Krista Lepore: Behind the Scenes of Fine-Dining, Chefs, and Celebrity Encounters

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Ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes in a bustling fine-dining restaurant? Join us on Walk-In Talk Podcast as we bring you a fascinating conversation with Krista Lepore, a seasoned front-of-house professional from New York's elite dining scene. From the fiery interactions between chefs and servers to the critical importance of respect and communication, Krista shares her candid insights and personal stories that shine a light on the unique challenges and rewards of the restaurant world.

We'll tackle some hard-hitting issues, like the abusive behavior of certain high-profile chefs and the impact of social media on restaurant dynamics. Our discussion navigates the fine line between positive exposure and potential exploitation in the influencer age, while also emphasizing the necessity of maintaining authenticity. Learn how proactive behavior and exceptional service can turn a dining ex

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hello, food Fam.
This is the Walkie Talk podcastwhere you will find the perfect
blend of food fun and cookingknowledge.
I'm your host, carl Fiatini.
Welcome to the number one foodpodcast in the country.
We are recording on-site atIbis Images Studios, where food
photography comes alive and Iget to eat it.
First things first.
Last week on the show we hadPresident and Provost of Auguste

(00:30):
Scafier School of Culinary Chef, kirk Bachman.
What a great guy.
He's going to be back.
I enjoyed this episodepersonally and if you missed it
you should go back and take alisten.
All right, today we dive intothe tale of two cities.
Well, sort of.
We aren't referring to CharlesDickens' depiction of London or

(00:51):
Paris, but instead it's the backof the house versus the front
of the house within the confinesof a restaurant environment.
Our guest this week is KristaLepore.
She's worked front of house inNew York fine dining
establishments such as Avocheunder Chef Missy Robbins and
Chef Anita Lowe's AnissaMichelin chefs.

(01:13):
Both Krista also hosted atravel channel show called
American Roadhouse.
Stay tuned, krista is on deckChefs out there.
We've been using Metro Hotboxes, shelving and even their mobile
prep card around the studio andcouldn't be happier.
If you're planning onreorganizing your kitchen life,

(01:34):
be sure to contact our friendsat Metro, your partner in
organization and efficiency,alright Jefferson.
I know I know you've probablyfilleted a few servers in your
time.
Why do you chefs want to makeservers cry you bastards?

(01:55):
Why?
Why do you do it?
Stupidity, I think so.
I mean, I don't think it's, Ithink you guys are.
You give it a raw deal.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
No, I think that's a blanket statement.
I think there's a time and aplace.
And then we talked about itoffline.
I never want to make a servercry.
It's just when they lie to youand you have to call them out on
it, and then you just do stupidthings.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Wait, did you just say a blanket statement and then
throw out this whole when theylie to you bit?

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah, oh, come on man , when a server comes back and
says oh, this didn't go in, whatdo you mean?
It didn't go in, it's acomputer.
How did it not go in?

Speaker 2 (02:39):
What about when one of your line cooks read it wrong
?
How about that?
When one of your line cooksread it wrong, how about that?
I?

Speaker 1 (02:44):
eat that I'm the one that sits there and goes.
That's our fault.
If we overcook a steak, I goout to the table.
If the server does a mistake, Igo out to the table.
But I'm a different breed.
I came from the front of thehouse, I didn't come from the
back, so I have I'd rather go tothe front and find out what's
going on.

(03:04):
There's no wall.
There's never a wall in myrestaurant.
I never wanted it to be a wall.
So when you say the TL2 cities,that's most restaurants.
But there are chefs out therethat have a different mindset,
that realize the first person,the first impression of your
restaurant, and I saw our guestcoming on the show.
I saw one of the things thatshe was talking about the most

(03:25):
important person is the persongreeting your guests and they're
also the most important personas they guest leave.
And if they're not having thatbubbly personality, if they're
not, you know, engaging theguests, then you're missing out.
Because you know, just likewhen you have a plate hit the
table and I was watching BrianDuffy do this too and he's doing
like lamb wesson with Frenchfries and he called it out

(03:47):
what's the first thing you dowhen somebody has a sandwich at
the table, you could have anentree.
John could have something, Icould have something.
As soon as French fries hit thetable, everyone's going in.
Your French fries are doing thesame way, so the first
impression is your French fry.
The first impression of yourdoor is going to be that server.
So it all has to work together.
But the the statement of likewhy we make servers cry.

(04:08):
I don't want to like make ourserver cry.
They cry because of differentreasons.
There are chefs out there thatare a-holes, that do things that
that they get off on for kicks,poops and giggles.
Yeah, but that's not me.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
What people don't see right now is that I am staring
directly into Jefferson'seyeballs and I'm judging him.
I am with the wrath of All theservers that you know At the
time's periods when chefs usedto yell at you when you were a
server, yeah, but I wasdifferent too, though, because

(04:45):
here's the thing I and I wouldgo out and hang out with the,
with the, with the crew, fromthe back, always, so you know, I
mean I was like part of thecrew, even though I wasn't right
, and and the and the cats thatI've run into who were just
total, you know not nice peopleI would.
I would physically challengethem Like it, it.

(05:08):
You know, I grew up in adifferent, we grew up in a
different time.
Like it wasn't like it is today.
It was a little bit more wild,more wild West, you know sort of
a scenario, yeah, so I wasn'tgoing to be pushed like that.
I just I don't, I don't dig it,you know.
But then you know there wereother people, and you know

(05:28):
servers, you know even hosts,bus, like the rest of the people
where if you're not, if you'renot putting yourself in a
position where you can withstandwhat comes from the kitchen,
you're going to get swallowed.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Well, yeah, but I don't think we need to do that
anymore.
I mean, you look at, we talkedagain offline to certain chefs
that recently passed away andyou knew that made their mark.
And you look at James Kent, whojust passed away at 45 years
old of a heart attack.
What was he doing?
How was he working?
You know, I think the workethic that we have today is
different because of whathappened with the COVID and

(06:02):
coming out or realizing that wecan't treat people like dirt and
and this is one of the thingsthat I'm trying to change, or
we're trying to change themental health attitude and
finding the the work lifebalance.
We don't need to have peoplethat are going to be abusive,
whether it be sexual, verballyabusive it's that needs to stop.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
Oh, of course.
Well, I mean listen there.
I mean listen, there's levelsto this, right.
You know when I was coming upin the business and I don't know
how it is now with what I'mgoing to say but, like you know,
if you're at your POS, ifyou're ringing your orders in or
whatever, sure enoughsomebody's going to come up

(06:39):
behind you and give you a neckrub.
You know what I mean.
Like all that kind of stuff,not anymore, probably not, and
that's a neck rub.
You know what I mean.
Like all that kind of stuff,not anymore, probably not.
And that's ridiculous, man, Ithink the camaraderie of that,
that vibe, the way everybodykind of communicated, I like it
better how it was.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
Personally, Well, you do, because you weren't part of
the abuse right.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
No, Listen.
Well, you do, because youweren't part of the abuse, right
?
Well, no, listen.
Like I said, everybody who, ifyou're, if you're working with
people who are abusive, they'regoing to try to abuse If you let
them.
If you don't, then they won't.
I mean, that's how.
That's how I look at it, yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
And I know our guest is going to have something to
say to this.
But I know, like I mentionedsomething yesterday about
depression and something, andsomebody came back and said you
hit the nail on the head on thatand we have to do a better job
of like figuring things out andtalking.
This was a chef friend of mine,like our guest and myself and

(07:45):
you who talk about mental health, who put it out there about the
restaurant industry and howthis has to change, and people
are like, yeah, we're changing.
We're changing, yeah, buthere's the thing, we're not and
it's those people that are beingvocal who are changing it.
It's the other people that areallowing the abuse to continue
that aren't speaking up.
That has to be one voice at onetime to make this industry
change to be better, and that'swhere we need to go with this.

(08:07):
The abuse of making people cryyeah, back in the day it was, I
hated it.
You know I hated the abuse.
You know it's when I was aserver.
You know the first thing Iwould be is like, hey, I effed
up, Well, I need this now.
And the kitchen would be like,yeah, go eff yourself.
And he was like, hey, I effedup.
Well, I can, I need this now,and the kitchen would be like go
F yourself and you're likeyou're done.

(08:28):
There's nothing you can doexcept go to the table and be
just grovel, Because then thekitchen just was like they own
you and that's not conducivebecause it's the guest, that's
being.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
So when?
When they tell you that younever picked up a a souff
souffle and then winged it inthe back, no, no, no, because
again I worked in the industryfrom both sides of the ball.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
I know how it is to be, and I don't know which one's
.
The worst position in arestaurant I can guarantee you
is the dishwasher.
It's the most thankless job.
And if you're a chef and you'renot thanking your dishwasher,
then what the hell?

Speaker 2 (09:00):
are you doing Well and?

Speaker 1 (09:05):
what the hell are you doing?
Well, that's the truth.
Listen before we get too deepinto this.
What's on the menu today?
This one is.
I told you guys last night thisone is probably my best meal
I've made in a long long time.
This is a grouper.

Speaker 3 (09:16):
That was me.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
Sorry, I did a grouper, but I wanted to go back
to my Florida roots and wetalked about this last time.
I took plantains and groundthem up with some coconut um
Latin spices, hit that with thegrouper, seared that, had some
rice, and then I did a umlobster or Blanc with coconut
rum, reduce that down, and thenI had some peas and then some

(09:38):
spinach to add on some color,the crunch, the everything you
wanted, the umami, the flavorami, the flavor, the textures,
everything, even by itself.
When you tasted it by itself,it all jived together.
So good.
It just.
It's a very craveable meal.
I just can't wait me either.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
You know the only the only problem I I heard was that
description is, like you saidit too fast.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
We gotta slow it down .

Speaker 2 (10:01):
Slow it down, I know what are we talking about here?
All right, well, let's get intothe topic.
Let's get Chris on.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
She's probably like Joey she's chomping at the bit.
I know she is.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
All right, Krista.
Welcome to the show.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
Hi.
Yes, I am chomping at the bit.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
Did we get you primed ?
Are you ready?

Speaker 3 (10:23):
Ooh, lots of things to say.

Speaker 2 (10:28):
Well, before you do, before you jump in, take 30
seconds and just give anairplane view of who you are,
what you do.

Speaker 3 (10:38):
So I am.
My name is Krista Hi.
I'm a front of the house expert, specializes in service
etiquette and hospitality.
I started out back of the house, moved my way to front of the
house.
I've worked every singlesolitary front of the house
position there is all the way upthrough management.
I've opened severalhigh-profile restaurants here in
Manhattan primarily work inMichelin, star fine dining and

(11:01):
private members clubs star finedining and private members clubs
and I hosted a series for theTravel Channel called American
Roadhouse, where I traveled thecountry turning failing dive
bars into successful businesses.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
Who do you think you are?

Speaker 3 (11:16):
No, that's, that's that sounds awesome.
All right, I mean, it's just acouple of things.
It's a few things.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
It's a few things and you know, I love when people
have the perspective, uh, thedual perspective, of you know
how it works in the kitchen andthen how it works, you know, in
the dining room and you know thethe dance that happens.
Um, as we were kind of talkingabout in the opening monologue,
so uh, again back to theproverbial chomping at the bit.

(11:42):
What say you, what are yourthoughts on this?

Speaker 3 (11:47):
Where shall I start?
So first of all, I took notesduring that whole thing, the
whole making people cry thing.
So I think back in the day thatwas sort of the feel in
restaurants.
It doesn't happen for the mostpart anymore.

(12:09):
And, Chef, I know that youtalked about, you know,
post-COVID it is very differentand people realize that you
can't treat your staff poorly.
But I think it happened beforethen.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, the Me Too movement I definitely think
really helped that.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yes, that's where I think it started.
You know, there are still chefswho are actually known and
famous for being abusive.
David Chang is one of them, andI make no qualms about the fact
how I despise this personbecause of how abusive he is to
his staff.
And just if anybody is curious,I want to shout out a writer.
Her name is Hannah Selinger andshe wrote a James

(12:44):
Beard-nominated essay about hertime working for him, and so I
highly recommend everybody readthat so that chronicles sort of
what it used to be and actuallywhat it still is.
In very small places there aresome chefs I think Chef here was
correct where some actually doenjoy doing it, but I think that

(13:08):
for the most part it hassubsided.
Now.
Chef does bring up a very validpoint where is if the server,
the bartender, if the front ofthe house makes a mistake and
doesn't own up to it?
That just causes problems andtensions with back of the house,
and that shouldn't happen.
But I would argue thatsometimes not all the time,

(13:29):
sometimes that the reason thatthe front of the house feels
they have to lie is becausethey're trying to shield
themselves from the abuse thatwill come at them if they tell
the truth.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
That is so accurate.

Speaker 3 (13:41):
So it's not okay, because we have to remember and
I believe this to my core it'snot about me, it's not about
front of the house, it's notabout back of the house, it is
about the guest.
We are there for them and theirexperience.
But sometimes, because being inthe front of the house and

(14:02):
dealing with all of thosedifferent energies and
personalities and quirks and howpeople treat you, and it's all
en masse, right, it's all at thesame time, sometimes you just
need a mental break andsometimes you just you roll the
dice and think I'm just going tolie so I can save myself a tiny
bit of abuse here.
And it doesn't ever work outwell because, chef's right,

(14:26):
there's a POS.
Did you put the water in thecomputer?
Did you hit send?
Did you put a hold on it andnot release the hold?
I mean, you know that's humanerror, that's on us and so.
But I I think that sometimesthe lie is because we're
shielding.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
Well, that's a hundred percent.
You know it too.
Yeah, when it comes back in yeah, you figure it out, but again,
I think it's the way that at theend of the shift I think the
chef has to be the lighthousefor not only the back of the
house but also has to be thelighthouse in the front of the
house, especially during thestorm.
Um, I think you have to be.

(15:00):
Whoever the chef is has to bethat calm to go out to the table
One.
When the chef goes out to thetable, you know the poop has hit
the fan.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
You know they're there.
Go ahead and say we've got it.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
This is what we're going to do.
I think one of the experiencesthat we lost from COVID is the
experience of dining, but Ithink what we have also done is
that we forget that, withouthaving the ability for 30
seconds, not being greeted, youknow and I've worked for
corporate companies where youhave to talk for 30 seconds
because they want to make yourealize what 30 seconds is.

(15:34):
If you don't do a greet, that'sthat hampers the ability of the
, the guest overall experience.
Again, that's the firstimpression.
So I think, if, if you're, ifyou're think, if you know that
you've got that Friday night,you've got flat seated and you
just are.
Just the wheel is just going off.
The paper has to be refilledbecause it's going off so much.

(15:55):
The manager has to go to thetable and be proactive and say,
hey, the kitchen is this, it'sgoing to be an extra amount of
time.
You know, get a round of drinks.
If we're proactive, thereshould be no problem at the end
of the day when somethinghappens like that and you can
justify the means to the end forthe guests so they have a
better experience and that's allcommunication 100%.

Speaker 3 (16:18):
I was just going to say that it's all about
communication.
It is, you know, I have worked.
You know I was always labeledthe black sheep at certain
restaurants because whenever Iworked a shift, that's when the
health department decided tocome in for a surprise
inspection, and it neverhappened when I wasn't there.

Speaker 1 (16:36):
She is the black sheep because she caused you to
mess up twice.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
Nobody knows what you're talking about Nothing
happened.

Speaker 3 (16:42):
Why, what, how dare you, how dare you, how dare you
so?

Speaker 2 (16:48):
Wait, a second Wait, krista, krista, krista, krista,
hold on Audience.
Listen.
We do everything live on thisshow.
We're recording in real time.
It's not like a bunch of crazyediting and everything.
So when I read the openingmonologue, I'm reading it and
you know, sometimes you got todo it once or twice, right, and

(17:09):
that's what happened today.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
And I don't feel bad about it.
I don't feel bad, no, but shejinxed you.
She was the jinx.
That's all I'm saying.
All right?

Speaker 3 (17:15):
How dare you blame the woman?

Speaker 2 (17:18):
Thanks, lady, Thanks lady.
Typical front of the house.
It's always our fault.
Look it's happening now.
You fell right into it, it'shappening now.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
I know, oh, please, 20 years of this Come on.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
The difference here is we don't get to eat the steak
.
Wow.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
Thank you for bringing up that is one of my
biggest issues.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
What.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
The eating, the mistake.
You know how many times serverslike oh.
I'm hungry.
Bling, bling, bling.
Oh, that's a mistake.

Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, sure that never happens.
That has never happened, it isNever done that.

Speaker 3 (17:57):
A lot of restaurants I've worked in.
We've had a rule about that andI know when I managed I had a
rule about it because it's justnot sanitary.
Rule about that, and I knowwhen I managed I had a rule
about it because it's just notsanitary.
It's disgusting.
We call it garbage mouthing uhit's.
They touch the plate like theirgerms are like, especially now
post-covid um, and I'm here innew york city in new york city
where apparently there's like acovid spike again, like it is

(18:19):
just not sanitary, it's notworth it, it goes in the garbage
yeah, that's no.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
You gotta catch it before you do it.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
I'm not talking about the mistake hit the table.
I'm talking they ring it in andgo it was a mistake, so they
could eat it.
No, I'm not talking.
I'm one of those that if it hitthe table it goes in the
garbage.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, of course.
No, we're talking about youring it and then they make it
and you're observing the makingof it and then you're like oh
Wait, there's nobody at table 86.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
Why is there food for table 86?

Speaker 2 (18:51):
Oh, that's a mistake Sorry.

Speaker 3 (18:55):
Yeah, see, yeah, no, not good.
How do we fix all this?

Speaker 2 (19:02):
How do we fix it?

Speaker 3 (19:08):
Well, it's going back to uh.
Before you blame me for youropening mistakes, we were
talking about communication,gentlemen.
Uh, and I was talking aboutwhen the health department comes
in for surprise inspections.
As you all know, kitchens cometo a halt.
They come to a complete halt.
Nothing is coming out of thatkitchen.
And what I learned is that andthis is what I used to do I

(19:30):
would go up to all of the tablesand be like hey, just want to
let you know, health departmentjust came in for a surprise
inspection.
The kitchen's on a halt.
It's going to be a while foryour food to come out here.
Let me top off your wine here,let me bring you another,
whatever I can bring you.
And then, as soon as thathappened, everybody's shoulders
just relaxed.
They're like yeah, okay,whatever, because we

(19:51):
communicated with them.
We did not wait until theystarted looking around the
restaurant like where's my food?
At that point you're past thepoint of no return.
You never want a guest to getto the point where they're
starting to look around.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
Well, you had me at top off the drink.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (20:08):
Like that works for me.
Listen, I always walk over tothe table with a bottle of wine.
I'm like, let me just top thisoff.

Speaker 2 (20:12):
So here's what happened to me the other day,
you know.
So, jeff, veronica and I wereout cold calling.
You know, we were working Right, and I'm not going to say the
name of the place.
We stopped in for a bite andit's a.

(20:33):
It's a big brand name, but it'snot ultra corporate, but it's a
, but it's a big name.
And, uh, we're sitting on thepatio, which is inside, but it's
not in the main dining room,and the everything's great
server is great, food's great,everything's really super.
And then I'm sitting there andI'm looking and and sure enough
we're in florida, right, andsure enough there's a little, uh
, little critter, you know, youknow, scurrying across the floor

(20:53):
.
You're in the patio, yeah, butit was still covered inside.
It's not outside patio, it'sinside patio.
And I'm like, oh man, dang it.
You know it's a killer and andit's busy, it's full, but nobody
sees it.
Because I'm looking around, I'mtrying to, I observe these
things, right, and sure enough,this little stinker, he scurries
away and he's by me.
So I just drop a napkin on thefloor and I get him, and then I

(21:17):
left the napkin there.
But now I feel like a slobright and like people think I'm
a pig and I'm not right, very so, anyway, we pay, we leave.
I see the server and I was like,hey, listen, by the way, on the
floor, you see that I'm not agross person under it is this
thing and and the server was socool, just, you know it's like
oh, my God, thank you very much.

(21:37):
I appreciate that.
Thanks for telling me.
I didn't want her to pick it upand there'd be, you know,
remnants.
Yeah, so, but but you know,these are the things that happen
in the business and you got tofigure out your ways around it.
You know, even like being fromit, and then we still go out and
eat.
We have to help, like you can'tjust be go in, see something

(22:00):
like that and then just leave it.
Or if there's something, ifthere's a mess in the in, see
something like that and thenjust leave it.
Or if there's something, ifthere's a mess in the, in the
bathroom, we're, we're, we'refrom the industry.
We should be making sure thatif we see something, we got to
say something help them, helpthese people.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
Well, not only that, I think and Crystal will be
agree with me too is how manytimes when you have a bad meal
you say something, but how manytimes when it's a good meal you
say something when it's a goodmeal you say something we have
to be balanced in both, because,if you've got to call out Prime
example, I was at Outback andTodd who went and did a review.
When he listened to it, I metJeff.

Speaker 2 (22:32):
Oh yeah, I saw that so.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
Todd was my server.
They were busy.
They got flat set.
We sat down, he came over, herocked it and I was like, hey,
where's your MOD?
And and I was like hey where'syour MOD and, by the way, that's
manager on duty for everyone.
And he goes is there a problem?
I'm like I just want to letthem know how great of a server
you are.
He's like oh my God, can you dothis?
And it was like a review, andthey get something like that

(22:53):
from the corporate, which I did.
But that's the thing.
Like we're society so hell-benton the negative side of things,
oh that this, that.
Well, then, point out somethingthat was great, because the
restaurant can't be all bad.

Speaker 2 (23:09):
No, and the reality.
And, by the way, what so?
Todd Right the server, rightFrom which location, the one off
of 60.

Speaker 1 (23:19):
Was that Plant City?
No, no, no, brandon Brandon,yeah, right by the mall.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
Brandon, florida.
Okay, awesome, good job, todd.
So you know, when it comes downto, what makes somebody, a
guest, come back to therestaurant.
Obviously, if the food's great,hey, they're going to come back
, but if your service isn't,they're not.
I don't care how good your foodis Like, it's not worth the
aggravation.
Chris, am I wrong?

Speaker 3 (23:44):
No, you're correct, and actually I think I said this
to you when we first met.
For me, fabulous service willalways save a bad meal, but a
fabulous meal will be ruined bybad service 100% Every time.

Speaker 1 (23:57):
Yep 100% agree with that.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah, I'm not sure.
I'm not sure, I'm not suretoday.
You know what I mean.
Maybe I should go and do a, uh,a server stage somewhere.
You know what I mean.
Like just go in and like youknow, you hate people.
I do, I hate people.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
That would not work.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
You should not do a server stage.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
You're like Statford or Walder from the Muppets, the
old guys in the balcony.

Speaker 3 (24:24):
Don't say that.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
You and I are both.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
We criticize, we sit here and criticize people, I
know, but I'm out of touch withthis and I don't feel like.

Speaker 1 (24:32):
I should be, no, but you're really not, because if
you're someone who goes out toeat, then you're involved in it.
Everything in the industry iscommunity-based At the end of
the day, and everyone's going toshake their head.
We're not doing brain surgery.
No one's dying, hopefully.
At the end of the meal we'reserving food for crying out loud
, so why do we put so muchpressure on things?

(24:53):
Wait a minute though.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
No, man, I disagree a little bit.
Listen, hold on.

Speaker 3 (24:58):
You have to put pressure.
The pressure is there becauseyou how many restaurants are
there?

Speaker 1 (25:02):
Oh yeah, and how many of them fail.

Speaker 3 (25:04):
Right, so let's assume, all things being equal,
everyone's food is fabulous, sowhat's gonna make you come back
to my restaurant over yourrestaurant?
It's got to be service andexperience, feel yeah, it's how
you feel yeah it's everything

Speaker 1 (25:21):
it's it's, it's the service, is the atmosphere, it's
the experience in its whole.
Like you can name like, yeah,uh, fernan is brie, uh, albert,
uh fernan, uh adrian albert'sbrother or fernan's brother
adrian, who the experience inits whole.
You can name Fernand Adrian,albert's brother or Fernand's
brother Adrian who has ticketsin a whole bunch of different
restaurants in Spain.
It's the experience that you'regoing to the Michelin star
restaurants here in Tampa thatjust got, or Colantus'

(25:43):
restaurant.
You're going there and you havean experience.
You have also an expectation.
When you walk into those.
It's the ones that you go to,that you have no expectations
that blow you away.

Speaker 3 (25:55):
Right.

Speaker 1 (25:56):
And that's what we should be shouting about.

Speaker 3 (25:58):
Right.
Exactly that's when, like Carlsaid, you should be.
You know Yelp has done, I think, the industry a great
disservice and I think now allof these alleged influencers on
social media have done the samething.
Like on my tiktok and instagramfeed, I'm constantly seeing,
like fashion influencers, makeupinfluencers that are doing

(26:21):
restaurant reviews because theyhave millions of followers and
the restaurants are bringingthem in and they I was like
you've got to be kidding me.
First of all, I don't wantadvice from a fashion influencer
about food and service.
I don't.
If I want to really know howfood and service is, I want

(26:42):
somebody who's in the industrythat can pinpoint.
This is why this is great, thisis why it's not so great and
this is where they can improve.
I'm not going there just toblow hundreds and hundreds of
dollars just because aninfluencer told me to, but
that's sort of, I think, wherethe restaurant industry is sort
of going right now, which is alittle disheartening, um, but I
think it is really important topoint out the positive, because

(27:05):
a lot of people don't do that.
Back to what you were justsaying Todd Todd deserves all
the shout outs because that'sfabulous that he was just
slammed and yet your experiencewas still amazing and he was
able to do that for you.
He deserves all the accolades,and there should be more of that
well, and that's the thing likewhen we have an issue.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
you know, I, when I do have an issue with whether it
be customer service, without it, without being in the industry
or within the industry, youpoint out the facts of hey, this
is what was going good and thiswas what I need to be corrected
.
I think we have to balance itout because too many times in
this industry that we only focuson the negative and that's
because they're trying to getand I'm not saying this for

(27:44):
everyone.
Well, not only likes and views,but they're also trying to get
their free meal Right.
Yes, there was one major playerin the world that changed the
course of everything.
It was the grovel effect of themanager kneels down to get low
and then talks to you about itand then comps your meal and
they're like, oh, I can getcomped here.
Well then, I'm going to trythat over there and that's what

(28:06):
needs to.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
Well, I'll try that over there and that's what needs
to.
Well, I'll tell you what.
When we first started doingthis you know, food media thing,
and uh, this is like in the.
In the very beginning it waslike a, I think, had a gopro
with a um with a, with one witha road um mic attached to it,
right, and it had the the deadcat on it, right.
That's the, the fluff that justmakes the.
You don't get the wind break.

Speaker 3 (28:30):
Oh, okay, we call it a dead cat.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
So you know I'm looking by the way, I'm just
looking at John.
John shaking his head.
Yes, that's correct, he's thephotographer.
Yeah, he's giving credit.

Speaker 2 (28:41):
Right.
So I had a look.
There was a little, a littleyou know, camera, stand,
whatever.
Walk into a restaurant and uh,it was like three of us, we sit
down and all we were going to dois have the, have the camera on
the table and we were going totalk about the food.
This is in the very beginningsof of this.
We're just experimenting andtrying to find a path right.

(29:04):
And, uh, I see the gm walking by, who I thought was the gm
anyway, and he turned out to be,and he was kind of side-eyeing
me.
And then I see him like behindthe wall with his hat and he was
like he's trying to figure outwho we are and what the hell
we're doing, right.
So he comes over and he saysand he came down, kneeled down.
He says, what are you guysdoing?
And I said, well, we're goingto do some video here and talk

(29:28):
about the talk about theexperience.
Oh, oh, oh.
And he got excited, his eyes litup.
He goes oh, wait here, waithere, I want you to try some
stuff.
And he brought out a bunch.
We didn't ask for it and Iwasn't expecting it, but he
brought out a whole table fullof food and we did this whole
giant review on it was reallycool, but it wasn't expected,

(29:48):
you know, and I don't expectthat anywhere that we go, that
they, that they treat us thatway.
You know, unless it's, unlessit's part of an arrangement,
that we're doing some sort of ayou know, long-term sort of a
deal or whatever, that'sdifferent.
But to just walk in and do areview, man, I don't want
nothing free, I want to, I wantto, I want it on my own accord,
right.

Speaker 3 (30:08):
Yeah, I've waited on a few influencers at various
restaurants.
The restaurant was rolling outa new dish and they wanted to
get some views on it, and it'snever a good experience.
It just is not, because youknow, everything that they're
doing is comped and I'm notgoing to say this for all

(30:29):
influencers, the ones that Ihave had personal experience
with.
They take advantage of thatbecause they're there for a
specific dish to try it,photograph that, talk about that
.
But the next thing you know,the bar bill is like you know,
there are five cocktails in eachand they're this and they're
not.
It's like okay, guys, so it'sjust uh, it has never sat well

(30:52):
with me because it just feelslike being taken advantage of.
So I, because we still have todo this service soup to nuts,
Like we do with everybody else.
They deserve the sameexperience, but it, it, it, uh
colors the experience as anemployee, as a server.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
So I agree with that and and in the end, I'm hoping
that these people you know,leave adequate gratuity, but
here's, here's the scenario.
Sometimes, sometimes probablynot, probably not yeah.
Uh, here's, here's the thingthough, in today's world food
world.
Here's the thing, though Intoday's world food world, we

(31:42):
need the camera, we need thepicture, we need to post and
publish the stuff that we eat.
It's just like the new thing,it's the dance, and I'm not just
going to say restaurants, butfood businesses, whether it's a
distributor or this or whatever,the ones that are not out there
on social media.
They're missing out, you'remissing.
You're just missing out becauseeverybody else is out there,

(32:04):
and you're going to be the one.
What?
Under a rock, just hiddensomewhere, a hobbit?
What is that?
I don't know.
We've already talked about itwith marketing.
You're going to be the one.
What?
Under a rock, uh, you know,just hidden somewhere, a hobbit
like.

Speaker 1 (32:09):
What is that?
I don't know.
We've already talked about itwith marketing.
What's the first thing to gowith marketing when a restaurant
industry, when a restaurant,loses sales?

Speaker 2 (32:16):
right, so it's.
I'm saying this this, this is a, this is a a tight rope walk
because, while I agree that youknow a lot of we know a lot of
influencers here in our area,right, and I I think the people
that we know a lot ofinfluencers here in our area and
I think the people that we knoware pretty legit, yeah, with
that said, there are fraudseverywhere and everywhere,

(32:38):
everywhere especially in NewYork especially in Florida too.

Speaker 3 (32:42):
Sorry, but listen, I love my town but like it's.
It's like I said, theinfluencers that you're seeing
now with certain restaurants.
They have nothing to do withthe food industry.
They have no experience in thefood industry, and it's not that
you have to be immersed in thefood industry to know what good
food is.
But if I want fashion advice,I'm going to go to somebody who

(33:07):
works in the fashion industry,if I you know.
Because what's happening for meright now?
I'm like on my socials peopleslide in my DMs all the time not
asking for dates, by the waythey slide in my DMs asking me
restaurant advice.
They're like hey, my husbandand I went out to dinner the
other night and this is whathappened.
What do you think should havehappened or what should we have
done?
Like daily, this happens, andso there is a thirst out there

(33:35):
for people wanting to haveknowledge from people who are
actually in the industry.

Speaker 1 (33:37):
Well, we talk differently, right?
I mean you, you have been, youhave the etiquette of having the
ability to speak chef toanother chef, where most people
don't.
You went from the back of thehouse to the front of the house,
so you know how to communicate.
You don't go up there and youdon't approach.
Hey, I need this right now.
It's like chef, may I call, andthen you have that conversation

(33:58):
, because that's respect A lotof people and that's the problem
A lot of people don't realizein the restaurant industry in
itself we do things differently,we act differently.
We have different means ofcommunicating and forms of
communicating.
One is the plate obviously butit's a different language a
hundred percent and a lot ofpeople don't realize that.
How do you feel about like?

(34:20):
For my thing is when I've beenin the industry for 40 years.
Most chefs are introverts.
How do you get through tosomebody who sees the wall as
their protective barrier so theydon't talk to people?
How do you get them to come outof their shell to then explain
dishes to the staff?

(34:40):
That's something that's sodifficult to achieve.
What could you give advice tosomebody about?

Speaker 3 (34:49):
achieve?
What could you give advice tosomebody about?
So I've worked with a couple ofchefs like that and what
happens is, as with anyrelationship in life, you have
to build trust, and especiallywith chef-driven restaurants,
what they're creating is art.
It really is.

(35:12):
I remember working for we talkedabout this a little bit offline
a chef in Mutalo.
She would test us a writtentest quarterly and those tests
were harder than any test I hadin college and they would take a
minimum minimum of one hour andif we didn't pass, we weren't

(35:33):
allowed to work there until wepassed.
Wow, and these tests were.
You had to know what was theinspiration for this dish, where
it was sourced, what farm, themicro greens, I mean everything
we had to know.
And that is oddly how you buildtrust with these chef-driven

(35:59):
restaurants, with these chefswho are creating things, If you
know their artwork, what theircreation is inside and out, if
you walk into that kitchen andyou treat everyone, especially
the dishwasher, you treateveryone with respect,
eventually you build that trust.
And so then it would get to apoint.
There was one chef I worked with, chef Morimoto.

(36:21):
Actually, his stuff wasabsolute artwork.
It was some of the mostextraordinary plating I have
ever seen.
But it would get to a point.
Once he trusted me when we hadcelebrity clientele there, he
would come out with the plateand he would put it down and
then he would look at me and hewould tap me on my wrist very
gently and that meant for me todo the talk and he would allow

(36:43):
me, while he stood there, to gothrough his entire dish and what
it was about and how he meantfor the guests to enjoy it.
That's all trust building andso that's how you do it and it's
by respect.
You have to respect the kitchen, you have to respect everyone
in the kitchen.
I would go into work on a lotof days and I would go, I would

(37:04):
say hello to everyone back ofthe house and be like hey, do
you guys want water?
I would go get quart containersfilled up with ice water,
coffee, whatever.
Bring it back to everybody.

Speaker 1 (37:12):
That's the deli containers, by the way.

Speaker 3 (37:14):
Showing them respect.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
That's the kitchen cup.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
Oh yeah sure, that's the.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
Chinese quart container with the hole that
popped into it.
Yeah, cambro came out with italready done, by the way Did
they.
My buddy Andrew up in NewHampshire had one and it showed
the lines.
It was funny, like chef sayingson it.
It was great.

Speaker 3 (37:33):
That's hilarious.
Have you ever watched the Bear?
Yeah, in the Bear they'redrinking coffee out of quart
containers.
That is the norm.
So you have to build trust, andso it was the same with Chef
Anita Lowe.
Chef is very shy, chef Anita,but people would travel from all
over the world to come and eatat her restaurant and the first

(37:56):
thing they would say to me whenI approached the table would be
like oh my God, is Chef Anitahere?
Can we meet her?
Can we meet her?
And she's very shy.
But because she trusted us, webuilt that trust and respect
with her.
But because she also, by theway, is the chef and the leader,
she created an environment anda culture where we were not
divided between front of thehouse and back of the house.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
We were one.
And I think that's veryimportant and that's what's
important.
You see, the problem is,somehow or another, servers over
the years just like salespeople, jeff, you know, and it's, the
similarities are there.
If you're, if you get branded aslacker, then then that just
carries with you, right, and?

(38:40):
But it's not just individually,it's it's like a group
consensus.
So back of the house, peoplelook at servers, front of the
house folks as slackers, youknow, and it's, and it there's a
I think there's a disconnect onhow difficult it is to deal
with with guests, because thereality is hungry people are

(39:06):
hard to deal with.
People who are hungry, hangry,hangry are hard to deal with and
you know it's one thing to have, you know, 30 tickets on the
wheel and you know, expose amess and you know you've got
that whole orchestra back therehappening.
It's one thing, because it'slabor, it's sweat, it's sweat,

(39:27):
it's pointy stuff.
Pointy, you know not, it's noteasy, but you know what.
You know what isn't easy havingto explain why it's taking x
amount of time, long, orwhatever.
Having to explain to somebodywho's expecting something and
they're hungry about it, that'sdifficult.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
That's why there should be a federal law that
everyone should have to work ina restaurant business for at
least a year.
100% I agree with that Becausethey would figure out what it's
like to work in that.
It's one of those kiss of deathwhen you have and I did when I
was a server at one time oh, I'ma lawyer and I put myself
through law school being aserver I was like I'm not
getting tipped.
I got the verbal compliment,not the monetary compliment,

(40:11):
right, and it's one of thosethings that you know.
Being in the industry so long,you've seen so many different
things.
Here's the.
Here's the justification forthat hangry comment.
You meant I can go home andcook.
Right, I can cook pretty muchanything.
Right, I'm different becauseI'm a chef.
I've been doing it for 40 years.
When I go out, I'm going outfor the experience.
That's why I don't go out to aplace where I'm going to have to
cook my own damn food, like themelting pot or like these hot

(40:36):
pots.

Speaker 3 (40:36):
Korean barbecue no.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
It's a fond don't.

Speaker 1 (40:41):
Okay, exactly, for me it's a no, because.

Speaker 3 (40:44):
I want to have tables Right.
I feel like I'm at work.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Right, I don't.
I want to be when I'm going out.
I'm going out because I'm beingweighted on.
I'm going in for the experience.
I'm going in for flavorprofiles I have never
experienced before and that'swhat I'm going for.
I'm going for dining and I alsohave expectations that are like
attached, because a lot ofpeople are like oh, you're just
too bougie, you don't want to gothere.
No, I go in with expectations.

(41:09):
Right, if I look at the menuand I don't know the menu, I
don't know the chef or whatever,but I see it's like $50 for a
plate.
Well, my expectations just wentup to a $50 plate.
But if I'm blown, away by thatplate.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
You're just looking for kimchi on the menu, just
looking for kimchi on the menu.
That's all you're looking for.

Speaker 1 (41:26):
Well, besides other things, yes, but it's about
flavor, it's about experiences,about it's about the camaraderie
of building that memory by theway, speaking of kimchi, I had a
uh it was a.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
It was a.
It was a cheese steak ribeyecheese steak with uh it was
kimchi.

Speaker 1 (41:47):
What's it called?
Which one Gochujang, gochujangis the paste and then gogurang
is the actual powder Paste, okay, gochujang.
Yeah, it was this whole mygoodness.

Speaker 2 (41:56):
Was it delicious.
I thought of you man.
I almost called you.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
I almost called you.
Where were you?
Why don't we go there after theshow it?

Speaker 2 (42:04):
was Yardhouse.

Speaker 1 (42:05):
Oh, that's not fair I was going to say let's go to
New York.
Are you going to go to FancyFood?
By the way, Are you going overto Fancy Food, the show?

Speaker 3 (42:15):
Can I say that one more time?
Are you going over to the?

Speaker 1 (42:16):
Fancy Food show.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
I don't know, oh, perhaps, Because it's in New
York.
I just don't know what part Iknow I talked to pooch this
morning and, uh, he's gonna bethere, yeah yeah, yeah, pooch,
pooch is gonna be there.

Speaker 2 (42:30):
Yes, pooch is everywhere because he needs.
He needs somebody to hold thecamera or somebody I don't have
a steady hand.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
Yeah, yeah, yeah no, no, servers don't have steady
hands.
Um, yeah, that's not true,right, they have probably
carrying a martini.

Speaker 3 (42:48):
Yeah, yeah especially topped off martini you know, oh
my god, the worst just justjust for giggles, the worst I
don't want to drink anythingwhere I have to be careful, like
touching, just looking at theglass like I don't want to want
it.

Speaker 1 (43:05):
Well, no, she just said.
I love what she just said.
I don't know if you heard that.
Yes, yeah, yeah, ptsd, yeah,that is like trying to carry
that to the table with that.

Speaker 3 (43:13):
No thank you, it's terrible it's all those things
that people don't think of, thatuh, you know you're talking
about mental health earlier.
It's, it's not just the guestand it's not just the
relationship with the back ofthe house, and it's not, it's,
it is everything.
And when you are in the weedsand you've just been like
quadruple sat and you go to thebar and you have everybody's

(43:36):
once, like 20 espresso martinisnow.
So you have to go and make theespresso and then run it to the
bar and then they have to makethe martinis, carrying those on
a tray, and then it's just asI'm talking to you about this,
the anxiety is rising in my body.
It is, it's stressful becauseto this day, spilling everywhere

(43:56):
to this day, I won't go.

Speaker 2 (43:57):
I don't like to eat at places that have sizzling
fajitas.
You know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (44:03):
like it just is that from your days at bennegan's?
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (44:07):
I hate it.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
I hate it like poison or is that from cal where's it
was?
California cafe.
What was that cafe?

Speaker 2 (44:12):
beverly hills had them too everybody had those
stupid things back then.
Yeah, I hate that.
I don't ever want to like.
I smell them like once in awhile you go somewhere and and
somebody will come up with likea you know it'll be a freaking
fajita.
It's like wow, are they stillmaking?

Speaker 3 (44:25):
it.
Get out of here with it.
You know what's worse than that?
It's all the table side stuffyeah, that too, let me flambe
this table side, let me, um, letme.
Uh, you know, do your doversoul table side, let me.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
Oh, but if that's all you're doing, because usually
now they have like somebodyspecific doing like table side
guac or something like that,like it's one person that goes
around the restaurant doing it.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
That's's not bad, yeah, but you're talking about
having the Rondo right, the cart, the French cart?
Yeah, that's where it comesfrom.
Yeah, crepe Suzette.
So you were talking back in theday.
I don't think we need to goback to that.
I think the experience has tobe justified, like, if right,

(45:09):
they do their table side, it's,it's awesome, I love it.
I love it.
You look at tavern europa backin hollywood, right off of
hollywood boulevard.
Back in the day, when you gotdone with shenanigans or
whatever, you went over there.
Yeah, they're dancing on thetable throwing plates.
Used to be that way and thenthe plates got too expensive so
they changed, right?

Speaker 3 (45:20):
but it was.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
It was all about the experience and you do here's
restaurants you can name.
I can name a couple differentrestaurants.
You went there because of theexperience, not because of the
food with that, but that'sdifferent right, that's for
locals, you know.

Speaker 2 (45:32):
I mean like that's your dive, local water, we're
still talking about the industryas a whole.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
I mean, the industry as a whole needs to change its
whole manifestation of this iswhat this is about.
About, you know?

Speaker 2 (45:43):
oh, you only work 12 hours yeah, but when you know,
when you know that like well,for front of the house, like if
you're the place, that goesfront of the house.

Speaker 1 (45:52):
He has to.
It's really gonna build thewall right now.
There's a wall, there's a wall,okay, all right, let's go.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
No, when, no, no, it's not even a bad thing.
So when, when you're front ofthe house and you're the spot
that other people from thebusiness end up, you know, know
you're going to make money andyou know, and even, and even,
though the expectation forservices it's actually lower,
like you, you, you go, causeyou're like, ah man, I'm going
to give these people a break.
You know, like, as the guest,like if I I'm from the business,

(46:20):
right, I go to a place and it'sa place that everybody goes to
from the business I'm not, I'mnot going to be so hard on these
people and they're going to geta fat tip.
Like, it's just the way itworks, that's how it always was.

Speaker 3 (46:30):
Yeah, but there's a flip side to that.
The flip side to that is, yes,they're going to be more
generous, not just with theirwallet, but also they realize
how busy you are.
They can look around.
The flip side is they're alsogoing to be the last table in
the house.

Speaker 1 (46:45):
A hundred percent the flip side is they're also going
to be the last table in thehouse.
100%, yeah, 100%.

Speaker 3 (46:49):
And you know, eventually we all like to go
home to our lives.

Speaker 2 (46:53):
At 5 o'clock in the morning.
Yes, exactly.

Speaker 3 (46:56):
And that's the problem with that scenario,
right.

Speaker 2 (46:59):
Well, so family members of people who work in
the business have to know thatthey're going to get the worst
service than anybody in thatrestaurant, like if you, when
you have family or friends thatcome to the restaurant and
they're in your station, theyyou get, they're there and all
of a sudden you just get triplesat.

(47:20):
Your friends guess what.

Speaker 1 (47:22):
They're the last ones to get served, unless your
mother, unless your grandmothersnaps her fingers, I'm going to
push back on that, not yourgrandmother, no that doesn't
count, grandmas don't count.
Yeah, when grandma snaps herfingers, then I go off.

Speaker 3 (47:34):
I'm pushing back on that.
That's a no, at least in myexperience.
I worked for Stephen Starr andwe opened one of his restaurants
and I had his family there, hiskids, his ex-wife is you know.
I'm talking about the samething.

Speaker 2 (47:51):
I'm talking about your.
I'm talking about you.
I'm talking about like.

Speaker 3 (47:54):
Oh, my family Like yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
If, if, if, Carl, if like, so, if and again.
This is a million years ago.
But if, if I'm, if I'm serving,and John comes in and he sits
down on my section but hedoesn't talk, it doesn't matter,
john's getting the worstservice in the house, it just is
what it is he does now.
Yeah, I mean, that's justterrible.
Oh my God, oh God, wow, loveyou.

(48:18):
Dude Talk about walls, man Talkabout walls.
Yeah, let's build those walls,carl, because hold, let's build
those walls, carl, because Ihold on a second.
I want to just be really clearabout this.
If the owner or the chef orsomebody's like family, yeah no,
they get treated like royaltyI'm talking about?

Speaker 3 (48:33):
oh no, I'm talking about your friends, your family,
your friends would come in atthe end of the night and sit at
the bar.

Speaker 1 (48:39):
They wouldn't even come to a table my friends
walked in the door and we wereif we were going to close in a
half an hour.
They left, they were told toleave yeah right, yeah straight
up.
You did not come into myrestaurant.
Nope, why are you here?
Yeah, we, we close at 10.
It's 9 45, you're not gettingfood, bro.
Yeah so we're already breakingdown yeah, there was pre-close

(49:02):
started happening at nineo'clock absolutely every night.
Yeah, true story, we do too.

Speaker 3 (49:05):
Yeah, all right, uh, krista, um any other walls you?
It started happening at nineo'clock Absolutely Every night.
Yeah, true story.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
We do too.
Yeah, all right, krista.

Speaker 3 (49:11):
Any other walls you want to build today, Cole?

Speaker 2 (49:15):
I'm building them, breaking them down.
I like her, I told you I toldyou All right, so let's start
ending on.
Have you ever weighed on anycelebrities you take?

Speaker 3 (49:33):
care of celebrities.
Oh God, a ton.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
A ton.
Why don't you pick a story?

Speaker 3 (49:37):
Welcome to New York City, yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
New York City.
Why don't you?
Do you have any dish you cangive us Like what's up?

Speaker 3 (49:46):
I'm pretty sure she can.
I have a lot.
Oh, yeah, I have a lot, butlet's, since you know I'm going
to do a positive one as to notwell, you know, all this wall
building, let's do a positiveone.
If I come back, there's plentyto go around trust.
Okay, if I come back, there'splenty to go around trust.

(50:08):
But this one is importantbecause this speaks to sort of a
front of the house mentality.
It also speaks to our culturein regards to media.
So I think it's important totalk about, and so this has to
do with preconceived notions.
I waited on Anne Hathaway andher husband Adam.
They were coming for a moviepremiere and I was not really a

(50:31):
fan of never no, I've never mether prior to this, wasn't really
a fan in interviews and the waythe media sort of portrays her
and you know she comes across asvery precious and that's just
not my thing.
And so when I was walkingtowards my section, I saw she
was seated there.
In my head I'm like, oh great,I gotta deal with this one.

(50:53):
And so I walk over to the table.
You know, I did my normal.
Hey, welcome.
You know, blah, blah, blah.
They are two of the nicesthuman beings I have ever met,
and her husband is a doll.
I mean truly.
They were so sweet, uh, andgenuinely sweet, not that fake
hollywood bs.

(51:13):
Um, annie is into sort ofastrology.
She heard me talking to thetable next to them, that guest.
Their birthday is in october.
My birthday is also in october,so we're both libras.
We were talking about that.
Annie overheard theconversation.
She's like wait a minute,you're Libras, I'm Scorpio, I'm
November 12th and blah, blah,blah, and so we just started
talking about this whole thing.

(51:34):
So, anyway, it was a great night.
They were beyond lovely.
They tipped very generously asthey were leaving.
They were saying goodbye to meand they were saying goodbye to
me and they were talking to themaitre d' and I said listen, we
want to do.
They wanted to rent out the PDRfor Annie's birthday to do a
birthday party.
They're like we really wantKristen to take care of us, and

(51:55):
so they requested me to takecare of them, which I thought
was lovely.
And then Annie came up to meand she's like I'm not going to
see you for your birthday, happybirthday.
And she gave me a big hug.
Really lovely interaction I hadwith them and it was a really
big lesson to learn, because Ihad already decided in my head I
was going to dislike her and soI was very happy to be proven

(52:18):
wrong.
And I think that happens a lotwith us in front of the house.
In general, celebrity orcivilian doesn't matter it.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
It's true though, yeah, but that you well the re.
The reason why you, you know,judge, is because you've kind of
yeah, if you've been in it longenough, you can kind of pick
them.

Speaker 1 (52:35):
You know what I mean.
You've been long enough.
But you should also realizethat you don't judge, because
something can happen where youget turned around like that.

Speaker 2 (52:42):
Listen, I disagree with that wholeheartedly, but I
am always pleased when I'mproven wrong.
Oh, 100, yeah, yeah, yeah, butyou still I mean, how many times
have you huddled?
You know, you're like, oh man,look at this.
Oh man, I'm not kidding, thisis gonna be terrible.
Have a great experience, uh,nice gratuity.
And then you go back to your uh, you know compadre in the back

(53:04):
and you're like you know whatI'm wrong.
Wow, that was awesome, you know.

Speaker 3 (53:07):
I mean, yeah, I was totally back and you're like you
know what I'm wrong.
Wow, that was awesome, you know.
I mean, yeah, I was totallywrong about her and and it was a
great, it was a.
It was a good reminder for meto just take every human being
at you know face value, who theyare, and give everybody an
equal shot.
Um, so it was.
It was a very valuable lessonto learn and and you know, I

(53:29):
enjoyed it actually also and Ithink this is what some people
again doesn't matter celebritycivilian.
I think people forget thatyou're you as the guest.
You can actually make our frontof the house, our shift at work
, easier.
You can make our job a moreenjoyable place to work just by

(53:51):
how you treat us 100%.
And I think sometimes peopleforget that, because I think
sometimes they think servers areservants and those are two very
different things.

Speaker 2 (54:01):
I was just going to say who wants to make your shift
better?
Nobody, nobody does.
You know, anne H, your shiftbetter?
Nobody, Nobody does.
Maybe Anne Hathaway.
Anne Hathaway does, and youknow what.

Speaker 3 (54:12):
No, Anne and Adam, Anne and her husband Adam.
He gets equal billing becausethey were both delightful.

Speaker 2 (54:16):
Well, if the Hathaways are listening, thank
you on behalf of the entireindustry for being good people.

Speaker 1 (54:22):
Well, not only that, Well not only that if you watch
her Instagram, she talks aboutanother celebrity, about how
much of a person of not goodintention was to the staff, and
she calls that person out.
So she has balance, zachary, Ididn't even know who the dude
was.
I actually had to look him up.
He was from Star Trek.

Speaker 3 (54:41):
Oh, Zachary Quinto.
Yeah, no, I called him out.
I can't have that.
This was in the news recently.
It was in Toronto, I believe.

Speaker 1 (54:49):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (54:49):
There was a restaurant that actually took to
Instagram to discuss howhorribly Zachary Quinto or
Quinto, I don't know if I'msaying it right how badly he
treated their staff, to thepoint where I think he actually
made their hostess cry.
And for a restaurant.
Now again, I was not there, butI have never.
I've been doing this.

(55:09):
I know you've been doing it 40years.
I've been doing a 20.
I have never, ever seen arestaurant take to social media
to talk badly about a celebrity,and unless it was really bad
and boredom, yeah, and saidyou're no longer welcome back to
our restaurant.

Speaker 1 (55:28):
Oh, barred him, yeah, barred from coming back to the
restaurant.
Well, hell, yeah.
So kudos to that, becausethere's listen, one of the
things I was going to ask youabout.
Like, how do you feel aboutwhen Yelp you mentioned that
specifically and how horriblethat is because everyone is now
a food critic how do you feelabout when chefs do a

(55:48):
professional job of challengingsomebody?
Um because this is a whole newworld for us it is.

Speaker 3 (55:58):
you know it's interesting.
I come from the world where youdon't respond, but it is your
business and there are a lot ofpeople that work in that
restaurant, that rely on thatrestaurant to live and pay their
bills, and so I think, if it'sprofessional and respectful and

(56:22):
if it's a legitimate critique,like you can read Yelp reviews
and you can see who's just beinga jerk because they want to be
a jerk, or you can see whoactually listed legitimate
things that you know, like theywere.
When they walked into therestaurant, there was no one
there to greet them and theystood there for five minutes.
That's legitimate.
When they were seated, you know, food came, there was three

(56:44):
people, it was a three top.
Two entrees came out, One didn'tand one which is one of my
biggest pet peeves and then oneentree dragged by a few minutes.
That's a legitimate serviceissue.
The chef or the owner aretrying to make it right.
That is their intention and notget involved in a like a little

(57:10):
tea at a day back and forth.
But yeah, I think it's totallyfine.
However, I would say to anyrestaurant guests out there if
anybody is going out to eat,please know the restaurant wants
to know while you're stillthere.

Speaker 1 (57:25):
Yeah, let us, let us correct the opportunity.

Speaker 3 (57:27):
Yes, give us the opportunity to change that
experience for you.
Please don't wait until youleave and then jump on socials.
Tell us, tell us in the moment,and we will auto.
We will, you know course,correct that moment.

Speaker 2 (57:40):
Well, so just to add to that, if somebody says
something on social media, thechef or the owner or whatever,
the response should really itshouldn't be a volley, it should
just be like apologize, comeback in and let us make it right
, but there should always be aresponse.

Speaker 1 (57:58):
I had to do one of those.
We had a three-star responseand the person that wrote it
that was completely just didn'tknow what the hell was going on.
We got, we were just caughtwith our pants down.
We had it was like a bus pulledup and we just the entire
restaurant got flat, sat.
We only had two servers and Iactually went out running the
food myself and I know the table.

(58:20):
I hit the table telling themthis is what's going on.
I was running back and forthputting out fires.
I actually went to social mediaand had to put the response
because that person gave usthree star and it was just
totally ridiculous.
It had no compassion for whatwe were going through.
So someone like that is you.
You have to go after them.
Do they really have?

Speaker 2 (58:40):
to have compassion.

Speaker 1 (58:41):
I think so, I think I think so because you hear
you're again, we're only doingfood.
At the end of the day you'reeating food.
You go in with a certainmindset when you go to
McDonald's.
I'm not trying to sayMcDonald's is bad, but you go in
a certain mindset going toMcDonald's.
You have expectations, but whenyou go to a place like Eleven

(59:03):
Madison, you have differentexpectations.
So you have to match theexpectation.
If you sit there and see peoplerunning around like their head
is cut off because they're thatbusy, then let's not be an idiot
.
Obviously there's somethingwrong.
Agreed, agreed, yeah.

Speaker 3 (59:19):
Yeah, 11 Madison's a whole other animal.
What is it like 500 per personfor a tasting menu of vegetables
?
Tell us how you really feel.
I mean, I do, I think you, Ithink you can tell by the
disdain in my voice how I feelabout that.
I love, I love your unfilteredfilter.

Speaker 1 (59:39):
I love your unfiltered filter.
Let's just keep it that way.

Speaker 3 (59:42):
I mean.
But the thing is like it's not.
That to me is gout.
Like I understand you want anexperience, but like do I really
need to pay 500 for vegetables?
No, what are you doing?
That's so extraordinary, it's abeat I don't know what to say
to that she's right though yeah,like that's not gout, like I'm

(01:00:05):
all about a tasting menu, I'mall about an omakase.
I love it.
Let's do the choreography,let's have the guest experience,
but let's also not gouge theguest yeah, I mean, think about
it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:14):
There's a chicken, right?
So let's say 17 a pound, right,right, I'm just a whole chicken
.
You're gonna charge, uh, eightydollars to a.
Are you going to get that forchicken?
No, so the price has to bebalanced to what the

(01:00:35):
profitability is on it.
Yeah, produce is not $500.

Speaker 3 (01:00:39):
Yeah, this is what I'm saying.
I don't think it's a $500tasting, I think it's like $395.
11 Madison is completelyvegetarian.

Speaker 1 (01:00:46):
There's no proteins.
Yeah, so I just told John 11Madison was completely
vegetarian.
There's no proteins.
So I just told John 11 Madisonwas completely vegetarian.

Speaker 3 (01:00:53):
He just rolled his eyes.
It is Well, because it didn'tused to be that way.
But then you know they splitYep, yeah, and so this is the
new um, the new post COVID byvegetarian.

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
Oh no, I, oh no no.
He needs his meat.

Speaker 1 (01:01:10):
Speaking of which, you also need your fish, which
is.
Yeah that too.

Speaker 3 (01:01:15):
Well, you were talking about grouper earlier,
so there you go.

Speaker 1 (01:01:17):
No, no, no, I gotta cook that.

Speaker 2 (01:01:19):
Yeah, no, it's gonna happen.

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
That meal's happening for him.
All right, Krista.

Speaker 3 (01:01:25):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:01:25):
Yeah, yeah, for sure, how do?
First of all, thanks for comingon today.

Speaker 3 (01:01:30):
It's my pleasure.

Speaker 2 (01:01:31):
Pleasure's ours, and how do people find you?

Speaker 3 (01:01:35):
You can find me across all socials at Krista
Latorre.
Excellent, super easy.

Speaker 2 (01:01:41):
I'm going to have a powwow with the gang here.
I feel like you're going to beback.

Speaker 3 (01:01:45):
We'll see she can be back.
We'll see we can build morewalls.
He wants to build more walls.

Speaker 2 (01:01:52):
I love it.
I love putting these walls up.
All right, krista, again, Iappreciate you coming on.
The program, john Jeffrey hateyou guys.
No, you guys.
All right, we'll be back nextweek and I'm going to drop on
some socials.
It was coming up next week, bythe way, krista, you're going to

(01:02:13):
.
We're going to be putting thisout like every day until next
Thursday.
Okay, we're going to bedropping this episode posting,
publishing every day until nextThursday, okay.

Speaker 3 (01:02:23):
Excellent.

Speaker 2 (01:02:24):
I've been warned.
Indeed, we are out.