How working in the restaurant business made us who we are
APRIL 10th, 2024
Written by Rebekah Zaveloff, Creative Director, Imparfait Design Studio and KitchenLab Interiors
I don’t think anything has had a bigger impact on me than working in the restaurant business. It started for me as a Sophomore in high school in Columbus, Ohio. I got a job as a busgirl (because I wasn’t old enough to serve alcohol) at an iconic fine-dining restaurant called Lynde’s in German Village – a charming treelined lined neighborhood in downtown, with cobblestone streets and brick rowhouses, and the restaurant’s warm lights glowed on the corner of a residential street. I remember picking up my black pants and white shirt at the dry cleaners, staff meals, and polishing silverware and glasses. I remember the comradery before and after service – you become really close to the people you work with, they’re your family after a while. On rough nights it’s like you went through battle with them.
After high school, I moved to Los Angeles and got a job at Caffe Luna, an Italian bistro with a 4am license, run by 3 French women on Melrose Ave. It was an awesome place, lively and packed all day like a European cafe where they didn’t run you out if you sat and drank coffee for 3 hours. While attending UCLA for college, I waited tables at a handful more restaurants, and continued to wait tables in Chicago while attending The School of the Art Institute, and on and off while working as a set department buyer in the film business. Nick and I joke that our retirement job is going to be to open a wine bar. I attribute almost all my socialization and definitely my most memorable experiences, to those I had in the restaurant business. Nothing prepares you for life, for human interaction, for managing personalities and bullshit, like the restaurant business. There’s no faking it, if you’re good - you make great tips, if you suck, your co-workers look at you like you’re they one they’ll sacrifice if there’s a zombie apocolypse.
My love affair with hospitality started in a bittersweet way, I was 11 and the oldest of 3 kids when my parents got divorced and I soon preferred to spend the weekends with my friends instead of my dad, so he took me out to dinner ever few weeks or so. We won’t get into this part of my life, but I fell in love with the idea of ambience at a young age. My dad liked the best table by the front door and in view of the bar. We got to see everyone who walked in and he got to pretend he was the Godfather. Lynde’s was a classically stunning room, with a beautiful bar, chandeliers, leather banquettes, and candlelit tables, but it wasn’t the glamour of the beautiful room that drew me, it was the energy and the sense of purpose. There’s something about watching servers intensely zip back and forth between tables, the bar and the kitchen. Watching them interact with customers with confidence and charm (if they’re good). I learned how wonderful it feels to make people feel welcome, share with them my favorite bottle of wine or favorite dish. There’s an art to being engaged with a table without oversharing and hijacking the evening…we’ve all had a server who has been way to familiar and shared their life story. (Read the room people!)
I also learned what it means to be part of team outside of sports (team sports aren’t really my thing as those who know me, know all to well). I learned a work ethic by watching others kick ass or get eaten alive. “Service” is a funny word – it’s not very PC in the Upstairs/Downstairs Downton Abby sort of way, and has different connotations for the military or government, but when it comes to teaching me valuable lessons in life and I think everyone should wait tables at some point before entering the work force. It’s a combination of Montessori and finishing school for young adults. You learn by watching because no one has the time to stop in the middle of service and explain it to you! Now servers come to our tables and say, “my name is x, and I’ll be taking care of you this evening” which is truly what it’s about – it’s not about service, it’s about hospitality and taking care of people. Nick and I feel that we’re still in the hospitality business to this day. We’re creating environments filled with ambience and charm and guiding our clients through the process and the experience. Tech and business gurus talk about “flow” or being in the zone - I learned “flow” and being in the moment from waiting tables. I discovered my love for how rooms make me feel - ambience, atmosphere, music, lighting, comfort, and delicious aromas. I discovered the joy of making people feel taken care of. I learned to embrace my inability to sit down and relax, and learned how to not leave a room with my hands empty. I learned how much the phrase or the attitude, “not my table” angered me and how important it is to admit when you don’t know the answer and all you need to do is say I’ll go ask the chef. Good hospitality is about authenticity, and yes, just like porn, you know it when you see it.
