Happy Easter, to everyone celebrating! We’re having another unusual holiday, especially here in Michigan, where COVID cases are spiking. But, it’s still a day when believers think of resurrection, others think of spring, and many people, food.
Over the years, Easter has evolved into a holiday with colorful brunches, and some of the country’s restaurants have offered beautiful displays of traditional dishes and luscious desserts, accompanied by the Easter Bunny.
If you’re a server in a restaurant that is open on Easter, you might have experienced a crush of business. This year, that may not happen in the same way, and there also could be far fewer people working in restaurants in general.
Respecting Our Restaurant Servers And Staff
Confession: I never worked in a restaurant. In high school, I was actually turned down for a job at McDonald’s, which was a sought-after place to work after school and on weekends.
Instead, I worked in a department store. But I’ve always said that waiting tables and waiting on customers were great preparation for journalism.
You got to see people at their stylish best, and sometimes, on their worst behavior, and it meant you never made assumptions about anyone. You served everyone in the same fashion.
Because of my service experience, I’ve always had a lot of respect for restaurant people.
Few things are more enjoyable than being waited on in a beautiful setting like Galatoire’s (above) by someone who is skilled at their craft.
I plead guilty, however, to occasionally viewing restaurant jobs as easy to get, and easy to leave for other careers. How often have we assumed someone is waiting tables or cooking on their way to something else?
But, that attitude undervalues positions that are difficult, challenging and which actually are chosen professions for a number of the people in the field.
The conditions that existed before the pandemic — low pay, long hours, grumpy customers — have been made even more difficult by COVID-19. You not only have to serve customers, you now have to enforce your restaurant’s rules, and protect your own health at the same time.
Everyone is trying to hire
It’s no wonder that food places in every part of the country are struggling to fill open jobs, whether in kitchens, in the front of the house, or as servers. Name a city, and pretty much name a restaurant, and it’s likely that they have jobs to fill.
Yet, there is a valued group of people who have stayed with their establishments, even through shutdowns and limits on indoor dining. These are the restaurant folks who love the food business, enjoy interacting with people, and simply feel like they are members of a family.
Money is important, too. Chef Michael Gulotta, owner of MoPho and Maypop in New Orleans, pointed out to me that the old-school employees at the city’s most famous restaurants can earn upper five figure incomes. They’re able to own homes, travel and put kids through college.
“The captains at Galatoire’s, that’s their profession,” Michael says. “I know a bartender at Harrah’s Casino. He’s a professional bartender.”
Michael says multiple servers have come to him in tears because a customer asked them, “what’s your real profession?”
He asks restaurant patrons to keep in mind the effort it takes to make them feel special, from the moment they valet park their car (if the restaurant has valets) all the way through the end of the meal.
Michael admits his fellow restaurant owners share some of the blame for the lesser status in which services jobs are viewed. “Is it not our fault, for the way we built this industry, where cooks make $9 an hour, and servers live and die off tips?” he says.
Be a great customer
For sure, a number of people don’t feel safe yet eating inside restaurants, but others will be returning to their favorite establishments once they are fully vaccinated.
If you do dine in, remember that the friendly person who comes to your table does not view their job as a stop gap: it’s their livelihood. You can help by being a great customer.
Definitely tip well, but also show them ample respect.
This is not a time to take out any frustrations you feel on servers. If you’re in a bad mood leaving the house, maybe it’s a better idea to get carry out rather than risk an explosion, like the one that Mosquito Supper Club’s team experienced last week.
Not only do we need restaurants to come back, we need staff to come back to them. Your consideration will be helpful, all around.
A Baking Book For Small Appetites
By Saura Kline
Last week, I talked about some of the wonderful pastry chefs who have opened up in Ann Arbor, and I confessed that baking is not my expertise.
One of the reasons I am hesitant to bake is that you end up with so much. It takes my two-person household several days to finish a tea cake, or polish off a full batch of cookies. Maxine doesn’t like pie, so I’m the person who would eat one, and I generally just make do with a boughten slice.
Well, I discovered a baking book aimed at me. Small Batch Baking has 60 recipes, which yield just a small amount.
The author, Saura Kline, is a pastry chef based in Denver who blogs at Sweet Saura. Her book has petite suggestions for making cinnamon rolls, biscuits, muffins, brownies and even hamburger buns.
You also might scroll through the recipes on her website, especially the one for Canadian butter tarts. Since we can’t visit Canada, making your own might hold you until we can cross the border again.
Saura also has written two books about pie, so if you like her approach, you can think about expanding your library with those.
My Mother Would Have Loved Bon Bon Bon
My mother’s name was Bonny Maynard, and her friends sometimes called her Bon Bon. She loved chocolate, and could Hoover up a one-pound box of See’s Candies in a couple of days.
I just know she would have loved Bon Bon Bon, the female-owned chocolate company that has opened a little shop in Ann Arbor.
As I wrote in this month’s Ann Arbor Observer, Bon Bon Bon got its start in Hamtramck, Mich., an enclave of Detroit. Founder Alexandra Clark used the settlement from injuries she suffered in a taxi cab accident to open a chocolate factory.
Her idea was to create small rectangular chocolates in imaginative flavors that could be packed in individual boxes. Her Bons, as she calls them, can be eaten in one big bite of flavor, although it’s probably wiser to nibble them in two bites.
I met Bon Bon Bon through Zingerman’s, when it created a bacon flavored Bon for Camp Bacon, Zingerman’s annual celebration of pork products.
Bon Bon Bon has teamed up regularly with Zingerman’s to produce chocolates based on Zingerman’s ingredients, like balsamic vinegar and an everything bagel variety, which had everything spice and cream cheese filling.
Regular offerings include Bumpy, an homage to a Detroit favorite, Sander’s chocolate and cream Bumpy Cake.
There’s also Swimming Turtle, a toasted pecan topped with sea salt and dropped into caramel; Coffee & Donuts, which has a donut flavored ganache, with espresso and dark chocolate; and Cake, which tastes like a vanilla birthday cake.
Bon Bon Bon will release its spring flavors on April 24. The collection typically sells out for Mother’s Day, and they told me they’ll be floral themed.
You can buy Bons by mail, as many as you like, although they’re slightly cheaper in its shops.
Along with Ann Arbor, it has a store in Midtown Detroit and also does pop ups. If you’re here, or visiting, you definitely want to look them up.
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Stay healthy, get the vaccine if you can, keep wearing a mask and see you next week.