I asked her why she would do that.  We had just ordered some slices of pizza to go and all the guy did was walk it from behind the counter about 3 feet and hand it off to us.  I did not feel that it merited a tip.  My mother felt that it was appropriate to leave something since she was planning on returning at some point.

Now, I am the LAST person to discourage someone from tipping, but I really didn’t feel like a tip worthy service was provided.  She left it anyway.  My mother is not a novice diner.  She knows food and she obviously appreciates good service so when I started telling her about the earnings of a server I was surprised to hear her tell me that she had no idea about that.  So here’s what I shared with my mom.

Servers make NO money…in hourly wage in DC.  The hourly wage for servers in DC is $2.77 per hour.  That means that any money they make per hour goes to cover taxes or social security, etc.  And every two weeks they receive a blank check for their records…generally.  Now, this is not true in every state or jurisdiction.  In Washington state servers are paid the federal minimum wage and the same is probably true in many other places.

What this means is that in DC what a server earns in tips is their salary.  If they’re good and work in a decent restaurant they can make a very good living, often more than the managers of the same restaurant.  One reason many servers who would be great managers are reluctant to make the switch.  Depending on the restaurant, that server most likely has to pay out a percentage to the food runner (the person that actually delivers the food to the table), the bussers (the folks that clear the dirty dishes from the table and reset them), and the bartender.  In some instances they also have to tip out the host or Maitre’d.  And in some really bizarre places they have to tip out the kitchen (I think that’s just a bad idea).  These other positions generally earn more money by the hour than a server since they are not directly receiving tips, but as a group they do receive tips from all the servers.

At Jaleo, for example, the servers tipped out to generic pools of these groups, runners, bussers and bartenders and then however many of them they are they then have to divide it up amongst themselves.  It’s a complicated activity but in the end it generally comes out pretty fair.

So the next time you are trying to decide how much tip to leave, remember to take into account the ENTIRE team.  Your server is ultimately responsible for the bulk of your experience and if they are shotty then the rest probably will be, too.  But if the server is good remember that s/he has to tip out to several other people so leaving 15% would NOT be a nice thing to do.  18% is generally acceptable but 20% is much better.  Servers appreciate 20% tippers and there’s a good chance they’ll remember you.

Marvins in Washington, DC

The ladies, namely ZomppaBelinda who is a tiny woman with a HUGE appetite, were getting antsy and wondering when we were going to be seated. They figured since we had reservations for 8:30 that our table SHOULD be ready by now given that it was 8:55 pm. The hostess kept assuring us that it wouldn’t be much longer and that they were just waiting for the table to get up. I told them that we shouldn’t complain just yet given that I was a few minutes late. It dawned on my dinner companions that I might be able to shed some light on this madness that is reservations given the years I spent as a hostess and so the education began.

Some background…during college and for about 8 years after I worked in the restaurant business, first as a hostess, then server and finally management. I enjoyed hostessing because it was like putting a puzzle together or conducting a symphony because everything needed to happen a certain way in order for things to go smoothly. One change and things could go terribly wrong. So given my insider experience I thought I might share some thoughts with you so that perhaps you can approach your next dining experience with a different perspective.

Reservations
All restaurant’s have their own policy when it comes to reservations’s but they are all quite similar. What diner’s need to keep in mind is that hosts/esses hold the key…really! Hosts/esses have the true power because they often know better than the manager what the situation is like in the dining room and therefore are best equipped to determine what can and cannot be done as far as seating. Here’s a quick breakdown on the seating/reservation process. Most restaurants break down the dinner shift into a 1st and 2nd seating. Hosts generally follow the rule that on average a 3 course meal runs about 2 hours from the time a table is seated. Based on that theory hosts can guestimate when a table will “turn” or free up. If a restaurant opens at 5 pm then those seated between 5 and 7:30 pm would form the 1st seating. Say a restaurant opens at 5pm and that restaurant seats a total of 80 people. Well 80 people most likely will not arrive at 5 pm, but perhaps 10 will. At 5:30 pm another 15 will arrive. At 5:45 pm, 4 will arrive. At 6 pm, 25 will arrive and so forth. The host can offer the tables that the first 10 occupied at 7 pm, theoretically, and the tables that the 15 occupied at 7:30. Now, they SHOULD leave room for late arrivals, incomplete parties, etc. Some restaurants reserve space for walk-ins, some don’t. During the course of the meal the host will monitor the tables to see what stage the various tables are at and determine if any adjustments need to be made for the next group of reservations. Generally tables of two finish up faster than parties of 4 or more (less to talk about). If you notice on the Open Table diagram there are color codes for what stage the different tables are at.

Open Table is an On-line reservation system that also serves to build relationships with diners. I’ll leave that subject for a whole other post. Suffice it to say that I did not have the luxury (and it is a luxury, believe me) of Open Table in my day. I used the good ole paper and pencil and my eraser got a good workout every night!

Back to reservations…most restaurants will not seat incomplete parties because if you are seated at a table and waiting for people to arrive then you haven’t really started your dining experience and it throws the whole timing off. Likewise, if you’re reservation is for a party of 6 and only 4 of you are present, if you are seated and the other two don’t show then they’ve wasted a table that they could have used for 6 people on a party of only 4 so that is not ideal for the restaurant. Generally restaurants have a 15 minute grace period for your reservation, but keep in mind that it’s a grace period for them, too. If you arrive exactly on-time and your table is not ready than they are allowed to keep you waiting, however if you wait more than 15 minutes than you should say something…in a nice way. Hostility will get you NOTHING and remember, the host/ess has the real power, so be nice and know that s/he is doing her/his best. If a restaurant keeps you waiting for a ridiculous amount of time then they should offer you appetizers on the house or at least a round of drinks, but you should not ask for this. You should wait and see if they do anything because they may comp your desserts. If you’ve waited for a long time and they do nothing you could offer a gentle reminder but by no means should you demand anything. If still nothing happens and you feel you’ve been wronged than you should write a letter to the General Manager describing your experience and they should make it right.

Not two minutes after I told the Zomppas that we can’t be mad at them yet because I was late, our table was ready. Don’t assume the host/ess is not seating you on purpose. S/he wants to seat you so s/he can cross you off the list. Remember that patience is a virtue and if you bring it with you when you dine out (especially to a busy restaurant) you should have a great experience! Happy Dining!

So I will leave you with some images of our days of fun, sun and VACATION from everything!!!

I’ll see you next time!

I’ve never really been one to eat very well.  Vegetables are only recently making an appearance in my diet as I discover the beauty of sauteed zucchini and summer squash with red onions, wild mushrooms and a whole lot of garlic (thanks Mom!).  Ever since working at Jaleo I’ve had an affinity for sauteed spinach with apples, raisins and pine nuts.  And I am proud to say that my son (2 years old in a week) loves vegetables, could eat them all day!  That must have skipped a maternal generation because my mother is the only person he could have gotten that from.  My daughter, on the other hand, is a different story all together.  Luckily (or maybe not) she succumbs to peer pressure and will eat well if other kids are eating well.  Hhhmmm…could we replicate that?  We could start a revolution based on peer pressure to do good things instead of bad…hhmm!???  But despite my new found love affair (ok slight exaggeration) with vegetables I still need my ICE CREAM fix on a pretty regular basis.  Maybe that’s why I haven’t been able to quite shed my 2nd baby weight…one day!  So to all you mom’s out there, and dad’s too, go ahead and have ICE CREAM for dinner whenever you want.  I won’t tell:)!

You have to understand St. Michael’s to fully appreciate the scene. St. Michael’s is a small community located on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay about 20 minutes from Easton, MD. It’s a seasonal community that is pretty hokey during the colder months but during the warmer ones boating and crabs are the main attractions…unless you know about the house at the end of the block on W. Chew Ave. During the warmer months you can usually find the inhabitants of said house out in the garden, sitting on the porch, or dining on the back patio watching the still waters of the inlet just yards away. A new bike path was recently finished across the street and the foot traffic has increased enormously. To most that would probably be a bad thing but not to the inhabitants of the last house on W. Chew Ave. More than a few complete strangers have been invited to pull up a chair and share in some wine or other such beverage with said inhabitants. Now, imagine doing that in DC or New York or even Minneapolis (well…more likely in Minneapolis, but still). More than a few friendships have been born of such invitations. It is to this house that my friends and I arrived on that Sunday afternoon.  The kids settled in exploring all the wonders of the glorious garden my mom has nurtured. They discovered the various toys she had accumulated for her grandchildren over the years and they were off.  There were hula hoops, balls, bubbles, you name it Nonna (a.k.a. my mom) had it!  Meanwhile the grown folk began to unwind and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the surroundings (despite the pitter patter of little feet and the  screaming and laughing of those little munchkins, too).  We  took a walk down to the park along the bike path.  When we returned it was time to get our grub ON!!!

Now, this wasn’t any ole’ ordinary grub…this was a Rib’s n’ Crab FEAST!!  Oh yes….Don’t be jealous that’s just how we do!  Peter gave the novices a crash course on the fine art of eating Chesapeake Bay crabs and we were off!  Accompanying the main dishes were fresh corn on the cob, salad and melted butter for dipping that luscious crab meat. It was all a bit unbelievable, but then again we were at the last house on W. Chew Ave.

BEFORE

AFTER

RECOVERY

Me with Student Leaders from Technological University of Quibdo

In February I had the good fortune of having to travel to Colombia 0n business.  I am always down for a trip and as I had never been to Colombia I was eager to see what awaited me there.   My division at Phelps Stokes (the NGO I work for), Programs for Latin America and the Caribbean, works primarily with Afro-descendant and Indigenous populations, to provide more access to education and in turn support the development of  young leaders from those communities.  In 6 days I visited Bogota, Quibdo and Cartagena.  Bogota, while I didn’t get to see too much of it due to meetings, appears to be the standard capital city in the developing world with the requisite government buildings, churches, etc. and the wealth concentrated in one area while large parts of the rest of the city struggle for basic services.  It was nice and I know it deserves another visit at some point.  After Bogota came Quibdo, the capital of the state of Choco, located on the Pacific coast.

Riverside Market in Quibdo

You know you’re in Choco when you get off the plane because you are met with the most humid air you’ve felt in your life.  It is HOT with dense forest and more biodiversity than most parts of the rest of the world.    It is wealthy in all kinds of resources, especially human, and I had the opportunity to spend some time with some impressive student leaders at the university.  Choco has the highest density of Afro-Colombians in all of Colombia (which may explain why it has been so neglected by the federal government…but that’s just my opinion) and one could easily mistake Quibdo for any city in West Africa.  Choco is essentially cut off from the rest of the country and has no decent roads connecting it to the capital and barely to either Medellin or Cali.  The safest way to arrive definitely by air.  But once there, it is a bustling town sitting on the banks of the Atrato River where gold is the preferred product as opposed to fish.   I spent only one day and night in Quibdo but it felt like I was home and I look forward to my next trip there.

After short stint back in Bogota, we departed for Cartagena, the “pearl of the Caribbean.”  What an enchanting city!  The colonial zone is exquisite with wonderful little boutiques and EXCELLENT restaurants all surrounded by the muralla or fortress walls.  I ate quite well here!  And while I thoroughly enjoyed Cartagena it was a day trip to San Basilio de Palenque that truly captured my heart.  Palenque, as it’s more commonly called, is a village of about 3,500 about an hour(by car) from Cartagena that was founded by escaped slaves in the 16th century.  Once you turn off the main road you must travel on a dirt road into town.  Water is delivered  periodically to a tank that sits on a hill just outside of town.  Gravity brings the water to town, not any mechanized plumbing system or anything like that.

Statue of Benko, founder of Palenque, in the town square.

Palenque is surrounded by foothills that made it difficult for the slave owners to find them and thus over the years residents of Palenque have managed to maintain Palenquero as their common language, although fewer and fewer are able to speak it.  It is a dialect  based on the Kikongo language of the Congo and Angola with Portuguese influence.  Spanish speakers cannot understand it when it’s spoken.  We had an opportunity to visit the local school and meet with some teachers there.  Truly dedicated individuals who could just as easily work in Cartagena or any other town outside of Palenque, but they choose to work there.  Unfortunately the students were released early that day so we did not meet any of them.  Following the visit to the school we stopped by the house of a man who is the original singer for the group Sexteto de Tabala.  They have performed here in Washington at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and have traveled the world sharing their music with others.  Musician man accompanied us to our pre-arranged lunch at a local dining establishment.  Tourists do not frequent Palenque so for a group of about 6 like us, you had to call ahead to make sure they were ready for us.  And don’t expect a menu…you get what you get. I must admit that my culinary expectations were programmed to low.  Afterall I had to wash my hands in a tub of sudsy water next to the “kitchen” since there was no running water.  In the US I would be hard-pressed to eat in a restaurant like that, but for whatever reason, whenever I travel my defenses are down and I prefer to absorb the experience rather than complain about it.  We sat down for lunch in the 90 degree (in the shade) heat and awaited our 1st course.  A scorching hot chicken soup with vegetables.  Needless to say I was sweating like mad after that.  Following the soup came what I have officially declared as the best fish I have ever had in my life, Cachama.

Lunch in Palenque

As you can see, it was served in its entirety with rice, veggies and plantains on a banana leaf.  I took the first bite and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was.  Next thing I knew I was scraping fish bones in search of more meat.  It was over too soon.  This scrumptious meal was accompanied by an historical account of the settling of Palenque by the 80+ year old musician (I can’t believe I didn’t get his name) and our guide for the day, Manuel.  Musician man shared with us that he only learned Spanish when he was around 50 years old or so.  Prior to that he spoke only Palenquero.  This place is absolutely fascinating and totally unique and I cannot wait to return…and really can’t wait to eat that fish again!  Until next time people!

What is your favorite food movie or book?

The very first thing that came to my mind was the book Aphrodite by Isabel Allende. If you do not know anything about this book you MUST read it. It is a memoir on the intertwined nature of food and love. While I was at Cafe Atlántico I helped the chef design a Valentine’s Day menu from some of the suggested recipes in the book. It was the ultimate in sensuality and it was a SMASH! AWESOME! But then I started thinking about movies and obviously my mind turned first to “Like Water for Chocolate” (I know, I know….if it’s Latin Tonija likes it). I just love magical realism and how Esquivel used food to tell the story of this family! But there are so many other books and movies, ayayayayay!!

Eventually I split my time between Jaleo and Cafe Atlantico, Jaleo’s Latin American sister spot. I often likened hostessing, and later managing, to a stage production. All this prep time went in to making sure everything was JUST right. No spots on the glasses or silverware, no stains on the linens, soda lines working, music just right for the early theater crowd and later for that “I want to be cool and drink mojito’s” crowd. I felt a rush right before every shift. Who will be dining with us today? What interesting people will appear at my door? Among the list of diners who came through my door are Conan O’Brien, Janet Reno, William Cohen, Kevin Bacon and Edward James Olmos, to name just a few! Beyond the obvious celebs, were quieter, less obvious yet very interesting people. It was always a pleasure to find those interesting people that I had things in common with and with whom I could just chat it up only later to find out that they were the president or CEO of this that or the other thing.

But I digress, these restaurants were exciting…cutting edge, THE place to be in DC and me and my Leo self thoroughly enjoyed that. Not to mention the great perks like eating great food for free, being able to buy wine at cost and the various other perks that came with working at new-ish, IN restaurants. I always looked forward to the curtain call however…my feet ESPECIALLY looked forward to it! As a hostess I simply did all my closing duties and went home..or out which is the more likely of the two scenarios. I pursued a management position when I worked under a totally useless manager at Cafe Atlantico and realized that I was certain that I could do a better job than he did. The owner gave me a shot and I was sucked in for the foreseeable future. It became clear that I had the leadership skills to manage but I did not care for the part of the job that required me to “check” on people to ensure their meal was going well. I always felt like I was interrupting them. That did not go over well with the higher ups and they pointed it out every chance they got.

As a result of being in the food industry at the time I applied for graduate school I qualified for a scholarship for food service professionals. Who knew? Whatever works…even though I was hoping to NOT pursue a career in the field, it served its purpose. After grad school, and attempts to enter the “normal” working world, I returned to restaurants. I knew it, and I knew it well. Jaleo Bethesda took me back and I spent two great years there. The hours were long, the glamour was less, but the people I worked with there were top notch. We had a lot of fun. I will say that Jaleo and its parent company (currently called thinkFOODgroup) spoiled me for all others. Their focus on customer service, quality ingredients and a clean, healthy work environment are unparalleled. I did stray from them on a couple of occasions only to come crawling back and received with open arms. I know, I know…you probably think they paid me to write this…they did not. They will always hold a special place in my heart. Cafe Atlantico, in particular, I consider MY restaurant. Once my daughter was born, however, everything changed. The hours became too long and the abnormal work schedule was too erratic. I longed for a 9-5 job and weekends off without having to request them off months in advance. Eventually, I made it out of the restaurant business, but there are times when I truly miss being in the mix. I try to keep up with the goings on of the DC and national restaurant scene and in my office I am certainly the go-to girl when it comes to dining advice…a role I cherish, but there’s a little (very little) piece of me that longs for the pre-show rush once again.

Who knows…maybe one day some lucky restaurant will convince me to dabble again…at least for a few hours a week.