Food, Home and Style

Layoffs on the Menu

It used to be that if you were out of work, you could always wait tables. Freelancers, actors, and recent college grads have long relied on this economic truism as a hedge against hard times. But a Saturday piece in The Orlando Sentinel that caught our eye suggests that the times are a-changin. Sandra Pedicini’s “Slump takes toll; servers lose jobs as restaurants cut back” chronicles the woes of restaurant staff as tips dwindle and layoffs pile up faster than food orders. Waitstaff at the acclaimed Manuel’s on the 28th at the Bank of America Center’s top floor once held some of the most enviable jobs in town. Last week, these servers joined the ranks of the 91,700 restaurant, bar and food-service workers across the country who have found themselves jobless in the last six months. Recent closings in our stomping ground in New York City include Les Deux Gamin on 4th Street, 9th Street Market, and Chelsea’s It’s a Dominican Thing, formerly the only upscale Dominican restaurant in lower Manhattan. The recession even reached the hallowed heights of the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, which closed its grill recently due to the downturn. Eating out is a luxury these days, but it’s good to make a point of visiting your favorite local eatery whenever you can…and maybe even add an extra dollar or two on the table.

Tags: layoffs, restaurants, servers