VINDICATION! SWEET SWEET GLORY!

If you have talked to me at all over the last 6 months, then you have no doubt heard me speak endlessly about my job with the restaurant/jazz club LOLA. This also means you have heard my frustration and my spirit-crushing stories about broken pipes, gas hookups, faulty inspections, hired and fired executive celebrity chefs, bribery, bounced checks, intimidation tactics, racism and the evil empire of NYC, the SOHO Alliance.

All that horror since March, and I have stood by that place out of the intuition that it was just the "right" damn thing to do... a feeling that has put just a little financial strain on me. And by just a little, I of course mean that I actually have stooped to drinking Jim Beam and eating canned peas.

All that being said... last night I worked my first night at LOLA, and I have been smiling ever since!

Famous musicians, drop-dead gorgeous models, movie people, reporters, etc etc etc... were all in attendence for a party that was held at LOLA, paid for by Madison Square Garden, and celebrating the film release of a documentary about New Orleans. We had killer food (most of which was from our upcoming menu), awesome open-bar booze and amazing drunk and beautiful people... and afterwards WE celebrated. A lot. Lots of celebration... Too much. And I had to work a double today (at my other temporary job) following it... which, uh, really sucked. But hell, at least I had a good reason to be tired.

I just had to yap about it...

Point being... it was an invigorating night. The kitchen is up and running and training their asses off to get the menu right. The back of house staff is fantastic, and the front of house proved themselves last night without a doubt. And we are opening to the public within the next two weeks. For real this time. So ya'll better find your appetites for Cajun/Creole French food quickly... or just liquor. We have lots of that too.

And on a personal note, I feel it is my duty as an honest person to admit that yes, I was the first dumbass to break a glass while serving on the floor. I shattered a lovely glass of our Pinot Gris. In my fuckin defense though, I was carrying a tray full of filled top-heavy glasses of wine down some stairs, and a lady was trying to grab a glass off the tray as I was stepping down. NOT ENTIRELY MY DAMN FAULT! Still though, it was kinda like deflowering a nun... no matter how you try to pass the blame, ya just feel guilty for being the first one there.

Doubt I'll burn in hell for this one though.