another, is also useful for gathering interesting tidbits of intelligence. He
is also privy, at times, to the high-level maneuverings of upper
management and ownership. He knows—in dollars—how well or how
poorly the place did on a given night, who is getting petty cash payouts,
and for what purpose. And he's heard plenty. Everyone, sooner or later,
forgets that the bartender is not really like a doctor or a priest and
obliged to keep confidences. They forget that yes, he is listening while
you bitch about the boss to a friend at the far end of his bar. Hopefully,
he's going to tell the chef all about it.
Earlier, I rashly implied that all bartenders are thieves. This is not
entirely accurate, though of all restaurant workers, it's the bartender who
has the greatest and most varied opportunities for chicanery. The
bartenders control the register. They can collude with waiters on dinner
checks, they can sell drinks out of their own bottles—I've even heard of
a bartender who brought in his own register, ringing a third of the drinks
there and simply carrying the whole thing home at night. But the most
common bartender hustle is simply the "buy-back", when he gives out
free drinks every second or third round to an appreciative customer. If
you're drinking single malt all night long, and only paying for half of
them, that's a significant saving. An extra ten—or twenty—dollar tip to
the generous barkeep is still a bargain. This kind of freewheeling with
the house liquor is also personally good for the bartender; it inspires that
most valued phenomenon in a regular bar crowd: a "following", folks
who will actually follow you wherever you work.
Chefs, naturally, love this kind of bartender, and as a rule will not drink
anywhere where there isn't this kind of "trade discount". After work,
posses of chefs and cooks will bounce from bar to bar, on a loose,
rotating basis, taking full advantage of the liberal pouring policies of
bartenders they know from working with them before. They're careful
not to "burn" their favorites—hitting their bar too hard or too often—
which is why they tend to move from place to place. The bartender is
repaid when he swings by their restaurants with a dinner date and gets