Waiter jobs serve up successful careers

DRAWN TOGETHER: CAV server Jason Andrade has been with the restaurant for 13 years, moonlighting as an artist. / COURTESY JASON ANDRADE
DRAWN TOGETHER: CAV server Jason Andrade has been with the restaurant for 13 years, moonlighting as an artist. / COURTESY JASON ANDRADE

The path to success among the new generation of foodies is being led to the table by a waiter. In a throwback to their grandparents’ time, many who consider themselves young professionals are choosing a career path as servers.
Far from biding time before the next acting audition, many of the newest generation of servers at the nation’s top restaurants are waiting tables as a way to hone their chops for a career in restaurant management. They are coming out of top culinary and Ivy League schools, and they consider themselves professionals.
To get a foot in the door at legendary establishments, many food-obsessed 20-somethings are busing tables. One Chicago waitress told an industry trade publication she is asked constantly, “What do you really plan to do for a living?”
She is already doing it, as a server at restaurant L20 in Chicago. She learns about foods and dishes like velvet crab and matsutake mushrooms. The server, named Leah Beach, actually moved to Chicago from Minneapolis in 2011 to pursue her food career.
I spoke to two such professionals who are both successful waiters at one of Providence’s leading fine-dining restaurants.
Jennifer Madden and Jason Andrade have each been servers for 13 years at CAV in Providence’s Knowledge District. Neither had added up their shared experience of more than a quarter of a century.
“It’s a little scary to think of it like that,” said Madden.
Andrade recalled when he started at CAV he was working at a drugstore and then part time at a hairstyling salon, but found that was not a match for him. He began work as a waiter on the recommendation of a friend and “fell in love with the restaurant, the food, [Sylvia Moubayed, the proprietor] and the guests.”
In the business and outside as well, the job of server is perceived as a step along the career path rather than a destination. In both cases, they were encouraged by Moubayed to pursue their goals outside the restaurant.
“I am an artist part time [visual, photography, décor],” said Andrade, who credited Moubayed for her support.
Madden has a Ph.D., which she earned during her tenure at CAV. She made the decision to stay while teaching part time rather than to take what she calls the “tenure track” and stay in academia. She also has praise for Moubayed, who she describes as “very European” in outlook. Both have a roster of regular customers who ask for them when making reservations. They work all shifts at CAV, serving weekday lunch, dinner, weekend brunch and private parties. They observed differences between customers at different times of the day, especially brunch when larger parties gather, families as well as groups of couples.
The experience enables them to “read their table,” to get in touch with their guests’ mood, to chat when the guests want to engage in conversation but to be nonintrusive when the situation calls as well. Part of this is their life experience. Each knows what they like when they go out. Both ensure they never give the impression they are one of the guests at the table. They know the menu and specials and make suggestions that add to the guest experience within the CAV experience.
And they are the rule, rather than the exception, among their colleagues at CAV. That’s a credit, they say, to Moubayed’s vision.
Madden observes that many restaurants in the city stock the floor with staff based on their appearance. She says that the life experiences she, Andrade and the majority of the waitstaff at CAV have give a better experience to the customer – which is CAV’s mission.
This would be difficult to keep in focus if the emphasis was as it is among many restaurants on check averages or table turns, that is, the dollar figure on the customer’s bill and the number of times each table sees a new seating in the course of a lunch or dinner shift. Make no mistake, CAV is a business, and one of the most successful restaurants in the state these days.
Both servers articulated the concept that Moubayed has been faithful to since she opened the eclectic restaurant over two decades ago. “The idea is to treat the people you are serving as you would people you love most on their special day,” said Andrade. •


Bruce Newbury’s “Dining Out” food and wine talk radio show can be heard on WADK-AM 1540, WHJJ-AM 920, WBLQ-AM 1230, online and through mobile applications. He can be reached by email at Bruce@BruceNewbury.com.

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