Downsized from her marketing job, Erin Edwards waits tables in a new Manhattan dining hot spot and learns there's more to waitressing than serving food to customers

Twenty eight year old Erin Edwards is out of work. Down sized from her marketing manager job at a boutique firm in New York City, she watches as her savings account balance dwindles and begins to panic. Unable to find another position in marketing, she lands a job at a new restaurant through the good word of a family friend.

A New Role

Erin begins to wait tables at Roulette, a new hot spot of a restaurant in Manhattan and home of the latest celebrity chef, Carl Corbett. But the secret soon comes out that Erin fibbed her waitressing experience and has never worked in a restaurant in her life. Her trainer, out of work actor waiter Cato Poole, takes her under his wing and is determined to keep her secret hidden. He puts her through "Roulette for Dummies," including a ten page long boot camp document that teaches her the ins and outs of service etiquette. Do: Channel your inner psych nurse and use a soothing voice with rude guests. Don't: Be honest if anyone asks how you like working at Roulette. You love what you do and plan to stay forever. Right?"

A New Identity

With Cato's guidance, Erin begins to find her way around the dining room, reading her customers and accurately recording their mood evaluation numbers on the board in the kitchen. Chef Carl sees this, and tries to find ways to knock Erin down. She's forced to clean the walk in cooler and alphabetize the fruits and vegetables, a task that has her up for most of the night and leaves her less than rested and ready for an interview she snags with a hot marketing firm. But when Erin mentions that she has waited tables for the last year, the mood in the conference room darkens, and she realizes that she has made a mistake. Her waitressing job has changed her identity in others' eyes into that of a service person rather than a corporate executive.

A New Venture

Erin is offered the job, but turns it down; instead she follows through with a new dream, one that she and her best friend cook up.

Turning Tables is a fun and often quite funny look at the inner workings of a restaurant from two women who have been there. Heather and Rose MacDowell have waited tables at restaurants in Manhattan, Nantucket, and San Francisco, and their novel is rich with experience (although fictional, one hopes).

About the Authors

Heather and Rose MacDowell are identical twins who have waited tables in some of the best (and worst) restaurants in Manhattan, Nantucket, and San Francisco. Today they live on opposite coasts and write by email and phone. They dine out frequently and are big tippers.

MacDowell, Heather and MacDowell, Rose

Turning Tables

New York, The Dial Press, March 25, 2008