Back in the year 2000 the Cherry Lane Theater hosted the premier of Becky Mode's side-splitting, lightening-paced one man show, "Fully Committed", and restaurant reservationists in basements and broom closets all around town felt seen. And maybe not a little bit exposed.

An updated version of the show moved to Broadway in 2016 starring the great Jesse Tyler Ferguson who won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for his role as Sam, and the other 30-plus characters that populate this 90-minute whiplash inducing romp through the trials--and wins--of a New York City reservationist.

Now Jake Shipley, an actor and FOH restaurant worker since his teens, is performing FULLY COMMITTED at the Phoenician Playhouse in Phoenicia, NY, to great acclaim, for two weekend only.

Jake took an hour during his crazy performance schedule to chat with Maître d' Diaries about the role and the work. And the possible future of taking this behind-the-scenes in the restaurant world play back out on the road.

We are so happy to welcome New York Restaurant World Legend, Melba Wilson, to Maître d’ Diaries. Restaurants are all about creating community. The community that is fostered in dining rooms, across tables, in bars and lounges, AND the community we build INSIDE the restaurants where we work.

One of the best things about the hospitality business is how it gives us the chance to work with and get to know people of diverse ages and backgrounds we might not meet otherwise. And when f&b folk are lucky enough to be out and about sometimes we get to meet friends of friends, or people we’ve admired from afar, and as a result our personal restaurant community continues to expand. This is what happened when Erica had the pleasure of meeting Melba Wilson at an event last year.

Melba is the founder of the beloved Melba’s in Harlem, and she just recently opened the 4th Melba’s in Grand Central Terminal Dining Concourse. She is also a fixture on the New York food scene, a food insecurity activist, and a vibrant beacon of glamour and kindness.

Being “born, bred and buttered in Harlem”, Melba knew she wanted to stay close to home so she could nurture and provide an exquisite yet comfortable dining experience to the community that raised her.

Listen in to our chat to hear about:

~ How Melba learned all aspects of the restaurant business from her aunt Sylvia Woods of the iconic American Classic Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem

~ The impact of growing up with grandparents who were gardeners

~ What Josefina Howard said to Melba when she said she wanted to open her own restaurant, and how that changed everything

~ How Melba took Windows on the World’s slow Sunday Brunches and turned them into the wildly successful Gospel Sunday Brunch that ran until Sunday, September 9th, 2001.

~ The inspiration she’s taken from 114th Street, Harlem’s historic Minton’s Playhouse, and gazing at the monuments of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman

You meet the best people working in restaurants! Case in point, this episode’s guest, Tatiana Mejia, maître d’ at Michelin-starred Francie in Brooklyn, and a dear friend.

Folks come to restaurant work via all different paths, many of us finding the right balance of physical activity, mental engagement, social interaction, and reliable income in a place we didn’t originally imagine ourselves belonging.

One of the mission’s of Maître d’ Diaries is to share our love for the vocation of taking care of people through hospitality. To shine a spotlight on how the work of serving and hosting can be a satisfying, fulfilling, and fun way to make a living.

Listen in to hear:

~ What it was like to be maître d’ at the landmark Tavern on the Green (600+ people a night, 1,200 for brunch, in case you didn’t know!)

~ The similarities and differences between working retail and restaurants

~ How working FOH can develop people skills and build community

~ About crying in the coat check–the FOH version of crying in the walk-in

~ How a weekly sauna ritual helps Tatiana sweat out the stress of the work week

~ Her current favor savory martini