I always appreciate when people tell me that the restaurant business is hard work. What they don't know, and what I've spent nearly two decades discovering, is that this business borders on insanity. It's not in the handbook, but my job consists of the following: barista, comedian, acrobat, childcare provider, bellhop, mathematician, public relations, wine expert, whiskey expert, nutritionalist, alcohol management enforcer, actor, student, food and beverage pairing expert, linguist, photographer, anger management specialist, tour guide, and yes... I do windows. Imagine having to satiate a basic human need, while tailoring to individual preferences, trying to make as many people happy as possible, with perfect timing, while not allowing anyone to ingest anything that might make them ill or die, all while trying to extract as much money as possible from them in an ethical fashion. All of this we must do on our feet, with a smile, for many whom will not even give us the time of day. We are critiqued several times per hour (and that's if there is no manager breathing down our necks), and our mistakes are many times difficult to hide. Repeat. Madness.
Luckily, my two newest restaurant endeavors have become quite popular, respectively. Upon my decision last May to undertake the responsibilities that come with two different places of business, I thought one might in fact win out and I would leave the other. However, both have kept me engaged in learning and challenged in my craft. Therefore I continue, damn the madness! In the words of Frasier Crane to close, although not entirely accurate, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better butt-kicking I give than I have ever butt-kicked!"
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