Five and counting

I don't know about the rest of the waiters in the world, but when I work five nights in a row, it's pretty much all I can do for the week. Somehow, the difference between working four nights and working five nights means the difference between getting up and having another life outside of the restaurant in the morning, and hiding from the sunlight under my down comforter until noon, then groping for a coffee cup and staring vacantly at the wall until 2pm when I have to start thinking about getting ready for the evening's shift.

Yesterday before work Anthony and I went to Chow on Church and Market, which is one of my favorite restaurants for "just stopping in." Totally low-key and relatively inexpensive, with high-quality food and a frequently-changing menu. I think this restaurant for some reason was made for Generation Y; I feel like I have met everyone that's either dining or working in there before.

We each had a small green winter salad (organic greens, crunchy pears, gogonzola, and walnuts). It was a nice standard winter salad, a little overdressed as restaurant salads usually are. Very fresh ingredients, good flavor combinationsI had a glass of Chenin Blanc (extremely stressful day!) and we split a small sausage, fennel, and goat cheese pizza which was great. Super-thin crust, fresh fennel, nice balance of toppings. i like Chow because it serves nice California-cuisine standards. I've never had anything there that I haven't tasted before, which is somehow comforting. We got out of there for $15 each including a 20% tip.

The restaurant did more than 200 covers Saturday night (after a painfully slow Friday night where everyone was in a bad mood and nobody wanted to be there), and we all ran around like crazy until 1am. It's interesting how I can make the same amount of money on a Wednesday night when I have just a couple of tables as on a Saturday night when I have a full section with two complete turns. I think people tip more during the week because that's when the real foodies go out to dine. Friday and Saturday nights can be amateur nights at fine-dining establishments. People who want to go out to eat and have the full attention of the staff and a quiet scene will go out on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Chefs usually go out to eat on Monday nights.