyes to the true BUSINESS side of food that even some restaurantuers don't understand... Plus, being a consultant also meant... hefty expense and entertainment account... ;) --Dommy! Wed Nov 22 18:28:29 -0800 2006 2037716 10659 Dommy 1 2042111 Chippie, Yorkshire Fish and Chips, Berkeley, CA 1975-79. Intermezzo as baker at Fat Albert's, Berkeley, CA summer of '76. NEVER AGAIN!!! Wed Nov 22 18:46:46 -0800 2006 2037716 13709 buttertart 2 2042247 I knew a girl in high school who worked at Fat Albert's (Fat Apples, now) JUST peeling apples. Horrible job. Wed Nov 22 19:23:11 -0800 2006 2042111 11231 Glencora 1 2042193 Well... I worked at Burger King ALL through high school. It was the cool thing to do, it was also my social life. Sorta like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". I learned every station and it was a tough gig, I took pride in being a great employee; during special events, I was always the one they put on the board that handled the "special" sandwich, etc. Eventually became a production leader, LOL. I even got to wear a white blouse and black pants for the last year. :-) In college, bartended and served food in the Student Union bar/club/hang out. Also a tough but VERY cool gig. On weekends, waitressed at a Jewish Center that had weddings, bar mitzvahs, etc. a few times a weekend. A VERY tough gig! Finally, helped run the "Hospitality" department of the student activity council. We had to manage the food and beverages for all organized campus parties as well as handle all the bands that played the school. Not only shop, cook, feed and clean up after but hang out and entertain the bands. Another unbelievably cool gig. Although I had fun during my time, I did get to see first hand how tough the biz is. The hours are incredibly long, many of the jobs are not very glamorous and people are not always very nice. I do, however, remember all of it very fondly . Wed Nov 22 19:11:17 -0800 2006 2037716 11633 Michele4466 1 2042955 hostess, waitress, bartender. Thu Nov 23 00:00:50 -0800 2006 2037716 12078 rebs 1 2043119 dishwasher 12-14 yr old, bus girl 14-18 yr old, waitress 18-26 yr old. Thu Nov 23 01:32:32 -0800 2006 2037716 11685 niccole 1 2043215 My first career was working everything I could at several different restaurants. I started out as a dishwasher at fifteen (regular hours, great tips) and moved up to a regional manager position by twenty-eight (more hours, salaried, sucky travel). I also wrote a business plan and submitted it to a gentleman I was working for for his review. He came back within twelve hours and gave me an honest overview of my plan, telling me how to tighten up my projections, the best firm to contract with for the type of employees I was hoping to employ, etc. And then he closed with the best feedback as he handed it back, "Leave before you waste your life and savings. If you don't believe me, I'm a grand example." He was on wife two, was a recovering alcoholic, worked an insane number of hours per week, and smoked like a chimney stuffed with green wood. I didn't want that life. Thu Nov 23 02:44:07 -0800 2006 2037716 11175 The Ranger 1 2043362 After being a stay-at-home mom until my youngest was in Grade 1, I went back to school - chef school. Got my diploma in culinary management, then worked in the test kitchen of a monthly Canadian magazine. I now own and operate a consulting company that provides culinary education services, food writing and editing, and recipe development and testing. I love it! I've consulted on a cookbook and developed all of the recipes in it, I write restaurant reviews and a recipe column for a local magazine, teach knife skills and cooking, do cooking workshops, edit the newsletter for my chapter of an international culinary organization, etc. I work on a freelance basis, which allows me to take on as much work (or as little) as I can handle. My life revolves around gastronomy, food and cooking. I've got an incredible passion for all things culinary, and truly enjoy what I do. Thu Nov 23 04:55:58 -0800 2006 2037716 48352 FlavoursGal 1 2043711 Fry cook, baker, food anthropologist. Thu Nov 23 15:06:43 -0800 2006 2037716 36661 Sam Fujisaka 2 2056170 How does one become a food anthropologist? I have fantasies of being a food anthropologist, but I'm not quite sure what that means :) Wed Nov 29 19:48:28 -0800 2006 2043711 10697 AppleSister 3 2071727 I'm an agricultural anthropologist working at one of the international research centers. Lately we've been working on bio-fortified (not GM) basic crops to get additional beta-carotene, iron, and zinc to improve children's health. The project has had to know about food and consumption patterns in order to have an impact--work that I do. A lot of our work on crops really deals with food systems, which requires me to put on my food anthropologist hat. Tue Dec 05 16:50:21 -0800 2006 2056170 36661 Sam Fujisaka 4 2108922 You're awesome, Sam, I want to know a food anthropologist. Mon Dec 18 10:47:46 -0800 2006 2071727 20664 therealbigtasty 1 2043867 Early eighties I owned an imported beer business featuring 112 beers from all over the world. Going great guns until the Olympics hit LA in 1984 when the streets were closed to trucks for weeks and the expected flood of visitors (drinking and eating did not materialize). Ended that venture. I used to take Devil Chow's predessor, Fudge, to the office as my guard dog since the warehouse was in a dicey area. Certainly up to the job going from puppy squeak to big boy bark in no time against all visitors. Thu Nov 23 17:03:36 -0800 2006 2037716 12655 ZoeZ 1 2043927 Worked for my parents when I was in high school and college. Mostly washed dishes, but for a couple summers, waited tables at night and helped the cook with some prep work. Did enough to learn that I didn't want to make it a profession, but it was a good experience. Waiting tables was the most fun. ed Thu Nov 23 18:04:50 -0800 2006 2037716 40270 Ed Dibble 1 2046944 Kitchen boy, sandwich maker, bus boy, waiter (briefly), cook, baker, had my own bakery for about 12 years. Later, worked for other bakeries and a restaurant as a prep cook and dessert chef. Retired Aug 10, 2006. Sun Nov 26 00:30:46 -0800 2006 2037716 49726 Anonimo 1 2050918 As a teenager, I spent one summer working in an ice cream shop for minimum wage plus 10 cents. The manager was extremely impressed that I knew how to use a chef's knife properly to chop the ice cream toppings, as opposed to just hacking randomly at the cutting board like all the other employees. That's the extent of my food service employment. Mon Nov 27 22:51:15 -0800 2006 2037716 10074 Caitlin McGrath 1 2051116 I've worked in pretty much all the non-managerial positions to pay (part of) my way through college - busboy, server, caterer, food prep & kitchen, host, dishes, barista, cashier. But my foodservice work is mostly front-end. ~AquaW http://la-oc-foodie.blogspot.com Tue Nov 28 00:12:50 -0800 2006 2037716 11949 AquaW 2 2052285 As one friend joked with me prior to my taking the "promotion" into management, "Working more for less pay? Where do I sign up for that?" Tue Nov 28 14:25:46 -0800 2006 2051116 11175 The Ranger 1 2052741 My only food industry work was a summer in the marketing dept. of the NYC-area branch of Sysco -- editing catalogs, tracking sales and organizing food shows of new products for the sales staff -- yummy! I gained a lot of weight that summer. :-P Tue Nov 28 17:25:17 -0800 2006 2037716 12858 Covert Ops 1 2054439 Started at an asian fusion restaurant on garde manger, worked in *every* station at a 4 star luxury hotel and am now Sous Chef of a fine dining restaurant in San Francisco with a very high Zagat rating. Love the industry and am gonna... rule the world someday? Wed Nov 29 02:26:25 -0800 2006 2037716 11937 chefinthecity 2 2055069 Oooh... where at? LA Hound here soon to visit SF soon. And yes, foodservice folks can easily rule the world! "NO dinner for you!" ~AquaW http://la-oc-foodie.blogspot.com Wed Nov 29 13:19:45 -0800 2006 2054439 11949 AquaW 2 2058541 of course, all of us are going to rule the world some day! ;) Thu Nov 30 16:51:17 -0800 2006 2054439 46030 soupkitten 3 2118925 Good grief, why would you want to rule the world? Isn't running a kitchen bad enough? Thu Dec 21 06:18:56 -0800 2006 2058541 58104 Reeter1 4 2314141 monday it was worse. today it's not too bad--LOL! Wed Feb 21 09:43:36 -0800 2007 2118925 46030 soupkitten 1 2054449 Culinary school, short order cook, grill cook, kitchen manager at corporate deli, personal chef. Back behind a desk for the last two months. Rather miss the kitchen and am thinking about going back.... Wed Nov 29 02:30:19 -0800 2006 2037716 16406 ziggylu 1 2055213 hostess, server. And aside from having to bite my tongue from time to time when a patron will do something like point to an item on the menu which might say "...duck confit w/a fried duck egg" and ask how the egg is cooked - I love it! Wed Nov 29 14:41:06 -0800 2006 2037716 43625 finewineserver 1 2055313 Entering my sixth year as a server. Have taken time off here and there for 'real' jobs (hmph!) but keep getting sucked back in. I like taking cash home, the flexible schedule, the reinvention of identity at every table... but I think it's those dreams of being weeded all to hell that keep me coming back for more. Wed Nov 29 15:16:05 -0800 2006 2037716 20273 asiege2 1 2055347 Campus grill in college, catering summers (mostly making the sandwiches and salads you get pre-made in a convenience store, but a few events, too), and cafeteria work service in high school. Dad's sibs: aunt was general manager of a restaurant; uncle is in the wine business. Wed Nov 29 15:28:24 -0800 2006 2037716 53971 momjamin 1 2055373 Was a waitress from age 15 - 21. Learned how to cook by watching the pastry chefs in the LA French restaurants I worked in. To this day, one of my best dishes is an Apple Tarte Tartin, which I learned to make while at the famous Moustache Cafe on Melrose (which recently closed, alas). For the past 20 years, I've been in the PR business and somehow morphed into the world of party planning when Colin Cowie became a client. Then, moved in the direction of consumer products in food and beverage with clients like Mrs. Fields Cookies, Champagne Mumm, Kobrand Corporation, ThinkProducts, Bragg Products...we're launching a new liqueur from some of the ex execs from Seagram. I still work with party planners from my days with Colin...most of them are LA based and do the big Hollywood premieres and celebrity weddings...but my love is food and bev products. And, yes, I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE: everyone should spend 10 minutes as a server to learn the kindesses and hardships of that job. Wed Nov 29 15:35:32 -0800 2006 2037716 15201 MalibuAly 2 2055506 The floor is for sissies. Everyone should work the grill, broiler and sautee line when they're cranking a 300 or 400-cover lunch. Darwinian theory in the workplace. The slow and infirm are stomped into the muck. Wed Nov 29 16:16:30 -0800 2006 2055373 10933 flavrmeistr 3 2061045 As a server, I wholeheartedly agree! Fri Dec 01 06:22:55 -0800 2006 2055506 14388 theannerska 3 2108923 What if I've done both? Is that okay? Mon Dec 18 10:49:42 -0800 2006 2055506 20664 therealbigtasty 4 2133740 Sure! On the whole, which would you say is crazier/nastier/more inducive of self-medication? Thu Dec 28 15:17:20 -0800 2006 2108923 10933 flavrmeistr 5 2134609 Cooking was way more satisfying, but that's because I'm some sort of a masochist (I'm a lifer)...the grease burns, insanely long hours, and cuts were a lot of fun. Nowadays though, dishwashing is regaining it's appeal--no responsibility, you can get dirty, nobody's hovering over you... But, to this day, I can't listen to servers bitch about the difficulty of their job--it just ain't so. And I'm a waiter, so I can say that. The most evil of the FOH lifestyle is probably the people that come in...then having to explain what they want to the angry kitchen (who I once was)... Long reply, but damnit, I love this business...it keeps me going! Hail to the lifers. Thu Dec 28 19:49:11 -0800 2006 2133740 20664 therealbigtasty 1 2057557 Does working at Zagat's corporate HQ count? ;) Thu Nov 30 04:37:22 -0800 2006 2037716 10109 Peter 1 2057578 Fast food to the Four Seasons and everywhere in between... I've been a busser, barback, dish washer (1/2 day!) line cook, chef tournant, F&B purchasing agent in a hotel, and hotel purchasing manager. I'm in a totally unrelated field now but I still daydream about the one F&B job I still want to try: bartending... Thu Nov 30 04:47:23 -0800 2006 2037716 19632 The Engineer 2 2062805 As Shanagain states below, bartending can be fun and if you work at a decent bar, insanely profitable. Fri Dec 01 22:04:54 -0800 2006 2057578 10195 KTinNYC 3 2108926 Or incredibly depressing if you know a bunch of people at the profitable ones and you spend time drinking alone because no one is coming in... Luckily my life doesn't have that anymore. Mon Dec 18 10:50:40 -0800 2006 2062805 20664 therealbigtasty 4 2119300 I could not imagine working in an empty bar. That would just suck, my sympathies go out to anyone who has to do that. Little money, depressing atmosphere...ugh. Thu Dec 21 14:37:17 -0800 2006 2108926 10195 KTinNYC 5 2122122 It had it's benefits... Drunk for free, became great friends with the kitchen, and made up some fun cocktails using the dusty bottles of liquor... Oh yeah, it pretty much sucked. Fri Dec 22 13:23:56 -0800 2006 2119300 20664 therealbigtasty 5 2122571 One of my first bartending gigs was at a family restaurant where 90% of my business was making drinks for the dining room: lots of Ward Eights and Old Fashioneds and other (what I then though of as) old-lady drinks. The only bar patrons were my penniless, draft-beer-drinking friends. Needless to say, I made very little money, but I did have time to work out a few basic skills that served me well later, if not the ability to handle a six-deep crowd of raucous, thirsty, half-stinko patrons (got that later). Fri Dec 22 16:28:38 -0800 2006 2119300 10143 MC Slim JB 6 2125818 My slow bar was a place where the older crowd hung out, too! I'd have drink tickets come up where the mods took up three to four lines! Those wacky old people with their drink specificity. Sun Dec 24 03:04:47 -0800 2006 2122571 20664 therealbigtasty 1 2057601 I worked in college in the cafeteria bussing tables and kitchen prep. On weekends for extra $$ I would work for the college's catering staff. Once out of college and in between jobs I worked in a muffin shop that made muffins in the morning and lunches midday, It was a really small place so I learned a lot. Both owners were there most days and had a lot of food service experience. What I didn't learn about the biz first hand I learned from them. It was the only job I had where there was a start, middle and end. As a desk jockey I have never had the satisfaction of 'the clean up and restock' at the end of my shift as I did at the muffin shop. Thu Nov 30 05:04:02 -0800 2006 2037716 13030 free sample addict aka Tracy L 1 2057605 Hostess, busser (briefly), cocktail waitress (best food job), waitress, barista (about a week)... Hard work! I don't miss sidework and working on holidays. But the free food while in college was good. Thu Nov 30 05:07:46 -0800 2006 2037716 15900 sillyrabbit 1 2062559 Server, bartender, owner of a two-person operation "cafe." God-willing, I shall never serve the (non-related) hungry again. Now bartending, on the other hand... THAT was fun and ridiculously profitable. Fri Dec 01 20:41:25 -0800 2006 2037716 20991 shanagain 1 2062856 Mom had a catering business so I "helped" her prep from age 9, sandwich maker then waitress and sometimes caterer in high school, catering as a part time job in college, cocktail waitress summer after college until I found a job in high tech that was easier! I loved the organizational demands of waitressing and LOVED cash in my hand at the end of a good night. I never cooked, but my days serving were quite enough of the biz for me.... and the memories (and sometimes still "in the weeds" dreams) are why I'm a very good tipper! Fri Dec 01 22:20:39 -0800 2006 2037716 10232 yumyum 2 2085975 ha! those "in the weeds" dreams surface at times and it has been 10 plus years. please folks don't forget to tip you waiter, waitress and bartender! Sun Dec 10 04:05:18 -0800 2006 2062856 19466 lyn 3 2087458 LOLz!!! I get those too. Still! And its been almost 10 years for me too! AAAARGH! Make them stop! My sis worked in restaurants as well, and she freaks out if I mention the "Weeds" dreams! She can't imagine that it's what she has to look forward to for the next decade! Sun Dec 10 23:57:36 -0800 2006 2085975 57506 krushdnasty 3 2308565 "please folks don't forget to tip your waiter, waitress and bartender!" Word. I think very poorly of people who undertip. Mon Feb 19 17:39:30 -0800 2007 2085975 42513 Mawrter 1 2074391 Dishwasher, server, hostess, pantry prep, pizza cook, part-time line cook, bartender. (grew up in restaurants). Wed Dec 06 06:55:51 -0800 2006 2037716 11408 melly 1 2085381 Dishwasher, prepcook, garde-manger, line cook, catering cook, busboy, waiter (and part time bartender). In that order. Thanks be that I never stepped into the manager's shoes!!! Sat Dec 09 22:16:03 -0800 2006 2037716 57506 krushdnasty 1 2085806 Waitress in college. My second career was cooking. Studied with Madeleine Kamman in Newton Centre, worked as a line cook for Sara Moulton. Worked as a cook then chef, then chef owner then manager. After I got laid off as a manager and was told owning a restaurant wasn't sufficient experience for managing one (the idiot said that I could put a gone fishing sign on the door and take the day off?!) got out of the business. Met my husband when he was a waiter and bartender at the restaurant where I was working. He got fired when he broke a glass plate on my steam table because he was aggravated with some customers. He got a day job and just worked nights as bartender, waiter and sommelier for years. Sun Dec 10 02:25:41 -0800 2006 2037716 11076 AGM_Cape_Cod 1 2086616 Waitress and Bartender! Sun Dec 10 16:29:35 -0800 2006 2037716 10581 Linda VH 1 2089602 Dorm cook in college; relief cook at country club; food stylist. Mon Dec 11 19:17:53 -0800 2006 2037716 17220 Claudette 2 2119833 Ooh, a food stylist! Do you need cooking experience, or just artistic experience? Thu Dec 21 17:26:41 -0800 2006 2089602 12858 Covert Ops 1 2089621 wine marketing, specialty food importer, caterer. Mon Dec 11 19:22:35 -0800 2006 2037716 14910 nancyhudson 1 2101673 Pastry cook and chef (hence the troll, what I felt like in my first job in a dark cramped Boston restaurant where the unairconditioned pastry kitchen was the hallway to the employee bath/coke room. Hospice chef. Fri Dec 15 04:00:31 -0800 2006 2037716 23680 pastrytroll 1 2110098 Busgirl, cocktail waitress, server, pizza chef, ice cream cake maker. Mon Dec 18 19:22:59 -0800 2006 2037716 12701 davinagr 1 2118932 hostess, barrista, ran my own little cookie company for awhile in college, apprentice at a local cakeshop and bakery. Thu Dec 21 06:23:55 -0800 2006 2037716 58027 Aloo0628 1 2119771 Dishwasher, busperson, college dining-hall server, server, bartender, host. One of my siblings is a culinary school alum and professional chef, another is a gifted amateur with many recipes published in national food magazines, despite no connections to the publishing industry or said magazines. My spouse is a gifted amateur pastry chef. I do most of the cooking at home. Thu Dec 21 17:12:04 -0800 2006 2037716 10143 MC Slim JB 1 2124881 waitress, bartender, line cook, cheese shop owner. Sat Dec 23 17:50:49 -0800 2006 2037716 50776 cheesemonger 1 2134133 Waitress. My family owns a restaurant back home in Pennsylvania. I've helped out once or twice. Thu Dec 28 17:32:41 -0800 2006 2037716 17481 QueenB 1 2134470 Not yet. I went to bartending school but halfway through school I got a job that has since paid too well to leave. I am extremely bored in my job, hit the ceiling in my current career (at 25, hah!), and ready for a big change; attending culinary school in 2007 with a dream of being a personal chef or beginning a small catering business for small high end gatherings and then.. who knows? The feedback I receive from people in the industry is as vast as the responses to this thread. Some love it, some hate it; some want to return, some want to get out. Guess time will tell if I can transform my love of home cooking and everything culinary into a job in the business. Thu Dec 28 19:05:44 -0800 2006 2037716 15482 NovoCuisine 1 2134488 Yes to all -- front of the house, catering, finally brave enough to be in the kitchen and now crazy enough to share a place with my life partner. It's in the bloodstream, ain't it? T Thu Dec 28 19:09:22 -0800 2006 2037716 48882 Tzigane 1 2136370 Yes started at a catering hall as a dishwasher, prepcook went to culinary School FCI class of 1990, Worked in a NYC as a line cook. One day woke up a and said theses hrs are long and the pay stinks. Went to work for an construction compamy.Plus a few years as a bartender while working construction Money was much better as a Bartentend . When a head chef make 1200 a week a batender in NYC make that in 2 nights. ( Something to think about before working in the back of the house.)After getting married went back to catering and butchering and small catering side jobs.. Still at the same contruction company . Benfits are better Fri Dec 29 12:39:36 -0800 2006 2037716 11512 FAL 1 2137467 Waitress at a little Mom & Pop Italian Tavern – My mom and grandmother also waitressed there and my Great-Grandmother was their cook at one time. (We weren’t all working there at the same time – it spanned several decades.) And my first “real” job out of college was working for the National Restaurant Association. Fri Dec 29 19:27:02 -0800 2006 2037716 10335 Mushroom 1 2273382 I work at a business that has an attatched restaurant. The time clock and office are at the back of the kitchen, so coming and going all day through the server's stations, dish room, prep kitchen, etc. Get to see it all in action, try to stay out of everybody's way. A real eye-opener. Just when I think I understand the business, I understand that I don't. Can't, because I don't do the job, just observe. But I have learned alot. So many dynamics involved: personalities, budgets, egos, generational spans, etc. I have a lot of respect for those who work hard and are thoughtful to their fellow workers in a difficult envioronment. Some work two and three jobs to support their families--one to two 8 hour shifts every day. Hats off to these guys and gals. Sure couldn't do it at my age, and would've been too intimdated by it in my younger days. Working with the public (which I've always done) is difficult; in a restaurant it can be horrific. Thu Feb 08 13:18:18 -0800 2007 2037716 11234 toodie jane 1 2275113 I work in the biz, such as it were, but on the corporate side these days. Dealing with the unit managers is a pain, but its better than dealing with the public! I primarily used to do concessions work at fairs and festivals and such rather than actual restaurant work. I like to cook,but I'll stay out of that side of it from here on! ;) Fri Feb 09 03:29:51 -0800 2007 2037716 72910 Onyxviper 1 2278995 Growing up I was a little prep cook for both my grandma's catering business and my aunt's cake shop. That's where I really learned the basics. Went to culinary school, and held 2 jobs, as a waitress and as an assistant to a chocolatier. About to graduate from culinary school, I was offered a job/internship at a very well known- high end restaurant. I worked my way up through each station. Also participated in their heavy catering business, allowing me to travel allover the world, cooking in homes of the elite. Left the kitchen to work as an event planner- hated it! Then tried out sales with an organic meat company- hated the work environment! Went on to doing investor relations for an restaurant concept- I loved it, but I butted heads with the "boss." Which leads me to my current job as a Acc't rep for a produce company. Love, love, love, love my job. I'm in 10-15 kitchens a day, becoming very close with my chef/clients. I really don't feel like a vendor or a salesperson but more of a consultant to Chef's who need my assistance in creating seasonal, cutting edge menus. Sat Feb 10 08:45:32 -0800 2007 2037716 25247 Veggietales 1 2279043 Short-order and fry cook in a restaurant my brother owned in the 80s. Believe it or not, I actually learned some cooking skills that I still use today. The restaurant also made pizzas, but I never got the hang of that. That was a skill that some people "had" and some didn't. Even more surprising, my basic kitchen skills came from a high school stint at, of all places, Burger King. After that, I was better able to help my mom in the kitchen when she prepared family meals...Kind of weird, but that's where my food interest began.... (And no, I NEVER go to BK anymore...Haven't in 20 years. They've tinkered with the menu far too much since the good old days.) Sat Feb 10 09:04:47 -0800 2007 2037716 69669 Neely_Ohara 1 2306323 busboy, waiter, pot washer, dish washer, deep fry jockey, garde manger, line cook, veg station, pasta station, grill station, pizza station, wok station, sous chef, high-end takeout, catering, food styling now i sleep with the enemy: food journalist and resto reviewer Mon Feb 19 06:50:51 -0800 2007 2037716 38218 ognir 1 2306424 drive thru queen at BK; hostess; bartender; server. Mon Feb 19 07:32:33 -0800 2007 2037716 45437 nummanumma 1 2307444 Deli, breakfast cook, dishwasher, garde manger, prep cook, grill, sautee, tournant, catering, head chef all about 8 years total. Not sure why. I think I thought I knew at some point. Couldn't survive anywhere else I guess? I work in a cockpit leading a bunch of guys who don't understand a word I say while Mariachi blares from the back, techno blares from the front, somehow the food is good...the worst part of the night is, after a full day, a beating on the line, horrible horrible clients with horrible attitudes, returned dishes, waitresses breaking down, dishwasher in the weeds, after the big rush, 30 bends into the lowboy, 5 hours in front of a raging inferno woodfired grill, after a few beers and a few hits of weed, having to shiver away in the goddamned walkin with a 5 page sheet for the next day's order. It's truly then that I feel 25 going on 80. Mon Feb 19 12:19:43 -0800 2007 2037716 11239 fooddude37 1 2307937 I just stopped working in restaurants, for the last ten years I've been catering and cooking in restaurants and hotels. Actually, I still cater, but it's not my food time gig. Now I sell restaurant equipment. I kind of miss the kitchen. Mon Feb 19 14:38:31 -0800 2007 2037716 74556 manraysky 2 2307953 Server, line cook, pastry chef. Having been both in front of the house and back, I can fully appreciate the F&B business. Mon Feb 19 14:45:29 -0800 2007 2307937 75925 Joplin07 1 2307949 Only if you count pizza delivery in grad school - otherwise no. Mon Feb 19 14:43:59 -0800 2007 2037716 42727 swarttav 1 2308237 ----- For me it would from the seed in the ground, growing the livestock, milking the cows, gathering the eggs then cooking all the fine stuff in several restaurants. (The farm was family, but the restaurants was outside employment) I will not forget this one time when this 25-ish fellow showed up late for work at the restaurant just to whine about not sleeping all that well. I said to the guy that I already milked 123 cows this morning, and what was your excuse again... It hit him like an ice water shower. ----- Mon Feb 19 16:07:22 -0800 2007 2037716 60276 RShea78 1 2308497 My first ever job (12) was helping wash dishes and assemble canapes for a friend's mom (private chef/caterer) Phones/delivery, light food prep for a pizzaria in HS Prep, pantry, pastry, grill, saute (restaurants) Hot & cold food production, pastry production, off premise chef (catering) Private Chef Gourmet foods sales Mon Feb 19 17:15:14 -0800 2007 2037716 39914 lunchbox 1 2308559 I worked in the kitchen in a Pizza Hut (gag) for about a minute in college. Worked for similar duration at a small, well-regarded, now-defunct French place in my hometown. Don't ask me how I landed that job - I think it's because I knew my way around a serious menu decently (for a college kid), could pronounce (if not always understand) French, and I clearly really wanted the job. I was sure I'd be a bang-up success as a waitress, and I knew tons of people who made great money and could fit it around a college schedule, so I was MO-TI-VATED. Unfortunately, I sucked. After I dropped soup into the lap of one of their best customers (I was apologizing profusely, peppering him with napkins, asking him to let me pay the dry cleaner's bill, totally mortified) they took me aside and offered me any other job -- washing dishes, hostessing, bookkeeping, ANYTHING -- just get the hell away from the customers with hot food. I took their advice and got out of the food service business except as a customer. I later toyed with trying for a gig selling wine to restaurants, but it was too much late night/weekend hours for me. Mon Feb 19 17:35:55 -0800 2007 2037716 42513 Mawrter 1 2308570 waitress, catering business jack of all trades and waitress again Mon Feb 19 17:40:57 -0800 2007 2037716 55281 TastELA 1 2308615 Wow, I just counted how long I've been doing this and I hadn't done that in a few years. I started out washing dishes during high school at a great French restaurant. Only later did I realize how truly famous the chef was. Worked my way up to some of the best joints in France, USA and Japan and now I'm a coporate chef in charge of 150 accounts. Mon Feb 19 17:57:10 -0800 2007 2037716 25250 chef poncho 1 2308619 Age 15-16 McDonald's. Back in those days it was male-only, I was in the second group of females hired. While I worked there, the EggMcMuffin was introduced. In my area, it was a pretty prestige job to have. Next 20 years...school and being a designer. Midlife crisis...moved to Maui, and started cooking at some pretty great resorts and restaurants. Stayed at it for 5 years. Last job at FourSeasons. I loved my job, I loved the people, and I had some great experiences. Now.....back to circuit design. Next??? I dream of having my own restaurant. Mon Feb 19 17:57:54 -0800 2007 2037716 68708 mke2lax 1 2308660 I currently run one of the healthy food delivery services in Southen California, so I have been in the business for awhile, but NOTHING was as stressful as waiting tables for a year in NYC. I still have dreams about not getting to every table in time and I sleptwalked one time trying to serve water to a friend spending the night. I think everyone should wait tables at some point in their life. It would make them very grateful for their current job and much more empathetic towards the waitstaff(and probably more reasonable with tips). And whoever wrote about cooks/chefs; they are a strange bunch! We have a wonderful one now but cook's tend to have ego's galore and anger issues lol!!! We have 25 kitchen employee's and man are we lucky. Hard workers, good people and wonderful employee's. Mon Feb 19 18:12:04 -0800 2007 2037716 75991 kerrysqueaky 1 2311085 In order: Popcorn girl, 1.5 years Waitress, Friendly's, 4 months (summer) Sandwich maker, dirtiest sandwich shop in Penzance, 1 week Fish-n-chip server (late nights I served from behind a metal protective screen/cage), 3 months (summer) Baker for gourmet home-meal replacement shop, 5 months (while at culinary school) Baker, cafe, 1 week (place closed - why were they hiring a week before closing? No idea.) Baker/pastry cook, wholesale pastry shop, 1.5 years Pastry cook, fancy-pants new dessert restaurant, 1.5 months (I hated them) Cookie baker, new cookie company, 2 months (they went under, too) CIA grad, Baking and Pastry Arts certificate program. Project coordinator for academic polling group, 7 years. My feet and my retirement account thank me every day for getting out of the food biz. I was a pretty good pastry cook, but a lousy waitress/server. I hated waitressing more than any job I've had since, including mutual fund trading, and how I hated mutual fund trading. Tue Feb 20 12:31:36 -0800 2007 2037716 12806 curiousbaker 1 2319929 Waited on tables at Leonard's of Great Neck, a huge, garish catering outfit on Long Island. This was back in the early '80's. Had to wear a bow-tie (clip-on, of course), black striped pants and a red bolero jacket. I heard more versions of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" than one can imagine in the average lifetime. I just remember lots of tension, yelling and pandemonium, but, all these years later, it's given me some stories to tell. I worked at a shotgun wedding that made most funerals look like Mardi Gras. At least once a week, some guy would get piss-drunk and accuse me of making a pass at his wife. Naturally, the food choices were limited: chicken or beef. One time, when a customer asked me which I would recommend, I responded, "the diner up the street". P. Thu Feb 22 15:57:18 -0800 2007 2037716 24813 Polecat 2 2331736 I always wondered about that place - and was invited, one time, for a sweet 16. I can't imagine anyone knowing that many people at 16...but who knows, since I certainly didn't go. Long Island diners are something else, and probably a good deal better than catering! Was the food at Leonard's that bad? Mon Feb 26 16:01:46 -0800 2007 2319929 14388 theannerska 3 2331986 Pretty bad, yeah, back in those days, at least. But I doubt whether people went there for the food anyway, so much as for the opportunity to blow their savings on garish weddings with fountains, faux greek statues and halls such as "the illustrious promenade room". But I wasn't kidding about the diner, which, at that time, was known as the Eden Roc, on the corner of Lakeville and Northern Blvd. Great silver dollar pancakes. It remains on the same lot, now known - in it's umpteenth incarnation - as the Seville. But I digress. P. Mon Feb 26 17:10:47 -0800 2007 2331736 24813 Polecat 4 2334690 I've been to that diner! Haven't had the silver dollar pancakes, and don't think I was around for the Eden Roc - but as a diner junkie, I've tried quite a few. Great steak fries like a proper diner should have... Tue Feb 27 13:29:39 -0800 2007 2331986 14388 theannerska 1 2335832 Stared out as a line cook, got all the way to Sous chef, then got into the wine biz. It's way more fun and i get to go to awesome parties all the time :) I tell people I drink for a living. But don't worry I'm not an alcoholic, but i do believe in wine with dinner. Tue Feb 27 18:12:25 -0800 2007 2037716 69079 starlady 1 2336513 Fry cook, cashier, and "floater" (no, not that...you "floated" to wherever they needed you), banquet server all while in college; waitstaff post-college,...ran my own small-scale (very small scale) catering business doing private corporate parties, weddings in early 90's while "functioning" at my regular job. Last event done was in 1995 - a wedding where the happy couple weren't THAT happy...by the end of the event (think Divine Comedy, 7th Circle), both the bride and I were wondering what she ever saw in the groom/bozo! Called it quits after that. Tue Feb 27 23:32:20 -0800 2007 2037716 15170 Local