Top Of The Table

Caroline Barden

Sept. 16, 2001

If you are looking for humor in this weeks column, you won’t find it. As a native New Yorker living just up the river from the tragedy at the twin towers, I am still numb. True restaurant person that I am, when that first plane hit, all I could think about were the people working that morning at Windows on the World.

At first I thought there were probably just a few chefs and cleaning people getting ready for the lunch shift. But the newspapers had stories about the big corporate breakfast for 500-600 people that had started at 8am. Local 100 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees union reported that 80 employees had showed up that day for work. Many of them were just called in for a one day job. Chefs, busboys, dishwashers, servers, even the world famous pastry chef Heather Ho were working that breakfast meeting. While my heart breaks for all the victims, I can’t help feeling such a kinship for our fellow restaurant workers. Now we know how firefighters feel around the country. It’s the same sort of feeling that started this web site in the first place.

Of the 80 restaurant workers scheduled for that morning, only 3 have been accounted for. The list of the lost includes many names that end in z, Chavez, Hernandez, Rodriguez. They came to our country to make things better for their families and got work at one of the most famous restaurants in the world. How proud their families must have been, and how happy we are to have such hard workers in our establishments. Anyone who has experienced their work ethic gets a little humbled in comparison to ours in the United States. They work quickly, quietly, getting their jobs done completely and thoroughly. American restaurants would be in bad shape without them

Arriving at work that morning, they must have felt on top of the world, literally. It was the most perfect morning, sunny, clear, the best time to go up to the top of the World Trade Center. Just last year, I had a drink at Windows on the World after going to a show, and the panoramic view took my breath away. On a clear day you can see for miles and miles, it was really quite incredible. As wonderful as the view was, the service there was not unique. Every restaurant in New York City employs wait staff that are aloof, arrogant, and even quite rude. Service can be efficient, but very seldom is it friendly. That is the norm in the Big Apple and it’s a little disconcerting to me, I have never been able to get used to it. For those of us who knock ourselves out being nice on the job, it seems strange that there is one city in the world that lets you be rude to your customers. I am only mentioning this because in light of the tragedy, my gut instinct says that things will change in the very near future.

When I think about Windows on the World, Kevin Zraly comes to mind. The wine steward of the famed restaurant lives in the Hudson Valley and filled his wine list with a lot of local offerings. He was one of my regular customers at Toscani’s, which was a four star restaurant in New Paltz, where he makes his home. Funny, down to earth, unpretentious, he taught me a lot about wine and even shared some of his prize bottles with us. He has videos out about wine that I encourage you to buy. He lost his entire wine school staff, secretaries and all, and is just devastated about the whole thing. His local office said he is not doing any media quotes. I don’t blame him.

The morning of the tragedy, I showed up for work as usual but didn’t feel like leaving the television. Our bartender brought a radio and we stood around it, listening to the unfolding events. Business was not booming as you might imagine. Finally two women came in for lunch, apologizing for dining out during this tragic time. My lone table featured a woman who had just given up her job at the World Trade Center three weeks before this incident. Her pastor and his wife had brought her out because of their concern for her. She drank heavily and took a lot of calls on her cell phone during lunch. Her staff was on the 90th floor, right where the plane hit. Friends and colleagues wiped out. Less than a month ago, she would have been with them. How do you possibly make sense of all this?

This is not my finest work here, and I’m not sure how to proceed with my consulting business. Is anyone going to care what kind of service they get in a restaurant? Is it going to seem so trivial or more profound? Are we a changed country, as experts say this attack brings an end to the ‘me’ generation. This self-involved nation that we have evolved into has been brought to its knees. For New York City restaurants, they liken this to the aftermath of the Gulf War. International Tourism came to a standstill and the Big Apple relies on its tourist trade. Local people are not going to pay inflated prices to go out to dinner, and who wants to deal with attitude anymore? I know I am asking more questions than giving answers, and the tragedy seems so profound to me since it hit so close to home. Those twin towers were a part of my growing up, one of the first places I visited whenever I went to the city. For awhile it was a man made marvel, now it just seems like a scene out of a movie. So my solution to these problems is to do what all the big burly firemen, police men and even what our president is doing right now.
Just keep on praying.

Are you a manager who is a little frustrated with your staff? Okay very frustrated! Why not try calling in a consultant? We are those quirky people who can focus on what needs fixing and then proceed to make you look really good to your boss. We have ways of helping your staff work better together so they make more money for themselves and for your establishment. They also tell us things they wouldn’t dare tell you! For a free consultation you can contact me at this web site, I would be happy to troubleshoot with you. Let’s all raise the standards in this industry together!

Caroline Barden Restaurant Consultant.