The Opening
Follow Brian Lesser as he launches a Back Bay trattoria, going from blueprints to braised rabbit in just over a year. He dreams of packing the place and turning a buck. Can he and his team pull it off?
The Painters Just Touched Up The Trim. The menus, printed this morning, are slipped into their covers. The rich Plugra butter slowly softens in the dining room air.
"Remember, forks are face up, knives are face in," Mark Spence, the director of operations, says in his kindly, you-ought-to-know-better way. "And bread plates always go to the left," adds the general manager, Tom Keefe.
Dressed in their black and whites, the waitstaff scribble notes. Mostly twenty-somethings, they are exhausted from a week of training and exams.
"I'm a little nervous," admits Lisa Hornak, one of the bartenders.
After 14 months of preparation, this is no time for stage fright. In three days, Boston's latest anticipated restaurant will open in the Back Bay, and this Friday night is the first full dress rehearsal. Forgotten are the not-yet-installed awnings and the wobbly tables. Worries about the custom-designed banquettes, once deemed too uncomfortable for a three-hour meal, are put away. Ignored are the plate covers that haven't arrived; if dishes are less than piping hot after their journey from the basement kitchen, so be it.
External Source - For the complete article click here
Source - Boston Globe
"Remember, forks are face up, knives are face in," Mark Spence, the director of operations, says in his kindly, you-ought-to-know-better way. "And bread plates always go to the left," adds the general manager, Tom Keefe.
Dressed in their black and whites, the waitstaff scribble notes. Mostly twenty-somethings, they are exhausted from a week of training and exams.
"I'm a little nervous," admits Lisa Hornak, one of the bartenders.
After 14 months of preparation, this is no time for stage fright. In three days, Boston's latest anticipated restaurant will open in the Back Bay, and this Friday night is the first full dress rehearsal. Forgotten are the not-yet-installed awnings and the wobbly tables. Worries about the custom-designed banquettes, once deemed too uncomfortable for a three-hour meal, are put away. Ignored are the plate covers that haven't arrived; if dishes are less than piping hot after their journey from the basement kitchen, so be it.
External Source - For the complete article click here
Source - Boston Globe
