What Brings Regulars Back

Abstract

When I worked at Balthazar we had hundreds of regulars. Those who came daily for breakfast or lunch, those who came weekly the same night every week, those who came monthly, and those who showed up with varying frequency at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. We had regulars at the bar, regulars in the bakery, and regulars who would order a cup of coffee in the morning and stay for hours. I remember during my waitressing years I had a regular who was in real estate. He and his girlfriend would come once or twice a week, sit at the same table, and without fail, he would order the same thing. To this day I can remember his order:

• Stoli Ohranj, on the rocks

• 12 kumamoto oysters

• Chicken Riesling (when this was off the menu—it was a seasonal item and served only in the winter—it would spark a conversation about his dismay and horror that it was off the menu. Every year. Like clockwork.)

• Red wine, usually a Rhone red. This was the one thing that changed.

• Otherwise it was more Stoli Ohranj