No Reservations Podcast

One of the best parts of working in the New York City restaurant industry is the occasional run-in with a celeb. Almost all of our bartender/server friends have a story about SOMEONE...so in this new series we will SPILL THE CELEBRITEA!! Our first CelebriTEA features stories from former guests Hannah Freeman, Matt Curiano, and of course, your favorite hosts :) Featured celebs for CelebriTEA part 1 are: Joaquin Phoenix, RuPaul, Lea Michele, Darren Criss and MORE! SPILL IT, KWEENS!

Welcome back to Part 2! If you haven't listened to Part 1 of our interview with Jacqueline Correa, stop what you're doing, go back, and listen to it. But if you have, lucky you, because this is about to get SERIOUS. Getting people fired. Dealing with actual fire. The corporate apartment, which was not literally on fire, technically, but was on fire with tension. Enjoy!

Welcome back, loyal listener! This episode, we had such a lovely conversation with Jacqueline Correa that we couldn't bear to cut it down, so we had to split it into two episodes! This week, we discuss the shame of mispronunciation, the difficulty of a language barrier and shameful one-star reviews of the fanciest restaurants in Manhattan. Make sure to come back next week (we promise we'll have another episode next week) when Jacqueline shares some of her best stories, and trust us, they are FIRE, literally, some of them are literally about fire anyway BYE!

After a month off because we are lunatics, we are happy to be back yelling into your ears with Chris Blem! We get serious and political with this one - the tip credit, shady under the table practices and which service industry term Chris HATES! We're happy to be back, thank you for sticking with us and we hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it!

The age-old phrase goes as such: "The customer is always right!" BUT ARE THEY? ARE THEY REALLY? Alyssa Magarian joins this week as we build a case against this myth. Plus, join us for a fast-food edition game of "Fuck, Marry or Kill."

Collin and Jenny dish about soap opera worthy mid-shift spats they've gotten into with co-workers. Tune in to listen to our hosts admit to all the times they've been petty AF! Plus, moderately sage advice on how to de-escalate conflicts in the middle of a dinner shift.

Jenny and Collin discuss post-shift nightlife in New York City. Tune in for supremely embarrassing stories of getting drunk with your coworkers, PLUS a list of some of our favorite late night happy hours to hit up after your dinner shift.

Restaurant industry life is a breeding ground for lifelong friendships and love connections. But, as the saying goes....don't shit where you eat. This week, Collin Kessler and Jenny Hickman get vulnerable AF discussing the complications with dating a coworker. We cover everything from stumbling on your boss getting it on in the walk-in fridge to uncomfortable one night stands with a coworker you have to work brunch with the next day. Other topics include Iceland, Collin being gay, and our favorite review quotes from The New York Times' sassiest restaurant critic Pete Wells (spoiler alert: we're obsessed with him). Listen, leave us a glowing review, and recommend us to your friends!

Hey all! It's Pride Month, today is the NYC Pride March, and in case you didn't know, COLLIN IS GAY. And Jenny is in Iceland, which I bet is really nice for her. Join Collin, and only Collin, for a deep dive into the hanky code, which he learned about while bartending during the Pride march last year!

Hello! Apologies for missing last week, this is a little minisode wrapping up the EPIC TALE OF SEASON ONE OF SWEETBITTER (available to stream on Starz). Buy the book, Sweetbitter, by Stephanie Danler wherever quality books are sold, then watch the show, then listen to this!

Hello! Join us as we discuss episodes 3 and 4 of Sweetbitter, the scintillating, titillating, deeply frustrating story of Tess, a 22 year old innocent who moves to NYC and gets a job as a backwaiter at an intimidatingly swanky restaurant. This Starz Original Series is based off the bestselling book by Stephanie Danler, and we enjoy both the original and the adaptation TREMENDOUSLY. Watch and play along, or just listen and be a bit lost but still enjoying yourself!

This week, one of our IRL bartender favorites, Mike Donovan, chats with us about late nights, chef fights, and how bar stories tend to get exaggerated over time. ALSO! We have a request. Alec Story, the Chef of The Grange, a Hamilton Heights staple, was involved in a hit and run and has SERIOUS medical bills. If you can find it in your heart, please head over the the link below and toss him some coins. He's the salt of the earth and every little bit helps. Thank you!! https://www.gofundme.com/alec-storey-hit-amp-run-fund

Hello fair listener! This week, we are beginning a new series on the podcast where we watch the new Starz dramedy Sweetbitter, based on the fictional service industry bestselling book of the same title, and then talk about it at you! Tess moved to New York on a whim, and when she gets hired at one of NYC's most exclusive fine dining establishments with no serving experience, she gets wrapped up in the swirling world happening where the guests can't see. Read the book! Watch the show! Or just listen to us talk about it.

Ep 10 Sing Through Your Supper with Leanne Smith by Jenny Hickman and Collin Kessler

Collin and Jenny sit down with Gigi Beme, a Harlem-based performing artist and straight up SAGE. She chats with us about the challenges of being the only female AND person of color on her bar team, and the incredible opportunities that her cash flow in the service industry has been provided for her son.

This week, we have one of our favorite squirrelfriends, MATTHEW CURIANO who is here to SHOUT some of his best stories AT US in the center of his PINGY MIX! Times Square restaurants, furniture building, toilet cleaning, cater-waitering to the STARS and breaking ALL the health codes - Matt has done it ALL and we can't wait to share this episode with you. Enjoy!

This week, we have a first on our podcast - A REAL. LIFE. BARTENDER. COUPLE. Welcome our snarkiest couple friends, Drew and Jess, as we discuss gentrification, bartending during the night of the 2016 election, and what it feels like to deserve to be fired. Enjoy!

A bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Hannah Freeman arrived in New York City and took a job as a hostess at a popular Spanish restaurant downtown. She had zero restaurant experience. No more than 8 MONTHS LATER, she had risen in the ranks from hostess, to server, to MANAGER. How the FUCK DID SHE DO IT?? MAGIC?? Tune in to find out.

Ma'am, your white privilege is showing. Actress Talia Thiesfield sits down with us this week over a strong pour of TEQUILA to discuss the humor and horror of the CAUCASITY of it all. Talia's grimace-inducing stories will make you chuckle and groan. Highlights include experimenting on different hairstyles to command different levels of respect, being referred to as "snippy" for knowing more about wine than the guest, and being shoved into a wall by a wealthy white women because she was unable to read her mind. Check your privilege, ya'll!

This week, our dear friend Nick Laughlin joins us for a deep dive into the glamorous life of being a cater-waiter. Come join us - there are gonna be tears from a very rich person, the joy of watching the world burn, a how-to guide on how to be unprofessional and not get in trouble. And...best of all... CELEBRITY. NAME. DROPS. Lady Gaga Camille Grammer Malan Breton And best of all, many, many stories about being the best friend and sometimes assistant to.... ALASKA THUNDERFUCK, ABSOLUTE DRAG ROYALTY YOU ARE NOT READY. Enjoy!

Why do men lose their minds when their beer is being poured by a gal? Cat Adler-Josem, ladyboss bartender and all-around hilarious human joins us this week to swap stories on the trials and tribulations of being a woman behind the bar.

Jenny and Collin welcome Broadwaysted’s Kevin Jaeger to discuss some hard, heavy, soft-poached-related shit. Fate has declared that for six consecutive hours EVERY WEEK on Saturday and Sunday morning, the restaurant workers of New York City will be terrorized by a faceless, voiceless monster. What is the name of this monster, you may ask? BRUNCH. Tune in as we swap traumatic stories of spilled mimosas, undercooked eggs, and “brunching” under the influence. Seriously, brunch is our 'Nam, man.

Hello! Welcome to No Reservations – a Service Industry Podcast. This is a safe space for former and current workers of the service industry to share their most ridiculous stories. Your hosts, Collin Kessler and Jenny Hickman, have a treat for you – the tale of their worst day in the service industry, EVER. You like incompetent management? The most expensive attempted dine-and-dash ever (maybe)? Steak as a premium item, and therefore NOT ALLOWED to be ordered as a side? Then join us, fair listener, because we’ve got salsa and seafood all over these stories, and neither are going to end up where they’re supposed to – enjoy!