The Waiting is the hardest part

(Photo: Jim Galante, whose site is full of great photographs.)

You have to give Frank Bruni, NYTimes food critic, four stars:

I usually spend my nights on the other side of the table, not only asking the questions and making the demands but also judging and, I concede, taking caustic little mental notes. And it's been 20 years since I walked in a waiter's shoes, something I did for only six months.

But last week I traded places and swapped perspectives, a critic joining the criticized, to get a taste of what servers go through and what we put them through, of how they see and survive us. My ally was Chris Schlesinger, a well-known cook and author who owns the East Coast Grill, in Cambridge, Mass., and has no business interests in New York. So that my presence in the restaurant wouldn't become public knowledge, he introduced me to his staff as a freelance writer named Gavin doing a behind-the-scenes article to be placed in a major publication.

Read the whole tale of Frank's week as a waiter, I really commend him for making the effort to see how the other half lives. The vast majority of restaurant patrons have no idea how demanding waiting tables is, physically and mentally.

Is it any wonder that I've always preferred the back of house?