server who has, depending on which story you believe, a reputation for being one of the
biggest divas in the city (he's hilariously funny and should probably be
performing in nightclubs instead of waiting tables). So it was time for
owner Frank Sebree to hire a new celebrity server for the dining room. After all, the Majestic already has a celebrity bartender.
It didn't take long. This week, prolific blogger and professional waiter
David Hayden moved from McCormick & Schmick's to the Majestic
Restaurant staff. He says he was ready for a change after nearly four years.
"I had been at McCormick & Schmick's for a long time by restaurant standards," Hayden says. "It's a great restaurant, a really hopping place. But I was looking for a change. After awhile at any restaurant, you get a little bit bogged down and start noticing things that get under your skin."
Anyone familiar with any one of the five Hayden's restaurant-centric blogs -- tipssquared.com, restaurantlaughs.com, hospitalityformula.com, themanagersoffice.com, and foodieknowledge.com -- knows that the 36-year-old waiter and writer takes his profession very seriously, and he can be a scrapper when things, people or other writers get under his skin. (Believe me, I've learned the hard way.)
After years of working for corporate restaurant chains, Hayden was ready for an independently owned operation, like Sebree's Majestic: "I liked the fact that Frank hires professional servers, lets them do their own thing with no corporate requirements, with room for a little improvisation and personality."
Hayden is working quite a few shifts during the week but still has time to write new posts for all five of his blogs: "I find inspiration in almost everything I do," says Hayden, who created the group of blogs as a platform for his upcoming self-published book, which will be released later this year.
There's a world of difference between David Hayden, professional waiter, and the more caustic blogger of the same name: "I'm kind of an opinionated guy," he says. "And I find ways to work those opinions into everything."
Frank Sebree says he's delighted to have a staffer of Hayden's caliber, opinionated or not, in the dining room. Sebree says he knew David was also a blogger, but he only recently started reading his new waiter's literary output. "He knows the business," Sebree says.
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