Speaking of shameless restaurants…………..
Establishment: Sams Anchor cafe
Location: Tiburon
Sams anchor cafe in tiburon has a long history of disgruntled employees, and there is even a paper trail of former employees filling law suits, to prove it. Thats right the two owners Steve, and Brian, will fire an employee for anything or nothing at all. Whether its because your too fat, oh just had your 50th birthday. Come work in this professional environment where skinny girls are encouraged to show off their bodies, while larger girls are told they have to cover up, (because "who wants to eat at eye level to their stomachs") Or maybe its because they dont like the guy your dating. They have even fired a few young girls who accused one of the managers of sexual harrasment. One of the managers, chip as hes known, is married with children, but even finds time while working (and drinking at work) to assalt the female employees, whether that is talking dirty, touching their butts, or even trying to inappropriately kiss them. Best of all, he waits until the girls have a had a few drinks, before he tries this. But that doesnt say much for the rest of the managers, that spend their days waist deep in bottles of wine, and shots of tequila. What a professional atmosphere to work in. I recommend working there if you like feeling underappreciated, overworked, under paid, sexually harrassed, and best of all the feeling of being replacable or dispensable, because if you work for these two men, they wont give a shit!
Comments
I have been in this industry now for 20 plus years, having started ground level at age 15. I have done it ALL… dishes, bussing, prep work, waiting, bartending, culinary school, sommelier certification, management, consulting, and ownership, all in high end, fine dining establishments. I have made well past $250,000 annually, personally, since the age of 29. I’m not bragging, I’m not cocky. What I am, however, is sick and f#&*ing tired of the whining and sense of entitlement I see in people in the workforce nowadays. In order to be successful in this industry in the long run, you have to work your ass off, be diligent about learning and progressing, and dedicate yourself to the passion of food and wine. Follow these rules, and you might just be O.K….
A.) Just because Mommy and Daddy tell you you’re special doesn’t mean that you are. By doing the best that you can do in any situation that you are given, and to do it with a sense of humbleness and humility, with an open attitude to learning from your triumphs and mistakes, that is what makes you special. (My parents are multimillionaires- but I wasn’t handed anything. I paid for my own college, cars, apartments, wedding, EVERYTHING! For this, I thank them daily, because they taught me my own worth by having earned it!)
B.) You have to work from the ground up. Enough said. Respect every position in the restaurant, and do every job until you have mastered it.
C.) Don’t skate. Just because some people can get away with not doing their share doesn’t mean that you should. People DO recognize those who pull their weight, and eventually, those slackers will find their butts on the street.
D.) Time on a job (seniority) does not mean a darn thing, unless you are a stellar employee. Good management will see talent and hardworkingness and reward it, and will eventually let go of the dead weight, but you have to prove yourself to be indespensible first.
E.) In the restaurant business, when you start, you truly cannot become a master of the biz if you pigeonhole yourself into one position. Learn as much as you can from each position and each establishment, then move on. The best moves are from one tier of restaurant to the next, and from one level of responsibility to the next. Ex./ Dish to bus,( 1 year), bus to back wait, (1-2 years), backwait to server, (1-2 years), server to headwait or captain, (2-4 years, varying level of restaurant and cuisine differentiation (French, New American, Thai, New Southwestern, Asian, Continental, Fusion, etc.) sprinkle some bartending in there somewhere, (usually after 3-4 years of intensive serving), then assistant management, management, and then becoming G.M. somewhere. If you REALLY want to make yourself an asset when you get to the management realm, you may want to consider culinary school and/or sommelier certification, thus making you well versed in any/all restaurant positions. Remember, when you own your own place, you need to be able to take over any position if need be to make the night run smoothly.
F.) Kiss Ass. Look, the customer is always right, except when they are blatant as#%*es, in which case, you will hopefully have a manager or owner that will have your butt if you are doing all of the above.
G.) Never question a guest as to gratuity. Sometimes, people don’t tip on wine, (though they should), may be from other cultures that aren’t aware of proper tipping procedures in the U.S., or sometimes, you might be having an off night and really don’t deserve 20%. Be honest… it really does all even out. For every 12% bastard out there, there is a 40 or 50% table out there who evens out the score in the course of a week.
H.) Smile. It’s not a distaster… no one will die over dinner. Things will go wrong, it’s life. But long ticket times aren’t basis for self important tirades to the kitchen, or to wax poetic about the injustice of your night.
I.) Don’t drink on the job. Or do blow. Or smoke pot. If you happen to have ANY kind of off night, no matter how ON you think you are, someone will notice that you aren’t totally focused, and that’s totally grounds for you to be let go. Of course, whatever you do on your own time is no one’s business, unless you ever show up late, bleary eyed, unkempt, smelling of liquor, or not focused, in which case, you may very well be fired, and that’s your own damn fault.
J.) Don’t steal. I know that filet mignon looks tempting, but your employer will probably sell you it at cost, MAY even be cool enough to deduct it from your check if you don’t have any cash, will realize that you’re an honest sort if you ask before you snag it. Also, remember that loss in a business will affect costs, which will affect bonuses, raises, and may very well result in the closing of a new business.
K.) Constantly educate yourself. Read Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Wine Spectator, and Saveur. Read Restaurant Trends, keep abreast on the internet, and always keep learning. Just because you knew it in the 80’s doesn’t mean you know it in 2005. (Just think… otherwise we might be inundated with peach and teal and Naegle prints, not to mention other ungodly 80’s phenomenon, like black lacquer…)
L.) LOVE IT. Just because this may not be your life doesn’t mean that you can’t be excellent at it. Work with class, finesse, and style, and this can be as “real” a job as you ever do. The connections you may come across if you are great at what you do can parlay into untold possibilities. They did for me!
Everyone is so worried about everyone else. You take this job with a grain of salt (the service industry that is). Whether you’re working at Gary Danko or at Chevy’s, there’s always going to be someone, be it manager or the annoying waitress who talks too much, that’s going to bug you….Come in, do your job, make as much frickin money as you can, and call it a day. Have to work ten hours on your feet? Think about a manual labor construction job…..8 hours on your feet, lifting, hammering, or whatever. And they don’t buy you lunch. Managers will be dicks, employees will feel entitled, but in the end, life’s too short to harp on it too long…
try this one…I’m a chef I work 80 hour weeks.
I have to listen to my cooks complain about the prima donna waiters who only made 350 last night.
My cooks work their asses off, and we struggle to give them as much as we can.
I had a waiter who was training to be a cop attempt to id one of my veteran cooks (waiter wanted to see if he was legal or not).
Well my cook who was born in the usa of Ecuadorian descent refused to show him anything but the middle finger….I intervened and told the waiter to get back on the floor, “but he won’t show me his proof of citizenship”
I was flabbergasted (just for a second) and then gave him a little advice about looking for another job as he no longer had one with us.
he did try to get us in trouble though, we responded by calling his school and detailing his offense amongst our staff….dude thinks he’s a cop when he’s on the job, and is a pothead…..as#%*e!!!!!!!
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Ok I worked there and I HATED it. Owners were cool to me but I was never invited to do a line of coke with them or anything. Chip was f#&*ing another manager at the time and was known as a man whore even then. I worked there like 10 years ago. Sounds like its the same hell hole. The kitchen is an absolute nightmare for picking up your food. There’s like 15 servers on and you need to pack your food on one huge tray. There is no room to get by anyone else since they all have their huge trays wedged to pile upon as well AND your order comes up in about 3 different parts of the line. IMPOSSIBLE to give good service here. I don’t really think the customers expect it anyway. OH and shall I mention the nightmare that occurs when a bird dive bombs down and eats off your carefully packed tray you are about to deliver to a table???? Ugh….I f#&*ing hated this job and walked out. There was a manager that would follow you in the bathroom to tell you HEY did you get to that table yet????? YES, into the bathroom. I was consistently placed into the notorious “L” section……DO NOT WORK HERE. You will make $$ but you will work 10 + hour days and you will be treated like a huge piece of shit and you will not find parking without paying for it and unless you like self abuse I would not recommend it to anyone.