Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / Christina Cates, Fmr. Palm Restaurant GM, Joins Alex Garrett To Talk Dining in NYC 8-25-24

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Christina Cates, Fmr. Palm Restaurant GM, Joins Alex Garrett To Talk Dining in NYC 8-25-24 · OneLegUpAlex Media

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Here's your host, Alex Darre.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: All right, well talk about small worlds and on my
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: line right now as someone who actually lived on the
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: same street I grew up on for four years, a
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: big group on for ten But Christina Kates, you lived
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: there for four years on East forty fourth Street, and
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: you worked at the Palm two and the Palm restaurant.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: I rolled past the Palm two for my whole child.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: That's why I want to connect with you on this podcast.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: Oh my pleasure. Thank you for having me. Good morning.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: I cannot say anything else without saying thank you to
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Lucas Farar for making this connection happen. You're having to
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: call up to shake it off show and here we
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: are talking. It's funny how life works, right.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: I know, I guess it was meant to be. Lucas
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: brings a lot of people together.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: I get, I believe so. And the fact that you
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: lived on forty four. First of all, that street's so beautiful.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: I mean, I love it, and I love that when
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: you look down the block, that UN's right there.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: It's such a special to me as a special place
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: in my heart.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: East forty fourth, Oh same, I actually had this outdoor
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: space behind my studio apartment that was like private to
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: my apartment, and when I would go out there, I
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: would get the whole front of the un So I
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: just sat there in this little urban oasis and thought
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: to myself, how lucky am I to get to live here.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm sure people I worked with you at the
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: Palm or you know, God to know you through the Palm,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: didn't know where you live. That's just like a backstory
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: here because you know we share that in common. One
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: last thing on forty fourth the General Assembly every year
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: is such a mess.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: How did you cope with that?
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: I tried to not leave my apartment because to get
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: back to your apartment, I had to walk around with
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: a copy of my lease in my purse to show
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: the security, like on Second Avenue to get down forty
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: fourth Street. It was crazy.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they had to let They couldn't let the buses
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: down when I was a kid to get me to school. Anyway,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: enough about that, I want to talk about the Palm too, first,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: because I rolled past there all the time. It right
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: on forty fourth, or it was any fond memories that
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: you want to share on me all one leg with
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Alex Scarrett that you can remember, you know, they want
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: to talk about because that's what I wanted on here first, because.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: You know the Palms family if you own a Palm family.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, So the Palm was owned by the same two
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: Italian families since nineteen twenty six. And when I first
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: started working for the Palm, I worked at the one
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: in Tribeca. I was part of their opening team. And
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: I didn't go to Palm Too until after Hurricane Sandy
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: because Hurricane Sandy like devastated Tribeca, like we were closed
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: for months. So when I moved up to Palm two,
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: it was a completely different world because Tribecca was new
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: shiny Wall Street driven crowd and Palm two, which is
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: very different than the original Palm, although they're right across
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: the street from each other. It was just a different world.
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: It was old school. People were going there like longer
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: than I've been alive. It was just a family crowd,
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: like it was nothing I'd ever seen before, and it
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: was a ton of fun. I mean, they had sawdust
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: on the floor of the restaurant, which is a complete
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: fire has or like you can't do that in any
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: restaurant in this day and age. But they were like
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: grandfathered in, so it was allowed there. And it was
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: just wild. Like the guys that work there were right
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: off the boat from Italy, I mean, tight knit crew.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: I was just so lucky to be welcomed into that environment.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: And I mean it was a lot of fun.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Any you know, Lucasovagey stopped through there a few times.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: But any names that you want to talk about that
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: you got to meet, they got to talk to that
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: You even got to just watch Dyne at your restaurant.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: Oh my god, I mean come too is like like
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: the Silent Killer. Like you would just walk in and
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: Liza Minelli you would be sitting back there in a
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: booth like totally just doing her thing. Mick Jagger would
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: be there like just total stars. Like would just walk
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: in and like kiss the waiter on the cheek and
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: be like, I'll take my table in the corner, give
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: me the usual.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: It was wild, you know, I gotta say personally because
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: I never went in because I was too young to
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: go in right when I was a kid. But I
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: would always see the artwork. I was always drawn by
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: all the caricatures in that restaurant. Can you talk about
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: that for a little bit as well.
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: I mean, so like the history, do you want to
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: know the history of it? Yea, yeah, Like the r
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: pictures came to be.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Because they kept adding I think as the years went on, right.
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, so I mean that was kind of the
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: stick at the Palm was the caricatures. It's like what
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: they were famous for. So back in the nineteen twenties
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: in that you know area of New York, it was
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: bustling with like artists and newspaper magazine types. So people
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: would draw on the walls for basically like a bowlapasta.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: So that's kind of how it started, like just the
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: artists would come in and draw and then you know,
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: fifty sixty seventy years later, it's just kind of what
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: we were known for. But we had this artist in
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: New York specifically, his name is Al Evsmon. He was
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: like the New York artist that just did these amazing
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: caricatures of people. And you know, later on you had
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: to have some kind of a status with a Palm
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: to get your faith on the wall. You had to
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: spend a certain amount of money, be part of our
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: eight thirty seven members club, and then you know, Al
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: would come in and put you up on the wall.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: Sometimes he'd let you choose where you wanted to go,
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: but if it was too much of a prominent spot,
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: he'd be like, now we got to save this real
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: estate for somebody else, so you draw you somewhere else.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: But I mean it was like a status symbol. If
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: you were on the wall with the palm, you were
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: a big deal.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: I think I saw a palm on the west side
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: as well, Is that right? Was there one on the
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: upper wind or you know, sort of the Times Square area?
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: Yes, that was the theater district one, which I believe
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: is actually still there. It might be the only one
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: left in the city right now. That was on fiftieth
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: I believe, between Ethan Broadway.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: And just in a different vibe and I a little
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: more modern vibe, if you all, if I'm not mistaken,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: But how did you come to love this history of
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: the palm? And how did you come to love hospitality?
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: I mean, you sound like you're very interested in talking
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: about the pom.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: That's why I'm on.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: Well, so this is a two part question. That hospitality
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: is just something I don't know why. I just always
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: grew up knowing I was going to work in restaurants. Like,
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: I didn't go to a proper four year college. I
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: went straight to culinary school right out of high school
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: because I knew I wanted to work in hospitality. So
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: when I moved over to the Palm from Tavern on
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: the Green, I mean I knew nothing about the Pom
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: at that time. My friend brought me over there, and
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: once I started working there, I fell in love with
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: it because of the family presence in ownership. And you know, there's,
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: like I mentioned before, there's two families that owned the Palm.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: One of them is the most down to earth, lovable
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: family you could ever want to work for, and the
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: other was a little more corporate, a little sterile. But
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: it was that other family that I was like, I
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: will do anything they want me to do. I will
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: work anywhere they want me to work. I just loved
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: working for them. And you know, the way they are
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: is kind of how they treat their employees and the
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: culture of their restaurant, and I just liked it. It
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: was just compatible with my personality. So I had people
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: come in all the time when I worked at the
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: one in Tribecca. They were like, are you related to
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: the family, And I was like, no, I'm not at all.
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: And they always said you talk with such owner's pride,
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: like it feels like you are part of this family.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: And I'm like, you know, I've worked here now for
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: a long time. I worked there for about seven or
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: eight years, so you know, it becomes your family. Like
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: that's part of what working in restaurants is. Like you
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: work holidays and weekends and you work with these people
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: fourteen hours a day, and it's becomes who you are.
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: So I just love it.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: You're fairly young. So how old were you when you
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: started with the Paul? I mean you were It seems
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: like you got to be in your twenties or earlier, right, I.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: Mean, yeah, I worked I think I was twenty five
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: when I started working there, and so I was what
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: thirty one, thirty two?
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you look thirty thirty three of you. Well,
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: now let me ask you this.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: You mentioned tabern On the Green, and my dad and
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: I had experienced there too, because at least one marathon
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: we'd celebrate after the marathon, we just sat there and
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: watched all the runners come in.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Were you there to experience a marathon day at.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: Absolutely that was a non negotiable you if you worked
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: at Tavan on the Green. You worked the marathon because
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: it was the busiest day of the year. I think
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: it's November, right, Yeah, yep, yep, yep, and we were
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: the finish lines. Tavn on the Green was the finish line,
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: so it was just like tens of thousands of people
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: and we had that whole weekend. Marathon weekend was wild
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: because you have the pasta party the Friday night, all
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: the runners come and I mean, I'm telling you, it's
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: like garbage cans full of pasta. Like that's how much
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: pasta we're serving. It's like I got one hundred thousand
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: pounds of it.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: It was a wild Hey, these athletes gotta eat, right,
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: that was the whole.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's just you know, it's volume. It was intense,
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: but it was so much fun. I worked at Tavern.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: That was my first job ever in New York and
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: in hospitality, and talk about like runner Get Ran Over.
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: I mean I was nineteen years old when I started
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: working there, and yeah, super great experience. Very very lucky
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: again to have that on my resume.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: These plays we're talking about are vintage New York and
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: I could just tell by our conversation. You appreciate the
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: vintage New York. Are you in New York or by heart?
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: No, I'm actually from New Jersey and I reside in
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: New Jersey. Now, you know, my whole family lives here,
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: so I wanted to be closer to them. But New York,
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: I don't know. It just always has had a special
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: place in my heart. Like I have children, I bring
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: them there all the time, Like even if it's just
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: to take a walk in Central Park. I just love
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: New York. I will probably move back there once my
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: children are older. I love it. It's the best city
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: in the world.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: As I say, being a mom, were you able to
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: be in this hospitality field? Am be a mom?
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Or was that when you kind of said, okay, don't
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: like what was the design to leave hospitality?
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: That's kind of when I had to pivot. It's very
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: hard to be present and be a parent and work
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: in hospitality, whether you're a woman or a man. Like
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: you just miss things. You miss putting your kids to
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: bed at night, you'll miss sports. So for now, that's
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: why I kind of have retired a little bit my
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: career in hospitality. But it's just a pause for now.
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: It is who I am. It's what I like to do,
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: and it's what makes me very happy and fulfilled. So
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: I will pick that up again at some point, maybe
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: in a few years, but right now, I just I
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: want to do these kinds of things like my kids.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: Tell when Christina Kate she was part of the Palm franchise,
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: really both of them, actually did you you got to
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: know the chefs there? Did any recipes make it home
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: with you? They get to make some dishes for the
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: kids with the recipes from the Palm Any stories like that.
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: Okay, So actually there's this one dish that wasn't on
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: the menu. It was kind of like a verbal like
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: off menu item at Palm Too, called chicken Bruno, which
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: is pretty much just like chicken cutlet nuggets, but it's
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: sauce hayd in this lemon butter sauce. I mean, you
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: want to talk about comfort food, something that just hits
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: the spot, it's that. So I'll make that for my kids.
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: But then there's like other things that I make all
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: the time at home. The GG salads, the West Coast
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: and East Coast GG salad. So the East Coast was
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: just shrimped bacon, tomato, onion and green beans and like
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: a garlic viniagarette and make that all the time. I
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: actually had that for lunch yesterday. It's just like so easy.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: But the rest of it is like, you know, the
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: steak focused items that I'm just not good at making
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: that type of thing.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: You know, It's funny you mentioned the stakes because I
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: have to say, right around the Palm too, is where
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: a Spark steakhouse was, right and that's where yeah, all
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: Castellano got knocked.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Off, if you will.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: So I feel like East forty fourth has that kind
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: of enter, has that not cursed? But did you ever
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: feel like kind of spookiness in front of the Palm, like,
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: oh my god, someone was knocked off right around here?
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: I mean, did you ever feel that energy or not? Really?
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: Not really, But I will tell you I heard when
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: I was working on Second Avenue that when that happened.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: The night that happened, the guys were sitting having dinner
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: in the front window at the original Palm, so not
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: palmed to the one across the street. They went around
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: the corner to Sparks, did what they had to do,
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: came back that down and finished their dinner at the Palm.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: After that. I don't know if that's true.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Or not, but what that's that's kind of insane actually,
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: And yeah, there was that uh you know what was
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: on there? My friend and she passed away in twenty twenty.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Shelley Ackerman, I have you ever heard any stories about Philip? Yeah,
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: he was my like my aunt Shelley. She lived more
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: about me on East forty fourth And she was written
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: drawn on the palm too, I believe, if not the po.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: I believe it was. Yes, maybe both, but yes, palm
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: too for sure.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: So I don't know if you got to meet her
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: over the that course of time or not.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: But she was great, Yes, I believe I did you meet.
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: You meet so many people, but that name definitely stands
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: out to me. And she was a local. Yeah.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: On she was a singer and performer and everything like that.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: I mean, she was she was great.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: Got to ask about movies because honestly, when I was
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: around East forty fourth we got to meet movie stars
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: through and through. When I was a kid, we went
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: on the set of The Peacemaker when the when George
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Kleeen and Nicole Kimmen were filming there. I got the
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: chance to be in the director's chair when I was
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: like five or six years old or even younger. But
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: when they were filming movies around that area, did you notice,
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: you know, those folks coming into, like the cast members,
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: the tech guys.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: Was there any kind of movement during movie shoots if
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: you will.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: So I don't recall anything while I was at Palm too,
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: but when I was in Tribeca at the Palm, I mean, yeah,
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: they were filming was that movie Wall Street with Michael
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: Douglas and what's the guy? Uh?
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: I think it was Martin Sheen? Right?
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: No, No, the one they the most recent one that
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: they did with that younger actor. Yeah, you would come
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: in what was the name? Because he would sit at
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: the bar and I mean he would just like tell
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: wild stories. He'd be like, Michael Douglas can't remember any
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: of his lines. It's taken so long to film a scene.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: This is ridiculous. So that was going on, and then
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: when they were filming Wolf of Wall Street, Leonardo DiCaprio
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: would come in Jonah Hill. Yeah, I mean all the time.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: Tell me about the Tribe Film Festival. I mean, you
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: guys have a lot of business from there. Did the
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: man Robert and he or ever walk into the Palm
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: when you were there.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: So he came in I think only once. But the
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: film Festival was right across the street from us, like BMCC,
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: like over there west Side Highway and Chambers, So yeah,
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: we'd get a ton from that, and other celebrities would
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: like drip in from that, like before or after some
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: of the shows. But Robertson Hero, I mean, I think
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: just one time he came in.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: You know, I gotta say, you sound like you want
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: to work back in the city. How exciting is it
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: for you when you get to work in the city
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: in the hustle and bustle. And you know what's funny
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: is Tribeca feels a little more slow paced than uptown, right,
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: I mean there's just a different feeling for both areas
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: of where Palm two and the Palm Tribeca different feel
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: overall from both. So you did you like working in both?
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Did you like the more you know, fast paced Palm
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: two in the middle of East forty fourth Street.
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: There, So they they were both very different, but both
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: the same, right because they were both busy in the
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: respect that people follow the name the Palm, So Tribeca
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: would be very busy like we were a full city block.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: That's a huge restaurant, so Monday to Friday. You know,
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: we're right across the street from Goldman Sachs World's headquarters.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: It was crazy busy. Like when I tell you the
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: things I saw in that restaurant during that time in
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: my life, I don't think i'll ever see again. It
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: just can't be replicated. But Palm Too was so small
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: that you were always busy, but it was like a
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: different kind of busy. It was an intimate busy where
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: you're just bouncing from table to table, like talking to
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: you know, the guy who gets table eight every Monday
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: night at five thirty. Like it was that kind of vibe.
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: So very different but very the same, like just fun busy.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: And yeah, it's just it's something that can't be replicated
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: this time anymore.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: People listening to this may not realize that around the
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: Palm Too specifically, there are so many embassies. I mean
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: you have the Nigerian embassy, or you have all the
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: different embassies, and you'll see a lot of diplomats walking
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: through through those doors every day.
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: Big lunch crowd for the diplomats. Yeah, they'd come in
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: for like the power lunch they called it, which was
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: like kind of like a prefixed menu app entrede dessert,
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: you know, in and out forty five minutes to an hour.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: You know, as we're talking about this, hospitality and the
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: end of the restaurant world has taken a big hit
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: since COVID. Do you see from where your experience and everything.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: Do you see more restaurants, you know, being able to
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: start up again or restaurants, you know, making a comeback.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: I don't want to say the restaurant industry is totally ruined,
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: right There's there's some good restaurants back up and running.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: But overall, what's your feel since COVID with the restaurant industry,
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: it feels like a lot of the minist here.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: Good question, Well, I would say, I'm I'm in the
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: city all the time. Like, first of all, I'm in
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: New Jersey, but I'm in the city all the time
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: and going out to restaurants, and I feel like the
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: last year two years, I can't keep up with how
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: many new restaurants are opening that I want to go to,
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: Like I have a constant running list of places I
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: need to check out, which obviously is the result of
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: a lot of places that perished during COVID and didn't
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: make it, and there's like new retail space, you know,
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: the places to open. So I do think it's definitely
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: making the comeback, if not already came back. You know,
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: the city feels vibrant, it feels great, the restaurants are bustling,
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: and yeah.
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: It could also be then for the restaurant tour that
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: wants to open but maybe sees what happened and maybe
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: it's nervous or open. What's your message that just open
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: up the restaurant, right, that should be the message.
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean there's no time like the present. You'd
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: definitely do it. But I will say I felt fortunate
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: that I wasn't in hospitality during COVID because I saw
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: so many people that I knew that lost jobs or
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: even if the place was still open, you know, they
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: were making significantly less money because people were afraid to
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: go out. But yeah, like, as someone myself who thinks
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: it often about opening a restaurant, it is in the
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: back of my head like wow, like those unvariables like
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: a pandemic could crush you. But again carpe DM like
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: if you want to do it, do it and you'll
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: find a way to make it successful if you're really
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: passionate about it.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: I thought that the best part was that they found
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: a way to make it work. A lot of restaurants
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: in with the outdoor dining and those sheds. Hearing now,
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: but what would your take? Could you believe how many sheds.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Their were during that time? It felt like almost every
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: city block had one.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I mean that. There was one time I
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: was sitting outside at Carbone and that's a tight street, right,
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: Thompson is a tight street. There's this fire truck coming
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: down as I'm sitting outside on the patio and I
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: was like, I'm gonna die outside of Carbone having dinner
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: just because I needed spicy reggaetoni. Like when I tell you,
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: there was maybe maybe one inch between this outdoor patio
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: and the fire truck. I was like, let's wrap this up.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: We got to get out of here.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: Were you consulted on how to deal with all of that?
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: Did any restaurants say, hey, Christina, we know you have expertise.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: How do we get through this? How do we make
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: sure the customer is happy? How do we make sure
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: our staff is safe during all of this? Were you
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: consulted no.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: I honestly, I was so out of hospitality at that point.
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: I was in the thick of like small children COVID
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: blah blah blah. No, not at all, And honestly, I
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: don't even think I would have been much help because
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: you had to be so creative and think outside the
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: box to make that work. I don't even think I
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: have that kind of creativity, Like, honestly, like I admire
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: people who kept restaurants going during COVID.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, they it.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: It was a skill for sure, all right, And be
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: a bad journalist in bulp and asked what restaurants are
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: you going to that you would recommend?
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: Us? Go, oh wow, that's a great question. I feel
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: like a little ashamed to say this in a way,
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: but I am actually a huge Carbone fan. Like they're
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: a whole major food group like concept like Teresa. I
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: just love those restaurants. I feel like they execute it
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: really well and you feel like really cool being there.
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: It always has a sexy crowd, the food is always fantastic.
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: It may be super I don't know, want they overpriced,
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: but it's expensive. It's not something you can do every night.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: But I really always enjoy when I go to those restaurants.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: I really love what they're doing at Koka Doc on
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: East twenty second Street.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: Okay, have you have you been there?
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: No, I'm not yet, but I've got I've got to
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: check that out as a fiance, As someone whose fiance
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: is actually in the power wheelchair, I have to think
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: about accessibility when I these places out. So do you
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: find that restaurants are getting more accessible as we get here?
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: You know it's.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: Twenty twenty four. Someplace is not always accessible. How do
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: you find accessibility though?
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: In New York? Has it improved?
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: Well? You forced to be. You have to be accessible now.
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: Like even when I was in Tribeca, which was a
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: new build construction like three years in, they made us
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: kind of redo the bar area so that there was
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: wheelchair access so you know, handicap people could roll up
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: to the bar itself, not even just like to the
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: cocktail tables, which we had to put lower cocktail tables in,
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: but you needed a space designated at the bar that
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: was lower. So yeah, I feel like they are completely
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: making changes so that it's accessible to everyone.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: There we go, She just call me now, but I
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: can call her in a second. No, you know it just.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: It's one of those things whereas I'm doing research on
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: all these I gotta figure that out as well. Christina,
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: I gotta ask this, because you've been around for a while.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: When you were in that time, what was the latest
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: you'd be working to because I feel like the whole
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: story of oh my god, we were out till four am, But.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: That was real back in the day, and it feels
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: different now in the same I don't feel like they're
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: open as much as late they used to be.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: But maybe I'm just not out as much anymore.
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I would be out pretty late. But
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: number one, I really liked that lifestyle, Like I liked
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: being out, Like that's why you're in restaurants, right, So
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: if you close the restaurant, like you're serving till eleven
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: and people sit at ten fifty and they're taking their time,
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: I mean they're not really leaving till twelve one in
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: the morning, and then you have to do like closing
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: paperwork and make sure the restaurant's in great conditions. So
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: then it's like two. And then it's like two so
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: you're like, all right, I'll go down the street to
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: the Raccoon Lodge and get a drink with some friends
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: and then it's three, and then you know it's it's
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: a late night, but it doesn't feel it in the moment.
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: It just feels like a regular night.
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: How you got to know Lucas because it sounds like
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: he frequented the palm and Palm two? What was he
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: seems like he's such a fun conversation just based on
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: have dumb on radio in person, also, he's pretty cool
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: to talk with that what were your experience with him?
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: So Lucas is like one of those people that you
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: get in the restaurant industry for right, he's your Tuesday
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: night regular who has a standing reservation, you know, once
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: a week at the same time. And when he comes in,
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: it's not going to be any drama. He just comes
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: in for fun. I mean, as he mentions on his
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: show last week, he didn't even order anything, Like he
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: doesn't even eat the food, right, He would just order
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: like a bottle, a very nice bottle of wine. But
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: he would come in to take his clients out after
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: he was teaching at Brooklyn Law School or New York
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: Law School rather down the street. So he's fun, like
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: he's engaging. There's banter that goes on back and forth.
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: He's there for two hours, but it feels like five minutes.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: I would look forward to seeing him every week, and
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: if I saw, by chance, there wasn't a reservation for
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: him on that night, I would text him in the
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: afternoon to be like, what's the problem, what's happening? Why
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: aren't you coming in tonight?
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: So you really grow friendship with him? That's awesome. That
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: that that's really cool.
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: I love working on radio for sure. But I wanted
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: to ask that because I know he's gonna listen and be.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Like, why didn't you ask me about me?
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah? I want to make well know if he if
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: he's gonna listen, I mean he should know this by now.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: But literally one of my most favorite people I ever
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: met working in hospitality.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: Oh no, and on the radio. He's so he's so
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: kind and awesome to work with. I want to talk
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: a little more about the Vintage because I was just
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: thinking about how at the Palm too, it was like
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: all the blinds. It felt like that place was just
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: sort of.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Vintage New York.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: And I can't get over just talking to you that
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: you worked there, you know, was there any I'd say,
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: was there any smoking going on because those restaurants type
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: of things might allow there, or was there no smoking
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: going on like the old movies, if you will.
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: Definitely not in Tribeca, but I mean in Palm too.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: I mean I I'm pretty sure it was Liza Minelli
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: that was in the back corner smoking a cigarette at
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: her table, like you know, she didn't care.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Tell me about your mentor who mentored your growing up
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: through the hospitality world, Any mentors or anybody that you
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: look up to in the restaurant field that like, wow,
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: I want to be there, or something to that effect.
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: I mean, not so much celebrity wise, like you know,
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: celebrity chef.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: Wise, you might have worked with in the restaurant field
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: as you were coming up through the restaurant rings people.
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: So when I first started working at Tavn on the Green,
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: I mean I had just been culinary school and I
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: got very close with the teacher there, and he was like, listen,
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: I just opened up the times. Head over to Tavern
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: on the Green. They're having an open call for every
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: position available, like waiters, bartenders, hostesses, like just get your
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: foot in the door there and figure it out. So
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: I wound up being hired there as a hostess, and
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: there was this guy there named Bismarck Irving. He was
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: the director of operations or a director of restaurants. He
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: moved me into management at Tavern on the Green at
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: nineteen years old with zero experience. And he is someone
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: who he worked at the Rainbow Room Rainbows and Stars,
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: like he ran that whole program there. He was with
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: Tavern on the Green, he was at the Russian Tea Room,
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: so he was with New York institutions, like, very close
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: with the Leroy family who owns Tavern on the Green.
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: So he's someone who taught me everything I know. And
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: I'm still friends with him to this day. And the
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: people I worked with there, there's like this just little
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: group of people. They were the best. We are all
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: still friends. I'm going to one of their houses tomorrow.
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: They're just wonderful people who enjoy the industry. And yeah,
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: they made working seem like it was fun. So yeah,
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: very inspiring group.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: Very cool.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: Do you feel like your kids as you bring them
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: to these restaurants, are having an appreciation for that, you know,
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: the restaurant experience or are they still young?
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: No? I think they definitely appreciate it, and I could
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: be creating monsters because I mean I certainly didn't grow
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: up going anywhere that was like super nice, like definitely
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: not in New York. My parents hated going to New York,
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: so they very rarely brought me there. But I bring
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: my kids there because I like it and I want
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: to expose them to, you know, different settings, different groups
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: of people that go out, so they love it. I
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: took my kids over the springtime to stay in New
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: York at like the one Hotel on by Central Park South,
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: and you know, that was a treat. Obviously that's very
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: high end hotel. Definitely often, but they still talk about it.
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: They're like, when are we going back to the One Hotel.
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: I'm like, probably never, but you know, they have a
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: taste for this kind of stuff now. But I'm like,
• 29:17
  Speaker 3: you know what, they're like their mother. What can I say?
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: Love it, love it.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: This has been so cool, Christina to just have you on,
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: and I love to have you on. I'm just thinking
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: of all the restaurants tours I've gotten to know, Like
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: David Burke over the years, open up so many restaurants.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Ever tried a David Burke restaurant?
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: Yes, I can't remember. It was like in Soho. I
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: don't remember which one. It was like downstairs, like by
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: the Jimmy Hotel, the James Hotel, and I remember that, Yeah,
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: I've been there. I bounce around. I like to try
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: all the restaurants.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: You're a New Yorker, you know in a lot of ways,
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: so you're not really a tourist. But do you find
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: that you can be a great.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: Resource for tourists? So like, hey where should we go?
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, you ever ever con told the people coming
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: into town, hey where should we go?
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: Do they consult you constantly? And especially when they want
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: to know what restaurants to go to? I mean all
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: the time, I get all right, I'm coming to New
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: York for two nights. Where am I going to dinner?
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: Set me up? Like what's hot right now? And I
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: have this one friend that lives up in Boston, but
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: he travels a ton for work and he comes to
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: New York once a month and he's like, Okay, Christina,
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: where are we going? You make therise, You always have
• 30:30
  Speaker 3: your finger on the pulse. You know what's good. So
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: I'm like this personal concierge for my friend of nice
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: places to go to in New York.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: That's so cool. You mentioned you went to cooling air school.
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: So was this something you want to do as a
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: kid to be in that chef world, in that restaurant world,
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: or is it something you kind of.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess that's the question. Did you want to
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: do this when you were a kid, since you were
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: a kid.
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I would be like, I don't know,
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: sixteen seventeen years old, having dinner parties for my friends,
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: Like I'd have them where I would cook them dinner.
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: I just it's my love language. Like cooking for people
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: and like hosting people is just what makes me happy
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: and what I like to do. So I just knew
• 31:10
  Speaker 3: very early on that's what I needed to do for
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: a career, Like I don't need to waste my parents'
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: money or my money sended me to a college to
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: get some degree in something I'm not going to use,
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: Like I'm going to work in restaurants and it's growing,
• 31:23
  Speaker 3: it's not always glamorous, but I love it. So yeah,
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: happy with that decision.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: How about Jersey, I mean, if you're from there, so
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: do you find that the restaurant world is totally different
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: in Jersey or you know, like I've been in Hoboken,
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: and I've been to other cities in Jersey, and they've
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: got a really up and coming kind of thing going
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: on there in these cities of Jersey, right or not
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: as to the extent of New York.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: But it's growing, it's growing.
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: I mean, this is tough for me because obviously I'm
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: a Jersey girl. I love New Jersey. I see so
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: much value in living here. You know, you're accessible to
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: so much any things. But restaurant wise, like nothing competes
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: with New York. Like there are a handful of places
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: in New Jersey where I'm like, all right, they're good there.
• 32:10
  Speaker 3: It's an okay crowd, like it checks a couple boxes.
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: But when I want to go to dinner, like I'm
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: going to the city, like I'm not wasting my time
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: really going out in New Jersey, Like there's a there's
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: a handful of local places that I like to support
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: because I like to support small businesses. But if I
• 32:28
  Speaker 3: want like the quintessential, like fun night in a cool restaurant,
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: Like I'm driving fifteen minutes down Ruth three and I'm
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: going through the Lincoln Tunnel to the city.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: Well, you know what you just mentioned checking out all
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: the boxes. So what makes in Christina casable? What makes
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: an amazing restaurant to go to? What checks all the boxes?
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: First and foremost, it has to be the hospitality part.
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: Like you know what it's like when you go somewhere
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: and you walk in and the hostess makes you feel
• 32:59
  Speaker 3: like a million bucks. She gives you that great table,
• 33:01
  Speaker 3: The server is attentive but not pushy right when they're
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: trying to suggest things, like they really want you to
• 33:08
  Speaker 3: have a great experience. But then like you order things
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: and it's like, Okay, the food is fantastic, the drinks
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: are amazing. It's like that total package, like you need
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: every single thing to be great. And then when you're
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: going to a place regularly and they have that off night,
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: which every restaurant does, like it's inevitable, you're more forgiving
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: because you're like this place knocks it out of the
• 33:32
  Speaker 3: park nine times out of ten, Like, Okay, the chicken
• 33:34
  Speaker 3: palm wasn't you know, the best tonight, But I'll be
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: back next week. So like that's why I was mentioning
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: Koka Doc earlier on twenty second Street. I was like
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: very taken by them, and I've been there a couple times.
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: Now they have the hospitality part really figured out, you
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: know New York back in the day, like places like
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: Buddhacan when it first opened, like it was like so
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: fun and cool to be there, Like it was almost
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: like cool to be the nasty hostess, right, Like that
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: was the vibe. But that's not the vibe in a
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: post COVID world anymore. Now. It's like how nice can
• 34:10
  Speaker 3: we treat our guests and be hospitable? And I see
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: that more often than not now, And I mean that
• 34:17
  Speaker 3: makes a huge part of what makes a restaurant successful
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: and what keeps them around for a long time.
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: All Right, mentioned hostess, you mentioned Barton, You mentioned all this.
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: Did you work every aspect of these restaurants?
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: Were you behind the bar? Where are you the hostess?
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: What was your main role during these years?
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: So I okay, for the main role, I was a manager,
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: general manager, floor manager, did all those things. But when
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: I started working at Tavern on the Green, because I
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: had no management experience, my mentor, Bismarck Irving, he created
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: this training program for me where I worked in every
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: position in that restaurant over the course of that summer,
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: whether it was like, you know, two weeks, three weeks,
• 35:00
  Speaker 3: I mean everything, bartender, server, purchasing department, like everything, so
• 35:06
  Speaker 3: I could really see all aspects of it. I mean
• 35:09
  Speaker 3: that was a tailor made program just for me, and
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: I really benefited from it, and I mean it was incredible.
• 35:16
  Speaker 3: No one else ever got that experience there, but it
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: really set me up for success because I needed that
• 35:22
  Speaker 3: happened on the Green was the highest grossing restaurant in
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: the country for sure. It was like we were doing
• 35:27
  Speaker 3: like forty million dollars a year, Like that's nuts.
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: And I can't believe it was almost on the verge
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: of closing, you know, that's that's just or I did
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: close at some point or a little bit. You wouldn't
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: think of that though back in the nineties because there
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: was so jumping back in the day. Has you know,
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: I talked about all the different restaurants, and I feel
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: like azero a consultant.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Has the date night changed in the city.
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: I feel like since COVID, the date night's changed, But
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: do do people wanted to still take their loved ones
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: out to restaurants? I mean, are you seeing that as
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: still as read?
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah, I mean restaurants are a celebratory space, right, Like,
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: whether you're doing a date night or birthday dinner, it's
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: still a place to gather. Especially in New York. You
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: can't always host people in your apartment, right because the
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: apartments are tinier. You want to get together with eight
• 36:14
  Speaker 3: ten friends and have them feel comfortable. You know, you're
• 36:17
  Speaker 3: you're going to a restaurant. So yeah, I mean and
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: date night. There's nothing better than a New York City
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: date night.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: I can.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: On you know, it's funny as we're talking about this,
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking about doing a live show somewhere. I want
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: to do a podcast live somewhere, but I don't know
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: how to do that. Any advice on how to, you know,
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: reach out to these people say hey, I want to
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: do a show from your restaurant. I feel like they're
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: more amicable of just the details I'd be worked out.
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: Any advice on how to make that happen?
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: Well, restaurants are very loud. Would would you need a
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: private room?
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Maybe?
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: I mean I've worked other remotes where my radio station
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: literally has gone into restaurants and done it.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: So I'm god of spoiled.
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: I think that it could be done like that, you know,
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: because I'm seeing others set it up like that, but
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: we'll see.
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, reach out, reach out to the manager of whatever
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: restaurant you know you're interested in, and it never hurts
• 37:12
  Speaker 3: to bring a little gift. I mean when I was
• 37:14
  Speaker 3: when I was a manager at these restaurants, people would
• 37:17
  Speaker 3: bring me things in all the time, and like that
• 37:19
  Speaker 3: kind of generosity and thoughtfulness, it goes a long way.
• 37:22
  Speaker 3: Like Lucas was the king of that kind of stuff.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: You were the GM.
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: That is so cool and that you know, I know
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: you wear that title proudly, but you're so down there
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: at the same time, and I guess that has to
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: be you don't let the title dictate your personality.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: I get the vibe.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: And so that leads to my other question, how important
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: is this for you know, even if you're not in
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: the restaurant world, you can probably take the expertise you
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: learn from just talking to people at restaurants into the
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: real world outside the restaurant, right and and and I'm
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: sure you coached others along the way in there's perspective
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: fields based on what you've been doing too.
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the best advice in any business, I
• 38:06
  Speaker 3: guess is to just not have an ego right, like,
• 38:10
  Speaker 3: just do the job you're there to do. You know.
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: I work from my father right now. He owns some
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: businesses and I see him every day kind of lead
• 38:19
  Speaker 3: in that kind of way where he's not above anything,
• 38:23
  Speaker 3: like he'll do any task that needs to be done.
• 38:25
  Speaker 3: And I think that's kind of where I get my
• 38:27
  Speaker 3: work ethic from and the way I you know, deal
• 38:30
  Speaker 3: with people. You just have to be approachable. And it's
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: again like not just in hospitality, but it's in any field,
• 38:39
  Speaker 3: but in a hospitality that really is beneficial because you know,
• 38:44
  Speaker 3: you're in front of people all the time. How how
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: can you handle someone who isn't happy with something, whether
• 38:50
  Speaker 3: like they're drink, they got the wrong drink or the
• 38:52
  Speaker 3: wrong dish, if you're not approaching them with a smile,
• 38:54
  Speaker 3: Like it's very hard to stay mad at somebody when
• 38:57
  Speaker 3: they're smiling in front of you. So I mean that
• 39:00
  Speaker 3: that was always my biggest thing that I tried to
• 39:02
  Speaker 3: even tell all of the employees. I was like, anything
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: can be fixed with a smile, So it goes along.
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, as Rerum's, all I can think of is that
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: being in that restaurant scene, it feels like the restaurant
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: is the best place to have the most deeper conversations.
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: Why is that?
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: I feel like that's the only place you can really
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: just talk someone's ear off.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: I don't know what is about the restaurant, but that's
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: what it feels like to me. Did you find that
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: experience as well?
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: You could have people talk in your ear off night
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: in and night out.
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, well, libations kind of help with that, right,
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's true. You give someone some drinks and
• 39:40
  Speaker 3: it goes a long way. I don't know. Everyone's just
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: a little more relaxed when they're out, when they're enjoying
• 39:46
  Speaker 3: indulging in things. I mean, Lucas, I could sit and
• 39:52
  Speaker 3: talk to him for hours. I would sometimes have to
• 39:55
  Speaker 3: feel myself away from the booth he was sitting and
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: because I like I'd have to be like I have
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: actually like work to do right now, Like I can't
• 40:01
  Speaker 3: sit here all night. But it's just a gathering space
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: for people to kind of be together, and that's amazing.
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: Well, and it'll continue, well, hopefully run to each other
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: in the city. That would be awesome as you're doing
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: your restaurant tours and everything like that. As Lucas asked,
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna ask you here anything in the works for you,
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: because I'm kind of curious now what you got in
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: the works based on all this experience, will we see
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: char syndicates back in the restaurant field again?
• 40:29
  Speaker 3: So I kind of dipped my toe back in the water.
• 40:34
  Speaker 3: Last summer. I was asked to consult for this hotel
• 40:39
  Speaker 3: restaurant concept down in Manusquan, and I did that over
• 40:44
  Speaker 3: the last summer, and it kind of did stir up
• 40:46
  Speaker 3: some feelings I have about working in a hospitality again.
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: And so short answer is yes, long answer is I'm
• 40:56
  Speaker 3: still trying to figure out when that timing would be
• 40:59
  Speaker 3: right because I had to small children, and uh, you know,
• 41:02
  Speaker 3: they're getting older now, like they're five and seven, so
• 41:05
  Speaker 3: they're just a bit more established. So I think I
• 41:07
  Speaker 3: could make something happen. I have a friend who wants
• 41:11
  Speaker 3: to do something with me, but now the question is
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: like where do we do it. I obviously am like,
• 41:17
  Speaker 3: let's do it in New York. He has a lot
• 41:20
  Speaker 3: of money, and he's like, let's do it down in Florida.
• 41:22
  Speaker 3: And I'm like, I can't do that, Like I live
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: in New Jersey. Like because to make a restaurant work,
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: you have to be there all the time, so figuring
• 41:32
  Speaker 3: it out nothing tomorrow, but you know, hopefully in the
• 41:36
  Speaker 3: next year or two we'll make something happen.
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: Well, stay in touch. Would love to have you back
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: on the shows. Things keep going for for you and
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: for really the New York City vibe. I mean, we
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: have Steve Cuzo on the radio station I work out
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: all the time. He's great, so I kind of get
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: the inside. But I love the inside from you as well.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: So let's say.
• 41:55
  Speaker 3: Thank you for having me. Yes, definitely, Alex. It has
• 41:57
  Speaker 3: been a pleasure. So gad we connect, all right.
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: That's Christina Kates former GM. Let me get this right
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: the palm right, the palm and were you Jima at
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: the Palm two as well?
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: No.
• 42:10
  Speaker 3: I worked for this woman. Her name was Janice. Everyone
• 42:14
  Speaker 3: called her pick like p I s. She is just
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: this tall, blonde like tooth pick, right, that's kind of
• 42:20
  Speaker 3: where her name came from. She worked for the Bossie family,
• 42:24
  Speaker 3: which is like that one family I was talking about
• 42:26
  Speaker 3: that was so amazing for a long time. So she
• 42:29
  Speaker 3: was the queen of tecond Avenue, so I was lucky
• 42:32
  Speaker 3: to work for her. But she also lived on Second Avenue.
• 42:35
  Speaker 3: She lived right upstairs from the Palm.
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: Too amazing.
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: We see we're all connected in that way, all right,
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: Christina Kates, thanks for joining the Alex Garrett podcast Network.