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The second shoe finally dropped, after my parents spent their last two nights in Temple City at our house. It was very emotional and very sad even though we should have been happy for the beginning of a new chapter in their 50-year marriage. Even though we knew it wasn’t going to be the last time we would see one another, it felt that way.
We spent the day before their departure at my daughter’s Varsity Softball game, where unfortunately, my daughter didn’t get a chance to play, much to my parents’ dismay. The following night, we went to my son’s Junior League game where, despite the team’s 3 to 0 loss to the Alhambra Yankees, he got to pitch six innings, racked up 8 strikeouts, and our team looked great. Fortunately, the sports watching of their grandchildren in their final two days ended on a high note. Go Brewers!
Their next day was spent tying up all of their financial loose ends with their stockbroker making sure all of their investments were in place. They left me with the instructions to make reservations at my dad’s favorite steakhouse, Edward’s. My family, my sister Sue and her family, and my parents would go out for one last meal before they left. In the back of our minds we were envisioning a bittersweet time for all.
Once we arrived we all settled in and much to our surprise and delight our waiter for this evening was the infamous Ricardo. Ricardo has been with Edward’s for 17 years and had the buttons on his apron to prove it. If you have never been to Edward’s, or have been and never had Ricardo serve you, you are missing out on one of the true treats in the dining world in the San Gabriel Valley.
 I have been to a lot of restaurants but nowhere have I had a waiter that is as much fun to be served by as Ricardo. As with any waitperson the impression made on you by them is how you are going to judge and remember the restaurant. You can have the best food in the world but if the person who is serving you sucks it taints the entire experience.
Look, I have to admit that I am a homebody. I am happy cooking my own meals at home. I have always enjoyed the process of cooking and experimenting when possible. When I am too lazy to cook, I prefer to order in, that is when I can find a decent restaurant that delivers. Blame it on my sometimes anti-social behavior but somewhere in the back of my mind I have never really been comfortable eating in public. Just add it to the list of neuroses in my ever-growing repertoire of odd behavior.
This little tick would probably never have surfaced had I had the luxury of having Ricardo serve me from the very beginning of my dining out experiences. The only downside is that once you have been served by Ricardo everyone else pales in comparison. It is not just that he has memorized the daily specials like any waiter worth his or her weight in salt would, it is the flair with which he delivers it with that sets him apart from the rest.
His demeanor and style far exceed any of his contemporaries as was evidenced by us going to a large chain restaurant less than a week before, for my birthday. When asked where I wanted to go for my birthday dinner I scanned
San Gabriel Valley Menus.com to check out the menus. I chose Outback Steakhouse based on the menu and the fact that I had never been there before. Unfortunately the menu was outdated and when we got there not everything that was on the web site was on the menu at the restaurant. Also unfortunately for us was the fact that they didn’t have Ricardo.
Quite the contrary. The waitress we had at Outback served as the perfect counter point to Ricardo, and was even worse than what we have all come to expect from the majority of waiters when we go out. She took herself and her job far too seriously, and in her never ending list of excuses for everything she did wrong and even things that didn’t matter, she ended up making herself the butt of the jokes at our table every time she left. I guess you could say she supplied us with a form of entertainment. Unfortunately for her it was unintentional.
Ricardo, on the other hand, once the business of the ordering was taken care of, had us in stitches with his quick wit and hilarious stories. With his flamboyant delivery, every time he came to our table, we all waited like giddy school kids to hear what he would say next. Damn the food, we all wanted seconds of Ricardo. In all fairness to the chef, the food was excellent, far superior to Outback, and perfectly prepared.
And just when you think the entertainment portion of the evening couldn’t get any better, Ricardo begins serving you with a unique flair that speaks to his many years as a waiter. As your salads are presented they are not just dropped down in front of you. No, with Ricardo that would never do. The best way I can describe it is that they kind of float in over your left shoulder like a flying saucer and gently land in front of you doing a 180-degree spin. I watched him repeat this feat with style and dexterity to all 8 of us who had ordered salads.
One word of warning to those who like to engage their waiters in witty repartee in hopes of tripping them up, don’t bother trying this with Ricardo. I watched as the quickest wits at our table attempted this and failed. He fielded every barb as though he was Andre Agassi returning a soft volley coming from the other side of the net and sent them zinging back.
As we left, there were hugs all around. My parents sadden by the thought of not being able to have Ricardo a dinner roll throw away anymore, left in high spirits knowing that he made their last dinner here for a long time a memorable one.
Thanks Ricardo, while you may not have known it at the time, but just by doing what you normally do you turned what could have been a very sad occasion into a joyous one.
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