Growing up, my family mostly went to Japanese and Korean restaurants. Good sushi was a luxury and the Korean barbecue restaurant we loved in Koreatown was satisfying and affordable (though I later learned the affordability came at a great cost).
I worked at a French brasserie in Tribeca for 2 summers in college and learned a lot about class and culture. I started as an ice cream girl, sitting street side in a striped shirt and cap in the sweltering heat, getting laughed at by babysitters when I quoted $5 a scoop and winked at by rich dads tipping me $20 for sugaring-up their posse of 5 kids (presumably on a playdate). I was a hostess for about a week, where my main responsibility was to saunter around the room and “look good but not slutty.” Finally I graduated to server.
Here are some things I learned:
There are people who dress up to make 10am brunch reservations
There are also people out there who will bring Chipotle to a sit-down white tablecloth restaurant
It is acceptable in some places to make specific requests, like “extra crispy french fries” or “bacon well done” (I am one of these people now), though the chef will never be happy about it
New motherhood for some women looks like dining al fresco at 11:30am on a Tuesday, baby in one hand, Bellini in the other
More people fall asleep at the dinner table than you might think
Before each shift the 8 to 12 of us on serving duty would share one serving of each special of the day while the head chef described it to us, so we could sell it to customers. The best part about working there was eating things I had never tried before. Among many other things, I was introduced to eggs benedict, frisée, steak tartare, stuffed fried zucchini flowers, and good tomatoes.
One day a new kitchen hand put about 20 heirloom tomatoes in the fridge. When everyone realized, the staff was practically in mourning. “It’s tragic.” “The menu must change.” “Those beautiful tomatoes.” They went straight to the trash. I learned tomatoes don’t go in the fridge.
I received my first order from Asian Veggies yesterday. I can now have groceries my family used to drive to New Jersey to procure and fresh produce delivered directly to my doorstep. Technology is amazing.
Someone (not me) put the kumato tomatoes in the fridge thinking they were pastry buns (which also don’t go in the fridge) but they were only in there for an hour or two so I hope they didn’t get grainy.
Lunch was caprese a la Yoko: three tomatoes quartered, with shredded mozzarella, salt, and olive oil. The fridge didn’t ruin the tomatoes (this time).