MWC sells beer and wine as well as bottled teas and sodas. They serve pizza, bruschetta, salads and other munchies if you want to get a bite to eat.
Directions: I-10 to Warner Road. West on Warner, pass the light at Circle K (51st St.) and turn right at the first driveway past Childtime. If you get to the office building under construction, you went too far. 480-598-9463.
My Wine Cellar, if you don't know, is my "Cheers." I've known owners Tom and Kathleen Fordyce practically since they opened just over 10 years ago in a smaller space up the street. You will usually see me there at least a few times a month trying a new cab or calling a cab -- I almost always take the ALEX bus there and either grab a ride home with someone in the neighborhood or taxi it back.
And you can sometimes catch me behind the bar, too. I'm a "pinch hitter" on occasion when Tom and Kathleen can't be there and need someone to watch over things. Working there is helpful because one of my others jobs is being a food critic. Although I worked in restaurants and bars for the better part of a decade through high school, college and graduate school, that was -- ahem -- a while ago. This keeps me solidly in touch with the hospitality industry and, I think, makes my restaurant assessments more realistic and fair. I think it also makes me a more considerate customer when I go out.
Of course, it's kind of funny when people who don't know me saunter into the bar and begin treating me with an utter lack of respect. You can tell a lot about a person by how they interact with hospitality workers. We don't have an official caste system in this country, but anyone who's been a waiter sure can tell you it's there, but under the surface. If you're over 25 and still bringing people glasses of water, many people look down their noses at you.
Inevitably, someone I know will sit at the bar and ask me about my writing, and I can see the look of shock and disbelief from the other patron who had just sized me up as a loser. They typically change their opinion right quick; I'm now in "their world." They talk to me differently; they begin asking me 20 questions. This sickens me. I'm nothing if all I do is tend bar? In Europe, service work is a serious career; here, it's seen as a fallback, a default, for those who can't hack it in a "real job."
If you want a thorough investigation of this topic, I suggest you read www.waiterrant.net or buy the book , Waiter Rant. It's insightful, sad, hilarious, poignant, disgusting and essential for anyone who's ever worked at a restaurant or eaten in one.
Do any of you have side jobs beyond freelance writing? What kind of job? How are you treated? Do you enjoy the variety of having a couple of jobs?
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