Tribute to a True Goddess...

I learned from a master a decade ago – Dan Amigone, wherever you are, bless your heart – that the secret to a successful establishment is being remembered by… the maitre d’, the bartender, the waitress, the doorman, the dj… Nowadays, we call it Customer Relationship Management and it’s accomplished via digital one-to-one marketing…

So, I didn’t go to my party tonight… rock on N and L… sorry I missed one of your fabulous bashes, but every now and then a gal just needs to take care of business and forego being the belle of the ball.

I retreated to my local noodle house, the Citrus Club… see the links of restaurants I haunt… to do a little thinking and script rewriting.

I’ve been a regular at the Citrus Club on a somewhat irregular basis, i.e. in my flush dot-com days, three times a week, more recently so, once a week, which has diminished to, well, it’s been a couple of months... What has irked me about the place – gee, five years or more -- is that no-one has ever said a simple “welcome back.” So, what’s the point in having a local? Maybe it’s a Leonine fault… Frankie was commenting last night that he never feels ‘remembered’… I feel the same way too… or maybe we’re always surrounded by courtiers who outshine us… or, to put it in a positive frame, reflect the light we shine…

Well, the Citrus Club has redeemed itself via the sweet and self-proclaimed shy Christina…

“Hi, haven’t seen you in awhile. You’re a writer, right?”

To which I answered… “Yeah, I’ve been laying low… you know? Writing isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be….” And a couple of dozen other platitudes, ending in… “I’m kind of broke. Tonight is a treat to myself. Glad to see a welcoming face.”

I told her how I’ve been a ‘regular’ all these years and, with the exception of one of the chefs who was absent tonight, nobody has ever said as much as “hello,” which totally defeats the notion of having a ‘local’ to go to…

She then told me her story of how she was accepted as the new flatmate in a household of “goddesses.”

I don’t believe I said “darlin’” to her, but, then again, I might have… “that means you’re a goddess in your own right.”

For the first time in my years of habituating the Citrus Club, I was treated to a Nigori sake… courtesy of the goddess Christina.

So, this is my tribute to her… Make sure you tip her welcoming smile!