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While there are days when I’m either bored or stressed by my 9-5, at the end of the day (like today, for instance) I know there’s a paycheck and health benefits waiting for me. I can pay my bills and get sick at the same time.
If I were still a struggling actor or had made the full leap to underpaid, overworked food service industry worker, and were plying my trade here in NYC, I might not be so lucky.
Two studies released this week speak to the difficult conditions facing artists and restaurant workers in New York, and they ain’t pretty. A report by the Freelancers Union on how arts funding overlooks the needs of individual artists, showed that 75% of creative workers avoided seeking medical care as a result of being uninsured and 58% save nothing towards retirement each month.
Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the New York City Restaurant Industry Coalition drew a link between public health and working conditions in the city’s restaurant industry, basically showing that when employers cut corners by understaffing their kitchens, not training workers for their positions and forcing them to continue to work while sick or injured, it puts all of us at risk. Examples cited in the report talked of food handlers cutting themselves and being forced to continue working, possibly contaminating the food they served to customers.
It’s hard y’all. Kinda makes pimpin’ look easy.
There is an endless variety of dining options in New York with cuisines from every corner of the globe, as well as new creations through the fusion of different styles by some of the greatest chefs in the world. Eating out can be as much a cultural and educational experience as a nourishing one.
But ultimately whether or not you have a good time comes down to two things; how was the food and the service? Restaurants build their reputation more on word of mouth than paid advertising and a good recommendation can make or break an establishment.
Within the past week I dined at two places, both of which came with good advance notices, but which left me with distinctly different impressions about the concept of service.
Saturday night, four friends and I ate at Awash, an Ethiopian restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue between W. 106th and 107th. A family-style restaurant, it had very modest yet nice décor and a welcoming wait staff. Our group, celebrating one member’s birthday, arrived at different intervals, but staff seated us as we arrived and offered drinks and menus. Once we were all present, orders were taken promptly.
Monday night, I met up with my very busy friend Kevin, who recommended we meet uptown at Revival Restaurant on W. 127th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem. This is a decidedly more upscale eatery that specializes in French American cuisine infused with the influences of Caribbean, Creole and Soul. Attention has clearly been paid to the overall appearance, from seating design to table cloths to flatware.
We met right after work so the place wasn’t crowded at all. Kevin, and Nathan, host a regular Saturday night party there, and he told me despite its’ attractiveness, it is rarely busy. We speculated as to why, but my observations this evening lead me to spot possible reasons.
At Awash, as the night wore on, the restaurant got more crowded, full in fact. This posed a bit of a problem in that they were short staffed that evening. Two waitresses, and a waiter/bartender who attended to us, had their hands full seating guests, taking orders and getting them back in a timely manner. Our drink orders at times had to be given more than once, but when delivered were done so apologetically which we appreciated. Our waiter/bartender was clearly better at the former than the latter, as a Long Island Ice Tea he prepared for one guest was entirely too strong, despite two attempts to rectify it.
But the meal was sumptuous and quite filling. Appetizers were sambusas in three variations, beef, lentil and chicken. Sambusas combine main ingredients with finely chopped onions and spices wrapped in dough and deep fried to a delicately flaky crust. They go down easy, but pack a bit of a kick afterwards from the spices.
For main entrees, we shared two combo platters that included lamb, chicken, or beef wats or stews, lentils, collard greens, cabbage and more hot spices. Ethiopian food is to be eaten with your hands using injera, a spongy sour dough bread, made from teff, that is flat and torn in pieces to scoop up morsels of the food. As one in our party mentioned, it initially didn’t look like it would be enough for us all, but we were quite full before we were halfway through.
The waitress at Revival seated us at a booth towards the back despite empty ones up front. I am trying to be objective in my evaluation of the evening, but throughout there just seemed to be a general ambivalence on her part. On a slow evening, one might have expected a certain attentiveness for the few paying customers, but none was present here. Bread arrived promptly enough, but without dishes to eat on. After a couple of passes, we got her attention and she quickly pulled two off a nearby table.
The menu had a number of tempting, albeit pricey selections. This restaurant doesn’t seat very many and perhaps there is a need to pass along overhead costs to customers. Nonetheless an appetizer of salmon-wrapped sea scallops placed on a salad of carrots, spring onions, mustard cress, watercress, coriander and celery was simply delicious. The saltiness of the salmon was just enough to balance the natural taste of the sautéed scallops, while the salad, with teriyaki sauce dressing added a slight tangyness.
My Peppery Roasted Duck Breast with dates and black pepper sauce was served with puffs of mashed white and sweet potatoes and mixed vegetables. Another winner. Kevin had the Chef’s Caesar Salad of romaine lettuce tossed with croutons, Caesar dressing, parmesan cheese & slices of chicken and tomatoes on top. In the food department, this place gets straight A’s.
I am trying not to nitpick, but I did get an emotional reaction to our service at Revival that I am assessing even as I write. This restaurant is a very stylish, posh boutique smack dab in the middle of da hood. Black-owned and managed, there just seemed to be an air that was inappropriate for the evening and the environment. Not that I want a greasy-spoon or ghetto-like informality, but snobbery isn’t necessary either. Perhaps I read our waitress wrong, but there was an attempt at an attitude that I felt was wrong as well as inauthentic.
Meanwhile the folks at Awash scored big points for making the best of a difficult situation. They were busy that night, but still found time to bring out the cake we’d purchased beforehand, with a lit candle, and sang happy birthday to our guest. They also offered—and we accepted—a bottle of wine on the house. A decidedly less formal restaurant than Revival, they treated us as if they want us to come back.
Sometimes you just have to decide to do things yourself. Sitting around waiting for people to get back to you with answers or to make up their mind or to figure out if they have the funds or the time or the desire can tire you out waiting and cause you to miss the opportunity.
I made up my own mind that I want to enjoy more of the things that interest me, namely live theatre and good restaurants . I ask around to see if certain people I’d like to spend more time with are interested, and get indefinite answers. Or no answers. Or “no” answers. So screw it. I’ll go by myself.
The Big Apple is home to almost 4,000 dining establishments, enough to eat at a different one every night of the week without repeating yourself for ten years. You can enjoy cuisine from every corner of the globe, as well as some of the newest culinary creations from the best chefs in the world.
And now restaurateurs are joining forces to make it even easier to eat out.
Winter Restaurant Week 2004 runs from January 26 - 30 and February 2 - 6. Some of this city’s best restaurants–174 of them to be exact–are offering three-course lunches for $20.04 and three-course dinners for $30.04 (beverages, gratuities and tax not included). You can even make reservations online.
Cold weather shouldn’t be an excuse for missing a great meal at an even better price.
