While I was attempting to become the next great writer of my generation in Los Angeles, I was working as a server at an upscale seafood restaurant in Manhattan Beach.

I sincerely believe every person should work for tips at one point in his/her life. Besides the obvious socializing skills you develop talking, interacting, and helping loads of people every day, the experience I gained from getting what I gave is invaluable.

That’s because at its core, it’s about people. I am giving people an experience. My responsibility is to cater towards their needs, solve any problems, and make them feel like they’re taken care of.

There’s also the hustle. The ability to work and thrive in a fast-paced environment is key as well as multitasking; but even better than multitasking is the ability to multitask quickly.
I exceled there having the highest combined sales of all servers for six months in a row and becoming a trainer.

Besides all of that, I had the pleasure of working with some of the coolest, hardworking, eccentric, wonderful, beautiful people ever.

There was also the technical side to serving. Each week we had a wine, alcohol, or food rep come in during the day and educate us about what we were serving. There was an attention to detail, polishing wine glasses, knowing all the ingredients of all the sauces, even down to how and where our calamari was processed.

There is also the realization that making an extra effort makes all the difference. One regular loved horse-racing. Knowing nothing about it myself, I read up on the subject so that he and I could discuss the latest results and I knew what all the bets meant. Another customer liked four drops of grand marnier in his martini, no more, no less. While this might seem a little nitpicky, if it’s within our power, it gets done. The goal was always to go the extra mile.

"It’s my pleasure to provide this letter of recommendation for Nicholas LoVerde, who worked as a lead server at FISHBAR Restaurant in Manhattan Beach, CA. As Nick's direct manager who worked closely with him at FISHBAR for 2 years, I was impressed with his work ethic, friendly personality, and ability to work well under pressure. As a server, Nick demonstrated superlative customer service. Our clientele was a mix of local patrons, business travelers, visiting tourists and even celebrity clientele. Nick was personable and professional with every guest. Even when things got hectic during peak business hours, Nick kept up his energy level and attention to detail. Mr LoVerde is thorough, knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful...all qualities that made him an excellent addition to our staff and to our guests. Nick has my highest recommendation for any job he may be seeking. He will be an asset to any company who is lucky enough to work with him. " Lynne Nacci, General Manager Fishbar