Wednesday, November 28, 2007

UNITED RESTAURANT AND TAVERN OWNERS DINNER HIGHLIGHTS

Last night, members of the UNITED RESTAURANT and TAVERN OWNERS Association held their Annual Dinner Dance at Tavern on the Green in Central Park. This is usually a festive occasion (as to be expected when you have a room full of bar/restaurant types), and last night was especially festive as over 350 guests gathered to honor one of our own, JIM LONG (better known as THE DON).

THE DON was called upon to receive the U.R.T.O. "Man of the Year" Award. Also honored was JOHN CONWAY of ANHEUSER-BUSCH as the U.R.T.O "Industry Man of the Year". Both honorees were well deserving of their awards and both gave memorable speeches that brought about a lot of applause. THE DON's speech was particularly interesting as he spoke with passion about the importance of customers and how they mean everything to the bar business and that we should always appreciate them; He also touched upon the love and support from his family and how thankful he was for that. THE DON then talked about the staff of the bars, particularly our place and thanked everyone for their dedication and loyalty. Then to my surprise, he pulled out a letter. Not just any letter, mind you; He pulled out a resignation letter that I'd written to him out of frustration EIGHT YEARS AGO!!!

resignation letter with key still attached to it....

The story (as far as I can remember)went something like this: If memory serves me correct, I think I was working a party for NYU and they had reservations for about 30 people. As it turned out, the party went from 30 to well over one hundred people; I was caught without a barback, no other help, tons of angry patrons yelling and screaming at me for drinks. In other words, a total clusterf***. I somehow got through the night but was so frustrated and angry that at the end of the night, I fired off this "resignation letter", locked the front door, taped the key to my "letter", slid it under the door and left, vowing never to return. Looking back on it now, it was probably an overreaction on my part, but at the time, it felt like the right thing to do.

It took THE DON a couple of days to track me down and coax me back, but somehow he did. And he's kept this "resignation letter" all of these years... only to pull it out of mothballs and blow up my spot in front of a packed house at the Tavern on the Green (Thanks). But seriously, everyone got a good laugh from it and him thanking me for my years of loyalty was very touching and nice. Embarrassing, but nice.

Dinner and dancing followed the speeches and the booze certainly did flow. I found myself developing a new love for SMITHWICK's Beer. Let's see how much of a headache it gives me in the morning. Overall, it was great to be out with my friends and fellow employees; it was also nice to mingle and network with others that are in the same industry. You realize that although we live and work in a huge city, the bar community is actually a small one, where most people know of one another.

Enjoy the pics!

The DON and his lovely wife....

BROOKLYN PAULIE and yours truly...

The DON and myself, holding on to that damn "Resignation Letter"...

BLONDE CHATTERBOX...obviously feeling no pain. Bless her heart....

FRENCHY, FIRE MARSHALL EDDIE and CUTIE-PIE KATIE

Members of the LONG family, enjoying the festivities...

The ITALIAN STALLION, THE SPIN-DOCTOR and ARCHIE BUNKER, discussing current events (yeah, right.)

Members of the Third and Long Staff having a good time....

Yours truly, touched by THE DON's speech....










SUGAR checking out the program...



More scoops to come!


NuFF said