November 14th, 2025 I could not be more excited for this unexpected late development: after years of working the Sip & Shop brunch events at Gary’s Supper Club, I’m finally sitting behind a table with my books at one! These events are always full of energy and fun (and cinnamon rolls and mimosas, if that’sContinue reading “Sip & Shop @ Gary’s Supper Club”
Tag Archives: Restaurants
Gratitude Tipline
August 11th, 2025 I was talking to a man this weekend and everything was going well until it was not. We men do that. He, his family and I had found some things in common and were having a generally nice time. He knew what I did for a living and then, out of nowhere,Continue reading “Gratitude Tipline”
the graetness of being human
July 10th, 2023 “Every night you make somebody’s day.” I can’t easily explain why I’m still in the restaurant business after all these years. There are the reasons I keep freely between my fingers like playing cards, displaying them when people ask me to show them a magic trick. As a writer who makes veryContinue reading “the graetness of being human”
Cold World: Communication & Understanding
June 20th, 2023 I was working at my first adult serving job when a woman sat down in my section and radically changed my perspective on people. Applebee’s was the catalyst for this revelation. See, I worked at Chili’s. And this woman wanted — nay, was compelled — to tell me about a terrible restaurantContinue reading “Cold World: Communication & Understanding”
Popina Academia
January 15th, 2023 After a very eventful and exhausting week, I wanted to get back to the January theme of Origins. This essay asks: how has working in a restaurant for most of my life affected me as a writer? Let’s start with my restaurant history. Growing up in Faribault, I worked as a cornContinue reading “Popina Academia”
2
September 1st, 2022 Today is my two-year anniversary at Harry’s. (This is not a photo of us celebrating my anniversary. This is from a wedding a few weekends ago where I was the minister-bartender. Barnister? Minitender.) In 2020, a lot of people lost a lot. I lost more than I ever had in any otherContinue reading “2”
Don’t worry about the bacon.
December 24th, 2021 I want to tell you a story about bacon. Last night, we ordered a chicken bacon artichoke pizza to bake at home. When we opened it, there was no bacon on it. I didn’t call them to say anything. I ate the pizza and I was grateful. Now, I feel like evenContinue reading “Don’t worry about the bacon.”
Gobstopper
November 9th, 2021 Talking shit about people is about as human as it gets. It actually fascinates me how most folk, no matter how old they get, no matter what they do for a living, no matter how much they have going on in their own lives, never get less excited to sit down andContinue reading “Gobstopper”
The First Anniversaries of a Dog & a Living
September 1st, 2021 Today, I celebrate not one, but two one-year anniversaries: my employment at Harry’s, and the surprise release of my fifth book, Theia. Losing my job at Old Chicago forever was awful, particularly the way that it happened. To use a exceptionally bad metaphor, it was like I was married for almost 13Continue reading “The First Anniversaries of a Dog & a Living”
Heartbreak Weather
July 15th, 2021 I’m still on the Old Chicago email list. For more than a few months, when I’d open one, I would feel heartbreak for what I lost. After a while, though, I would start to feel a new kind of heartbreak; I’d think of all the things I would have never experienced ifContinue reading “Heartbreak Weather”
The Den 