Spring Break
This Waiter continues to captivate his audience
Jessie Burche
Issue date: 8/18/08 Section: Culture
Bloggers know if you don't care about the writer, you won't read the blog.
But somehow www.waiterrant.net has hundreds of thousands of readers who care about The Waiter.
Steve Dublanica remained anonymous until recently. When his book "Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip - Confessions of a Cynical Waiter" was published he stepped out of hiding. After being anonymous for four years, readers learned who the real Waiter was.
So what is it that keeps readers coming back for more of Dublanica? It's his unguarded honesty and his unique, loner observations of the world around him.
Dublanica's writing style seems to be gleaned from the detective fiction novels of Raymond Chandler. His writing conjures a mental image of him being a Humphrey Bogart look-alike wearing a trench, leaning against a post and just taking note of the world around him.
It helps he has had an interesting life. As a kid in high school, he dreamed about becoming a Catholic priest and eventually the pope.
"I'll bet I was the only teenager in the Northeast doodling prospective versions of his papal coat of arms in his notebook to keep from falling asleep in physics class," Dublanica wrote in his book.
He also worked in homes for the elderly before turning to waiting so he could figure out what he wanted to do when he "grew up." He managed a place he refers to as "The Bistro" while writing about his job, his co-workers and his customers in his blog.
Most of the book reviews and Q&A's Dublanica has done with other publications have focused on the waiting aspect of the book - what waiters do to exact revenge on problem customers, tipping procedures, and employee drug and alcohol addictions. However, the most profound bit of his writing is reflections on people around him and humanity in general.
Dublanica said he gets his stories by watching his patrons carefully.
"You start being more observational," Dublanica said. "A good waiter should be that way, you should be more observational."
But somehow www.waiterrant.net has hundreds of thousands of readers who care about The Waiter.
Steve Dublanica remained anonymous until recently. When his book "Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip - Confessions of a Cynical Waiter" was published he stepped out of hiding. After being anonymous for four years, readers learned who the real Waiter was.
So what is it that keeps readers coming back for more of Dublanica? It's his unguarded honesty and his unique, loner observations of the world around him.
Dublanica's writing style seems to be gleaned from the detective fiction novels of Raymond Chandler. His writing conjures a mental image of him being a Humphrey Bogart look-alike wearing a trench, leaning against a post and just taking note of the world around him.
It helps he has had an interesting life. As a kid in high school, he dreamed about becoming a Catholic priest and eventually the pope.
"I'll bet I was the only teenager in the Northeast doodling prospective versions of his papal coat of arms in his notebook to keep from falling asleep in physics class," Dublanica wrote in his book.
He also worked in homes for the elderly before turning to waiting so he could figure out what he wanted to do when he "grew up." He managed a place he refers to as "The Bistro" while writing about his job, his co-workers and his customers in his blog.
Most of the book reviews and Q&A's Dublanica has done with other publications have focused on the waiting aspect of the book - what waiters do to exact revenge on problem customers, tipping procedures, and employee drug and alcohol addictions. However, the most profound bit of his writing is reflections on people around him and humanity in general.
Dublanica said he gets his stories by watching his patrons carefully.
"You start being more observational," Dublanica said. "A good waiter should be that way, you should be more observational."
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