A brief break between shifts on a double today. I have worked exceptionally little over the last two weeks. This of course meant that it was too hot for anyone to sit on the patio this afternoon for my patio shift. A piece of Sockeye Salmon over a mushroom risotto with a white wine sauce […]
Understanding French Sauces (Part Two)
Celebrity chefs seem to be everywhere today. If you are a foodie, you can probably name a handful off the top of your head. They have their own TV shows, books, and websites. Entire networks are built upon the idea of bringing you the next celebrity chef. Reality shows feature aspiring chefs competing to be […]
Understanding French Sauces (Part One)
Looking back over the years, I would have to say my favorite serving job was at a little French restaurant in Springfield, MO called Le Mirabelle. Christian Finance was a classically trained French Chef and his wife Bobbi ran the front of the house. The food was incredible and it was arguably the best restaurant […]
Foodie Friday: Fact or Fiction
My General Manager once told me the story of the Caesar salad. Back in the time of Caesar, salt was incredibly scarce. Salty fish named anchovies were abundant though. So to create the salty taste in the dressing they used the anchovies. Even though we have plenty of salt today, we still use the anchovies […]
How To Serve A Bottle Of Wine
There was a great debate last night at work about whether you cut the foil above or below the lip on a bottle of red wine. I did some research online which proved inconclusive. Then I remembered that I at least five certified sommeliers in my phone. Want to know the answer? Read on. I […]
Pasta Name Origins
Over the years I have worked at a few Italian restaurants. This has left me with two distinct traits. First, a burning desire to flee anytime I hear a Mario Lanza tune. Second, is a tremendous amount of random facts about pasta. During my short break between shifts, here are the translations for random noodle […]
A Tale of Three Burgers
“It was the best of burgers, it was the worst of burgers, it was the burger of value, it was the burger of expense, it was the burger of service, it was the burger of incredulity, it was the burger of quality, it was the burger of waste, it was the burger of hope, it […]
Foodie Friday: Types of Crab
Guests often bring up the names of Food Network and Cooking Channel chefs to me at work. The jokes usually go right over my head. People assume that I am somewhat familiar with these chefs because of my job. It is actually quite the opposite. After spending a shift staring into a kitchen wondering if […]
Foodie Friday: Health and Environmental Issues of Salmon
The planet Earth produces more food than ever before. Tremendous advances in food sciences have lead a higher percentage of our planets population to be fed than in any time in the modern era. No person is more responsible for this than one of my personal heroes, Norman Borlaug. It is estimated that the advancements […]
Understanding Restaurants: The Owner’s Perspective
This is the final installment of a four-part introduction. If you missed the previous posts on the overview, the guest’s perspective, and the manager’s perspective, click the links in this sentence. People ask me on occasion if I aspire to open my own restaurant one day. It always reminds me of the old Mitch Hedburg […]
About The Author
David Hayden was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He took his first serving job in 1996. Since that time, he has worked for over a dozen different restaurant companies. He has held both hourly and salaried positions at independent and corporate restaurants. He has waited on over 100,000 guests and trained hundreds of servers. He has been named "Best Server in Kansas City" the last three years by the local weekly paper.