I didn’t read that in a biography or see it on A&E. I know this because my father told me.
My dad cut his teeth in the service industry as a waiter in a high-end (and now defunct) Manhattan hotel restaurant in the late seventies and early eighties. He served turtle soup and whipped up table-side steak tartare for the likes of Diana Ross, Patsy Cline, and Coretta Scott King. He then transitioned, like most Greek immigrants of his generation, to diners in New Jersey before moving the family South to run his own hush puppy haven in Stony Point, North Carolina.
The other night I sat at a restaurant and watched a young child wearing long johns pajamas chase after her mother, who had just served me my sweet tea. Hush puppies put me through college, and I think I write about food because I’ve been that little girl. I can trace my entire existence to scooting into a vinyl booth and driving a server crazy with my special “owner’s daughter” order: one deviled crab, kid’s-size grilled shrimp, extra Cajun seasoning, half-sweet tea, another round of hush puppies.
In this year’s edition of EATS, we explore how we all connect to restaurant culture, as restaurant kids, as workers, as customers. Restaurants can be very communal, democratic spaces where we get a sense of how others around us are living their lives. And they can be indulgent treats, to help us celebrate our joys and connect with others. This magazine will give you an inside look into our favorite places to dineand some of our favorite people who feed us. Victoria Bouloubasis
illustration by steve oliva
