20250501
Every day in New York City, restaurant doors open and waitstaff clock in, ready to prepare the space for the starved and parched. Aprons tied, hair pulled back, hands washed (at least figuratively), over a million Manhattaners warm themselves up to take orders, course dishes, and flash smiles at patrons from boroughs and countries alike. They’ll spend anywhere from five to 13 hours feeding and imbibing locals, tourists, celebrities and foodies, and in turn, keep one of the global food capitals alive and sizzling. Black, rubber-bottomed shoes will walk miles, climb stairs, and tap the ground in adrenaline as dinner rushes fulfill their titles and morning commutes beg to be caffeinated. Waiters, bartenders, and baristas weave around tables and one another, hustling through diners for gratuity.
After a shift of inevitable mayhem, you’d expect those workers to take themselves home and tuck themselves in, to rest until the next stretch of hospitality chaos.
Maybe the average person does.
The artists among them, however, swap their aprons for smocks and get to their real work.
Moving to New York City in pursuit of an artistic career is a worn, warm path, tread upon at some point by some of the most well-known actors, writers, painters and musicians in history. The island’s pace mixed with its expressive personality creates an ever-evolving microcosm of opportunity and inspiration. Those who can survive the dysfunctionality of being a New Yorker come to crave the lifestyle.
People who believe they have something to share with the world, who in one way or other possess a medium of expression that refuses silencing, come to Manhattan to test the strength of themselves and their inklings. While they explore their talents and hunt for chances of exposure, though, they’ve got to pay the bills. Some will enter corporate America to fund their outside projects, earning salaries and dental coverage, leaning on a stable day job. A few will dive into freelance work, somehow fulfilling enough contracts to make art their full-time job immediately.
Most of them, however, seek out employment that allows for bulk amounts of free time and focused work, houses environments with other passionate artists, and provides proximity to the city’s people.
New York’s food and beverage industry offers such a lifestyle.
The service and artist worlds in Manhattan flourish in symbiotic existence, and their employees are some of the most ambitious and creative of the island inhabitants. While you may not pay much thought to the waitress balancing pasta dishes on her arm or the barista churning out lattes and americanos, they’ve got both your needs and their passions at the front of their minds at all times.
New York’s painters, actors and musicians of the future are taking down the temperature you’d like your fish and the type of milk you want in your coffee. They are specifying your martini order, making leaves of milk in your lattes, and engaging with you – a complete stranger – from aperitif to after dinner drink, all to stay in the city of creativity and chance. They sustain the hunger of the city to feed their own dreams. These are their stories. This is Waiting Magazine.
My time in the food and beverage industry began long before I realized I wanted to be a writer. I spent weekends in high school bussing tables at a bakery in my hometown, Charlottesville, Virginia, where I stole madelines and had to psych myself up to perform water service. During summers home from college, I waitressed at a bar next to the University of Virginia’s grounds, where I forgot all my learned manners and did not take shots with tables I served. While studying English at Boston College, I worked at a nearby tapas restaurant that I enjoyed being at more than most dorm parties, and where I learned which jokes head chefs liked and when to tell them without being screamed at. And now, a year out of school, I pour expensive wine and recite artisanal cheeses for diners at an Italian restaurant on New York’s Upper East Side, where I learn a new piece of musical-themed information every shift. As I move through restaurants, my love for storytelling and writing develops, and I increasingly use conversations I have (or overhear) and people I meet (or am tipped badly by) as material.
Throughout these jobs, one element remains constant: My love for the people around me. Interesting stories, unique perspectives on life, dry senses of humor and genuine kindness come with each waitstaff, and if it weren’t for the friendships I’ve made over the years in these spaces, I would not be sitting here, writing this.
I moved to New York to learn about satire and comedy writing, and the more I share my own passions with artists and people in the Manhattan food and beverage world, the more I meet others who are also supplementing their career endeavors with waitressing, bartending and barista jobs. I created Waiting Magazine to give us a platform to connect with one another, encourage and inspire each other, and build a community of individuals attached to two creative and chaotic areas of work. We’re a funny group, whether we like it or not, and whether you’re one of us or you want to learn about us, my hope is that you feel welcome in these pages. If anything, you’ll just leave better tips.
When I’m not transcribing an interview or spiraling out about creating a magazine, I’m publishing weekly satirical essays on my Substack, “I Hope No One From School Finds This”, and writing sketches with my friends.
Love,
Adele
*I don’t have an Instagram account. You can find me in Brooklyn.