Sweetbitter

by Stephanie Danler

Any business transaction—actually any life transaction—is negotiated by how you are making the other person feel.”

While Sweetbitter is fiction, I worked exclusively in restaurants from the age fifteen to the age of thirty-one. I’ve worked in some incredible New York City establishments (Union Square Café, Tia Pol, Buvette). While writing I would draw from all my experiences, even the tiny café I worked at through college in Gambier, Ohio. I’ve found that the restaurants I was drawn to – the jobs I really chased – were all places that had a philosophy behind them. It wasn’t enough for me to come in, make my cash, and go home – I wanted to believe that I was participating in something larger than myself. New York City restauranteur Danny Meyer sparked an entire revolution with his hospitality manifesto, Setting the Table. I was a student of that world when I worked in his restaurant, Union Square Café. He saw that we – as servers – were so much more than a disposable, invisible set of hands. We had the opportunity to educate people, elevate their experiences, leave a mark on them. Dining starts the second the guest walks through the door. The way you make eye contact, the way you usher them through a crowded bar, the exact words you chose while greeting them – it all matters. This eye for detail is a business lesson that has overflowed into every area of my life, not the least of which is writing. If you’ve been a server, don’t you find that the lessons translate to any industry?