Last night was fun. It really started early afternoon with a call from Kate, our GM. She's also Deegan's wife, our Executive Chef. I like this dynamic. You have Ron & Peggy, husband & wife, our owners. Then, you have, Deegan & Kate, husband & wife. It makes perfect sense. We had a private party in the Josephine House, Kate wanted to work through some last minute changes to the menu & subsequently the wine pairings. No problem. "Can I email you the new menu?" No problem. So, Kate & I, then Deegan & I worked on the changes over the phone.

I arrived at work early for setup. This was a 17-top, five course menu with wine pairings. The host wanted me to discuss the food and wine as each course was served. Most importantly, this was a celebration. The guest of honor just graduated from UT School of Law. Nice!

Setup is always a little challenging. A hot wool suit is not my friend, this night. There were four of us, so we got the job done: Rodney, JM, Deegan & me. That's Front Waiter, Back Waiter, Chef & Sommelier, respectively. Deegan, personally, cooked all the food. Awesome.

I ran back to the main restaurant to let the staff know, "Hey, guys I'm in the Josephine House tonight. Check the 86 board."

There are always curve balls on any given night of service. As the guests were set to arrive to the Josephine House, while I was polishing the last of the stemware, I got called back to the restaurant.

Ron asked me to visit table 85; Marco asked me to speak with table 34; Johnny said table 41 needed assistance, too. On those three tables, I sold some very nice wines. 34 was particularly gross: a comparison of high caliber Syrah. I opened a 2004 Colgin IX Estate Napa Syrah and a 2004 Chave Hermitage. Both required a candle-cradle decant. Nice.

I returned to the Josephine House 40-minutes later. The guests were seated after their butler-passed starters with Champagne. I met the host and we began the dinner. The timing was perfect, thankfully.

Deegan's food was amazing. My personal favorite of the night was his new Foie Gras Madeleines with Roasted Red Grapes & Almond Butter. Sick! The guests were into it, the pacing was on point, the vibe was bangin, and I was thrilled to be a part of it. A challenging, yet smooth night of service.

Jeffrey's Restaurant

Anthony Garcia
www.wineisdivine.com
http://twitter.com/wineisdivine