Life of a Saltine

Our former employee Megan sends us a Postcard from New Zealand! We all miss ya dear! Have fun out there! 

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Hi there!
I just wanted to pop in and say hello from down under! I am currently
located in Hamilton, New Zealand, on the west coast of the North
island.  It’s a quaint, rural town slash city (barely though, they
maybe have 5 “skyrises” and a main strip of town that is mainly bars
and restaurants). Hamilton is known as the “city of the future”, but I
have yet to find out why exactly why it is called that…maybe i’ll
find out in the future? But what it does have going for it is some
pretty cool restaurants and bars (absolutely NOTHING like Salt, but
still cool to party and eat at).  So far i’ve traveled around the north
island—Rotorura (did some cool white water rafting), Auckland
(sailed!), Wellington, Raglan (go tmy tan on at the beach!), and lots
of other places.  It’s kind of funny slash ironic, I came here because
I wanted to see and explore the outdoors but sometimes when I look at
the scenery I secretly think to myself, “hmm…this looks somewhat like
Colorado or California.”  I’m not saying at all that this place isn’t
beautiful, cause everyday I am taken away by its beauty, but in some
respects it has open my eyes to a new beauty.  The beauty of my own
home.  I have realized that I live in one of the most beautiful places
on Earth!!  People say it all the time, but I think that by being able
to travel to a place half way around the world, I am able to appreciate
the beauty of Boulder on my own.

There is so much to do it’s kind of overwhelming to try and see
everything. In a couple weeks i’m going to the south island to do some
exploring, which should be really fun and lots of pictures.

I miss everyone at Salt!!!! You guys were a big family to me in Boulder
and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to work with you all! I
can’t wait to come back and share my stories with you! Being here has
made me appreciate the uniqueness of Salt and what we do there.  Here
in New Zealnd sustainability is a concern, but not to the extent where
the restaurants and public service sectors are thinking locally and
really making an effort to try and make a difference.  The restaurants
here do use less processed meat products, but not because they
necessarily want to be healthier or more environmentally sound, rather
because they have such a smaller population to feed.  Anyways, enough
of the “green” rant, all in all being here has been an AWESOME
opportunity and has really made me appreciate my home—BOULDER! I miss
all you guys and can’t wait to see you soon!  I’ll be back July 3rd,
just in time for the holiday!

Later for now!

Megan

After graduating from Parsons with high hopes of landing an architectural job in my dream city of Boulder… and moving here without having ever been and not knowing a soul… I landed at SALT. Well, that wasn’t the plan. But doesn’t that random unforeseen point “B” to your point “A” make it all so exciting?

My Dad has a habit of referring to events only a week ago by asking, “Doesn’t it feel like forever ago that (such and such) happened?” Well, maybe. Eh, not really. But I will say about six months at SALT and, no matter how fast or slow it’s gone, it feels… right. I’m so thankful for having landed here, with you! You great salty crew you! You never cease to amaze me with your knowledge, dedication and positive attitude. No, really. I love my little work family! …And all the random memories we highlight with our humor each and every day:

- Baking and everyone giving Julie credit.

- “KEVIN! Randy from ‘el-taco’ on line one!” 

- Conor my jerzie boyie. - “I’m from Staten Island!”

- Evan and his bowing of the head with hands in prayer… and agreeing from across the room with a quick little nod of the head. How are you reading my mind?

- “Yeah lets get old Jamo’s section full, huh boo?” The only waiter I don’t worry to triple seat.

- Overusing the word “ow” because all the boys harass me. I’m back in 3^rd grade. 

- Beth, Mike, Annie, and Lauren’s impressions of their server styles. Seriously hilarious.

- My visits at the host stand from the servers and backwaiters throughout the shift J Our sporadic one minute convos keep me going!

- Me freaking out when Olivia asked me to drop a dessert. “OMG what do I do?! Position one? Where?!”

- “Little Evan”… is ok I’m “Little Dana.” Better yet, I’m “Ann.” Why don’t I get excited when someone tells me their name is Dana? Have I lost my identity? Ann? Dana? Huh?

- Demanding the servers empty their pockets of those tiny little colored pencils. Who is taking themmmmm???

- Sawyer, Taylor, and Hadley replying with a sweet “ma’am.” Definitely not in Jersey anymore.

- Knowing the servers by their color on the computer. Olivia will always remind me of the color red. Jeff, white. Ian, black. Annie, pink. Beth, lavender. Ania, light blue. Shaun, yellow… aw, we’re like a little rainbow!

- Calling down to the office from the host phone to ask if Micah is in, only to hear in reply (insert bad impression of lady’s voice here), “No he’s not!” Nice feminine side kitchen crew. Alex was that you?  

Laughing at the many nuances throughout the day makes me love working with you all. And even with all the humor working at SALT has taught me a great deal of patience, multitasking skills and professionalism. I am so proud to be a part of the team. We certainly have a great bunch of quality people here. Sharing in the success of a new and well-respected restaurant with solid principles and some seriously talented chefs is an honor. I’m sincerely happy to come to work everyday (well, except that one time it was raining). (Oh and that day I foresee me wiping out jogging up and down the stairs). Thanks for the laugh lines!                  - Much love, Little D.

Working hard has never been so easy.  Hands down, SALT has been the best job I’ve ever worked at.  As a professional in the food industry, I have already progressed a long way within the one year I have been working in the Pearl St. corner restaurant. I joined the SALT team as a back-waiter, full of confidence from my training at the Flagstaff House.  It wasn’t hard to instantly love the fine dining and homely aspect SALT has to offer. I also enjoy how it is up to the staff to turn SALT into the to-be place in the foodiest town in America.  I was actually able to throw in suggestions of how to help smooth over the small kinks the new restaurant faced within the back-waiting position.  Only a few months after I joined SALT, my hard work landed me my first server position.

            Since I am such a young server, I heavily relied on the other senior servers who all have incredible credentials. SALT has molded a deep family attitude within the staff, so I have no problem learning tricks of the trade from the servers and managers.  Now everyday I feel more and more comfortable with making sure our guests have the time of their lives and want to come back.  At SALT, we strive for excellence and are always looking to improve.  Therefore, I took it upon myself to continue to improve as well.  In order to be the best server I can be, I decided to observe one of our best servers.  Mike Joyce dazzles his guests; a lot of this has to do with his knowledge of wine.  He knows so much, because he studied hard to earn his introductory sommelier certification.  I had zero wine knowledge before entering SALT, so it seemed far-fetched for me to be like Mike.  However, thanks to our passionate Beverage Director Evan Faber, obtaining a sommelier certification seemed manageable. 

Evan has been teaching the SALT servers about wine and cocktails in weekly classes.  Whether it is a blind tasting, printed study guide, or even field trip to a local brewery, his passion has rubbed onto all of us.  This made me really understand that food is only half the fun of dining. The right beverage can make the food even better and the food can also improve the beverage.  It is a win-win for everybody.  Eventually, I decided it was time to work with Evan to study for my own sommelier certification.  Yes, I studied my butt off, but I can now tell you that learning about wine is fun!  Now the senior servers I look up to are asking me for detailed wine information. It’s pretty cool.

The flowers of summer have faded away, and we have enjoyed the harvest. We are feeling the dramatic change in the climate and we now feel the special and beautiful dying of fall. The decline of Autumn into Winter is a natural process. With out the death of the plant life, which produces the seed and new roots, there would be no room for the vigorous new growth of spring.  Everything in nature lets go in the Autumn, and stops hanging on to the warmth and life of the fullness of summer.  Everything is becoming more quite, more inward and it is a perfect time to take a closer look at all that we are, and hopefully attain new perspective.

Life at Salt is no exception and is flowing beautifully with the season change. It is a time to tighten up, refine and refresh the routines and prepare for the long winter. As the days grow shorter, and the darkness becomes dominant, we must find ways to create our own light, and I must say our sweet salty family is good at doing this. Yes, we all have our moments of frustration and exhaustion, but the dance we do, day after day, is one coming from love. And would we have it any other way?

 I experience this love in little ways every shift, whether it’s a big smile from one of the kitchen guys, or the mandatory “start the night right” hug from Conner. I love the tremendous support we offer one and other. I love that we know each other’s mannerisms, and can laugh the night away imitating each other. I mean have you seen Joey at his tables? It’s pretty amazing! Lots of movement… I even feel the love at the end of the night, after the 78^th round of silverwhere comes out, and we groan, let out a sigh, and then get it done!

So I say it’s a time to celebrate and time to express our gratitude. And although we are in the middle of great transformation, I think it is important to recognize all aspects of the process, and understand that when something dies it falls, and leaves space for new growth. ‘Tis the season my friends, so lets work our cute butts off and do it with grace, gratitude, knowledge, light and love!!!!!

XoxoxoxoxoxoX ~Annie