An Ode to the Waitress
A while back I posted on Alan Richman’s famous story about the last Jewish waiters. But I got an email today from two of the best deli waitresses I’ve ever met, and realized that something was long overdue.
Mary Anne and KC are co-workers, best friends, and the wheels that keep the Parkway Deli in Silver Springs, MD rolling. When I drove in over a year ago to interview the deli’s owner, he’d neglected to show up, but Mary Anne and KC sat me down, got me fed, and told me tales of the deli’s life over their years. Like many, they’d entered the profession by chance, but soon found that they had become woven into the very fabric of the delicatessen. It was their life. Their clients were like family and a meal served by anyone else would be unthinkable. They had sass, they were honest, and dished up the matzo balls or directed the pickle bar with a certain relish (har har) that makes a deli meal that much more special.
That’s what great deli waitresses do…they elevate the deli experience beyond a simple sandwich and soup. There’s an ability in the best deli waitresses to make you feel that you’re part of some inside joke. KC and Mary Anne,
Faye at the 2nd Ave Deli, Terry Breem at Katz’s, the ladies at Nate n’ Al, Fran at Canter’s, Lori at Moe Pancer’s….the list goes on. They are as elemental as the mustard, the Jewish mother (whether Jewish or, more often, not) inside the Jewish deli. They dish, they scowl, they love.
They make delis great. Give ‘em a hug.
September 11th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Dont forget all those former waitresses at Rascal House in FL. I went there many times as a kid and loved their uniforms with the pretty handkerchiefs they wore. Oh, those were the days.