For
about a year I worked in a restaurant called the Ad Lib on Madison
Avenue and 47th or 45th street in Manhattan. It was a small, elegant
place that could become quite romantic in the evening. The best part of
this job was that they served, and made, some of the best cheesecake in
the city and that is saying something--BUT they made it fresh everyday
so if there was any left over after dinner we got to take home as much
as we wanted--and I did!!

I always loved Mexican food, especially fajitas, but it was when I worked at Who Song and Larry's in Fort Lauderdale that I learned how to make a great guacamole dip which we did table side and fried ice cream. I came to love chimichangas and the different types of quesadillas,
tortillas plus how to make a super salsa. It was here that I waited on
the famous 'gothic' rocker whose name I don't remember--was it Marilyn
Manson?--while he was still in a group.

In
the late 60s I worked at the famous Brass Rail restaurant in New York
City and met Ronnie who was to become a very close friend. We would go
out drinking together after work and on our days off go to previews of
Broadway shows such as the first "Cabaret".

The restaurant was divided into 2 parts with the delicatessen being downstairs and the more formal restaurant
upstairs. I will never forget the first big blackout in New York City
when we stayed open and fed all the people who were stuck in the city
free in the dark by candlelight until we ran out of food.

One
of the few times I worked a lunch job was when I worked at Miller's
which was in the Wall Street district and they catered to lawyers and
judges which was when I found out that lawyers and judges, as a rule,
were bad tippers.

By the way one of the
reasons I always preferred working dinners, aside from being a night
owl, was that working lunch and/or breakfast could be harder and
definitely had lower checks which translated into working the same
hours but making more money at dinner.

Both in New York and Fort Lauderdale I worked at Dan Dowds,
an excellent steak house, which unfortunately catered to early birds,
in the Florida restaurant. At 6 PM, the end of the early bird time, Dan
would announce, "Okay, everyone take a deep breath, change your mentality and get ready to wait on real people!" He and a guy named Manero were partners until they broke up and ran their own restaurants named after themselves. Both were known for their excellent steaks and featured a great Blue Cheese salad with crumpled blue cheese over Romaine lettuce and onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. They introduced this salad which
would become a staple in many restaurants. Dan was also known for the
huge fake cow he had outside the Fort Lauderdale restaurant which became part of "Spring Break" when college kids would steal it, never getting caught, and placing it in outlandish places.

My
last job in the restaurant business was at Big Louie's, just a few
blocks away from where I lived. I worked there for a couple of years
before retiring. It was a fun, easy, money making job. I could serve a
pizza and a couple of cokes and get a $5 tip. My last few months there
I just worked weekends and picked up $300-500 which increased my rent
until it got to the point is was costing me too much money too work!!

I
really, truly loved being a server, and working in so many diverse
places,  learning so much about food not to mention meeting people from
all over the world. I had a job I could count on anywhere I lived and
though I have no money now I made a lot to enjoy many years of having
and doing the best.

Every now and then--mostly when I am eating in a restaurant--I miss being a server--sometimes I want to get up and help a waiter in the weeds--but not enough to go back to work!  LOL