The Highs & the Lows
This past weekend was hands-down the best we have ever had at the Anvil. The guest flow was healthy and steady, but it was the quality of the guests this weekend that made such an impression on me.
I jumped the gun and took out my own stitches Friday morning, which was a really, really (are you listening kids?) STOOPID thing to do. My finger was so not ready to have the stitches out. I did it because I absolutely have to get back in my kitchen, and I couldn’t function with all those little stitch ends poking about. Well, now I’m right back to being 9-fingered again, when I was almost up to 9.75. Consequently, although I did prep Friday, there was no way I could work service. Besides, my bartender is in Spain, and I had a poor, lost substitute behind the bar. So I hung out FOH.
I had the great fortune on both evenings to talk with many really amazing and wonderful people. I couldn’t believe how many people were back for second or third or (yes!) fourth visits. I was able to sit and visit, make new friends, and greet returning ones. I am hearing so many wonderful things, and everyone is so complimentary of the Anvil experience. It’s humbling and wonderful and awe-inspiring and scary all at once! I also learned that I am — most unfortunately — a passable bartender.
Last weekend really made me realize how lucky I am to be doing something that I love, and how important that is to doing it well.
Then Sunday came and we had our first bar fight! Ok, it wasn’t a bar fight. Nobody touched anyone else, and nary a chair or punch was thrown, but somehow an 85 pound jealous little wife had a whole glass of wine and wasn’t happy when hubby took notice of another, so as she went storming through a door to demonstrate her displeasure, ripping the damned thing from its hinges! Cat- and dog fights were averted and the blushing bride and ogling hubby were summarily dispatched to continue their discussion elsewhere. Unfortunately their bar tab and the repair bill for the door were the real casualties of the evening!
After the smoke cleared and the evening wound down, I started to lament not having written about the wonders of the weekend before the defenestration of my bar door cast a shadow over the warm fuzzy of the night before. But then I realized… DUH! That’s how it’s supposed to work! The bardoorectomy doesn’t take away from the beauty of the weekend. It just makes it that much clearer and more beautiful. Plus, it’s a great story!
January 9, 2008 at 8:04 pm
It is interesting how things get interpreted after the fact……..
Nobody touched anyone else, and nary a chair or punch was thrown, but somehow an 85 pound jealous little wife had a whole glass of wine and wasn’t happy when hubby took notice of another, so as she went storming through a door to demonstrate her displeasure, ripping the damned thing from its hinges! Cat- and dog fights were averted and the blushing bride and ogling hubby were summarily dispatched to continue their discussion elsewhere. Unfortunately their bar tab and the repair bill for the door were the real casualties of the evening!
January 10, 2008 at 1:59 pm
It’s interesting what some people think is interesting. In other words, “huh?”
January 10, 2008 at 2:41 pm
As I suspected, “Chef Nobody’s” email address is fake, which I discovered when I attempted to email a private response. I will publish my response here…
“It is interesting how things get interpreted after the fact……..”
It’s called “artistic license” amigo, but factual nonetheless. Besides, it wouldn’t be a very entertaining story (or very flattering to the drunken idiots involved) to elaborate on the full details of that pathetic event. And as far as “after the fact,” that blog entry was written within a day of the actual event, while it was still crystal clear in my mind. If you have further to say about it, perhaps you might consider a more appropriate — and above board — venue.
CM