A Little of This, Minus That

So I went to work last night fully expecting it to be a regular Monday. Saying that though - Monday's are usually great for us during this part of the year. There are conventions in town and I work in a pretty hip/cool/ great place. It was only about a 25 people list on the reservations, but that is all relative. You can get the right group of 4 people and really make some loot.. such was the case last night. I had one particular table of 6 people that spent no less than $1700 dollars on dinner and wine. It was cool,because they were really cool as well. I had a group of 3 that spent nearly $800 and left me well over 20%. You can't ask for more.. but it got better as the evening progressed.

There are a group of sexy little snow boarding bunnies and cool dudes in for a convention of of sporting goods and whatnot. We seem to get hit hard by them in he later hours of the evening shift as they are in meetings until around 7 pm i think. For this I am thankful. They are appreciative of good food, wine and comfortable surroundings. I look forward to seeing some of them in the restaurant again tonight.

The night ended easily and calmly, which is the benefit of being in a hip little restaurant with a celebrity chef on the verge of World-wide fame. Can't beat good food and a great spot to chill in afterward. So after that shift, some of the boys from work and I walked across to Minus 5 "ice-lounge" and had a beer (or two) with the little bar-tending (corset wearing) girls that work there. They had recently shown up at our bar and we took care of them.. so we thought we could drop in and have a beer or two. I was nice and buzzed, so I stopped at 2 beers (light-weight, I know ).

One of the boys noticed Brian Malarkey sitting at the Minus 5 bar. Brian was one of the chef's from season 3 of Top Chef on Bravo. I remembered Brian, as I had served him wine at a bar I used to work at here in town. Then he was sitting with his wife and on the way to Kentucky for the derby. They had missed their flights and stopped in for a bite and some wine. They were cool. He was pretty nice, and although a little drunk - he told us about the demonstrations he was in town doing for the convention and how he now worked for the Bravo television network.

He also, graciously, in his drunken manner - told me how he remembered our conversation at that wine bar - and how my service was 'suspect'.. !!! lol.. i was not sure what he was referring to.. but I realize it was due to the 'non-free' stuff I didn't serve him. Haha.. See, here in Las Vegas.. it is a very real thing to be a celebrity - or even semi-celebrity in this case - or even a well known industry person, or a friend of a friend.. haha.. and get some food or drink comp'd. It really isn't that hard. I am a firm believer in - "the answer is NO unless you ask.." and that applies in this type of situation.

When Brian and his wife were sitting at the bar where I was serving.. I mentioned to the management and staff that he was there, in order to get him some recognition. I mean, he is an accomplisehd chef as well as being recognizable for the great work he did on Top Chef.. it was only fair that we show the guy a little love. It seemed to have meant nothing to them. On top of all that I was serving literally 30 individuals at a bar, all by myself (more or less) and didn't have time to make much conversation. I took it upon myself to pour them a couple more glasses of wine to help make up for it. I would have like to have had the chance to sit and chat with them.. but it just wasn't in the cards that evening. So now, over a year later -I see him again and he remembers that situation and calls me and my service 'suspect'. It was funnier than anything.. and I rolled with it. We all hung out for another hour or so..and all the guys went up to the roof and Foundation Room.

I proceeded to head home and get my sleep as it is literally day 1 of a 6 day work-week and I couldn't afford to not be in top shape for the rest of the week just so I could hang out with a semi-celebrity. It was fun, and I would have liked to have stayed.. but I am not the kind of guy that can hang out in a cool space like Foundation Room and not drink. I am sure I will hear all about it tonight and maybe even see Brian in the restaurant, as he threatened to stop by with another chef from the show Richard Blais. Could be cool...and if it happens, I will tell you all about it! See you on the next post.. time for some breakfast and then a little gym-time :)