Our 3 year old was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease...
…and eating at your last Gluten-Free night was our first time eating out since the diagnosis. Our girls loved!! the chicken dippers and fries. We just wanted to let you know that is really great to be able to go out as a family and have no concerns about cross contamination or even finding something on a menu!
- Joanne
(EAT! bistro is the only restaurant in Winnipeg doing semi-monthly all gluten-free nights. Doughheads stay home!)
A Note to Those Applying for Jobs...
This is a bit of a follow up to these notes for vague youngsters, but it stands on its own as well. If you’re applying for a job somewhere, take ten minutes and look at their website. If it’s a restaurant, familiarize yourself with the menu a bit. If it’s a bearing and roller distributor, find out what they sell. If their website isn’t great, Google them. Have they been mentioned in any print media that you can find online? Find out what you can. It will take you thirty minutes tops.
I didn’t realize this either when I was twenty, but I now know. If you show up at an interview and know nothing, you look like an idiot who’s just randomly dropping off resumes. When I was twenty, there wasn’t much of an Internet. Now, it’s SO easy to get information. As an employer, I would hire someone who’s interested in what we’re doing, and has done a little bit of research, over someone who’s experienced but clueless anyday. Why should I hire a lazy bastard who can’t even use their mouse?
(Oh, the jobs I would have applied for years ago if I realized just how much you can impress with knowledge about your prospective employer, even if you don’t have the experience they say they want.)
I was totally going to let this guy off the hook, until this shows up on his blog:
“The limited attendance was made to feel skimpier by the huge mausoleum-like upstairs room (I mean, it has a stage and about a hundred seats in rows) the organizers chose to hold it in…if you’re coming in from out of town, request that the reading take place in some intimate nook among the books, as is pictured on their website.”
Um…we have likely the nicest events room in town (pictured above, avec moi), so I’m not sure what mausoleums look like where you come from. (Not sure which nooks we picture for readings on the website, unless it’s photos from our old location.)
This guy speaks the truth here when he says “it could have been better for a bunch of reasons, most of which I won’t go into here.” Well, let me go into them.
This was one of the worst readings I’ve ever had to attend (let alone host, God help me). The opening reader was lovely and respectful. After that it was every bad thing you imagine a reading might be. He (I won’t say his name - click on the link above if you really need to know) asked everyone in the audience what their name was (and didn’t recognize his own nephew). He played several bad songs from his 2002 CD. He tuned his guitar while we all sat there. He screwed up a song halfway through. And. Then. Started. Again. Anyone here ever perform (anything) in front of a crowd? Rule #1: No do-overs. Keep going, dolt. After his interminable music, he read his new book of poetry. It seemed like all of it. About forty minutes worth. (I won’t go into my objections to listening to middle-aged men read poems about sex.)
We work so hard to get people to come to readings here. I pray to God all of those people there were related to him. If they were actual customers, they’ll never come back.
Some Girl Just Walked in Here....
….and walked out again. Through the door, I heard her say (very angrily), “It’s a f***ing bookstore!” She walked in again after a few moments, asked (rudely), “Is there a bathroom here?” I replied (civilly), “Yes”. “Come on in!”, she yelled (basely), to her two friends waiting outside. F***ing teenagers.
True Story
So, I’m at a 70th wedding anniversary of my great aunt and uncle in Chilliwack. One of my 3rd cousins from Montreal is talking to me about Winnipeg and asks, “have you ever been to this great bookstore in downtown Winnipeg, Aqua Books?”
Awesome.
(This just in from ex-emp Dave Burrows)
Half Pints Brewmaster Dave posted a nice review of EAT!, complete with pic of new server Kayla (above)
Another very kind review of Kelly Hughes Live!, this one saying I’m better than Jay Leno. Thanks, Donald.
Somebody thinks...
“Kelly just wanted to get some free media. If he was really concerned all he had to do is phone someone, ‘hey my sticker is missing’. Done. If the parking department does not respond, then go after them. Instead the guy just could not resist…God forbid Kelly makes a mistake. Maybe he does not make mistakes…if it was not for his late brother and family forgiving and helping him, he would still be making mistakes. I think the guy is a hypocrite. He should treat people like he would want to be treated himself…maybe Kelly is treated badly because he treats people badly.”
- Blog comment by urbandude re: me and how I handled the whole Great Parking Sticker Snafu (and my general modus operandi). Not sure what I did to him, but it must have been bad. Sorry, urbandude.
Top Ten Awesome Things Heard at Aqua Books/EAT! bistro This Week
10. Do you do psychic readings? (I knew you were going to ask that.)
9. Do you have a bathroom here? (No, we’re the only restaurant in town without one. Can I get you a refill on your water?)
8. Can I trade a book for a book? (Yeah, let me look in my business plan and see if that’s in there.)
7. Do you know of anywhere to eat? (Um, except for the RESTAURANT HERE, no.)
6. This is a great book. I should really buy it, but I already have too much junk in my house. (I really have nothing to add here.)
5. Do you have big bags here? (No just tiny ones. One book per customer please.)
4. The wait for a table is too long here, let’s go to Soup Pierre. (They won’t like the wait there either. SP has been out of business for two months.)
3. Do you have that book Madonna wrote? (Which one, the kids book or the dirty one? Perv.)
2. Are these books for sale? (No, you’re in my personal library in my house. Please ignore the giant sign outside that says Aqua Books.)
1. Can I have a parking meter label? (True story. Someone wanted a souvenir of this.)
This is the postscript to this post I made.
The City of Winnipeg has been illegally charging downtown drivers for parking for over a year. When customers’ confusion about Saturday parking was brought to my attention, I contacted the City. Long story short, they ran out of the stickers that they put on the parking paystations that tell you you get two hours of free parking. They ran out of stickers. A year ago. And still haven’t managed to produce any new ones. As a result, most people are paying for parking when they don’t have to, and the City is happily taking the money in. (They claim to be encouraging people to come downtown, but they can’t fix this? Did they run out of money in the label budget?)
So, being the proactive, community-minded citizen that I am, I came up with a solution for our label-challenged civic administration. I made some informative stickers for them (free of charge), and have applied them to all the meters within a block of Aqua Books/EAT! bistro (Winnipeg’s Cultural City Hall). I expect to be receiving a thank you call from someone at the other City Hall very soon.
UPDATE: This is what happened next
Jay and Silent Bob's Soggy Pizza
Two drunk dudes just walked in here. I’ll call them Jay and Silent Bob.
Jay: Hey. Do you have a heater? (pulls a gross bag out of another gross bag) Because I have a soggy pizza in here and I need you to heat it up.
Andrea: Sorry, we don’t really do that here.
Jay: But the sign outside says this is a restaurant.
Andrea: Sorry.
Jay: I thought this was that kind of place.
Real Customer Jumps In: No, it’s a bookstore.
Jay: Your sign outside says restaurant you know. You need to change that you know.
I Jump In: Yeah okay, thanks.
Jay: You need to change that you know.
Me: Okay, will do.
Jay: (As he leaves) That’s false &^&# advertising you know.
[exeunt]
(we do have a restaurant, but they didn’t need to know that you know)
