They worked late into the night. The dining room lighting changed as it got darker and the room turned from more family to more intimate. In this lighting a couple could come in and sit in relative dark where they could be close to one another, hold hands, touch a hand to a face intimately.
As the day wound down and the pace slowed, the girls and boys could take a break. That was a good thing. Bill watched it all. He had seen this, this scene, so many times before. He had walked through the Suburban dining rooms like Jimmy Banquet Chef did today. He had seen the scene from Suburban West’s open hearth.
Jo Ann came to him first. “What you got to eat?” she asked.
“What do you want?” Bill responded.
“Not the ham or turkey. What else you got?”
“Come back in five,” Bill said.
He immediately threw a steak on the grill for Jo Ann. He watched it slide into place, heard the sizzle then turned to work on the orders that had to be put up. There weren’t many and they were all easy, just specials. He did one table at a time since there were only a couple working and he did them at a leisurely pace since not many orders were coming in.
Jo Ann’s steak was all that was on the grill. All day he had not had a lot from the grill and he had not had anything fancy. Basic steaks seemed to be what those not eating the specials wanted, and of course many tables included fish orders, mostly broiled salmon or filet of sole. He rotated then flipped her steak very quickly since the grills were hot. One thing about being a broiler cook was that you had to understand how the grills worked, how they heated and cooled depending upon volume, how important it was to rotate things being put on and how there sometimes came a time when the grills simply had to be left to heat up again. That was one of the good things at Suburban. There they had the double charcoal grill and they also had the second broiler.
“What do you want for your sides?” Bill asked Jo Ann.
“What am I eating?”
“Steak.”
“A little mashed if they’re fresh and some veggies.”
“You got it,” Bill said.
“You know you guys did great today. I am so happy you’re working here.”
“Well thanks,” Bill said. “We did do great, but you all did too and we all pulled together.”
“No time for bullshit on a day like today,” Jo Ann said.
“None,” Bill said. He plated her food and slipped a cover on it so if Caesar were being nosy he could not readily see what she was getting to eat.
Jo Ann took up her plate. “The others will be along. We’re going one by one tonight and that includes the bus boys.”
“I’d expect nothing else,” said Bill. “Enjoy your food.”
When Jo Ann left Bill went down into his reach-in box and pulled out a beer. He used his chef’s knife to pop the top and took himself a nice long drink. “Merry Christmas,” he said to himself under his breath.
Jimmy G had gone out to his aunt. He came back with two mugs of espresso. He gave one to Bill and Bill, in turn, reached down into his reach-in and pulled out a beer for Jimmy. He popped the top on this one in the same way as he’d done for his own. They clinked beer bottles and drank.
Second up was Edelgarde. She wanted prime rib but Bill didn’t let that happen. Instead, she settled for a steak too. She had hers with a little bit of mashed and a little bit of stuffing. She told Bill to heap on the vegetables and to smother it all in au jus.
As he always did for the girls, Bill made Edel’s plate special.
“Boy, have I got something for you,” Edelgarde said.
“I bet you do,” Bill said.
