Sweetbitter

I knew if I stayed one more minute,

I would blink, and ten years would go by.

Next thing I knew, I was driving.

There wasn't any exhilaration,

just momentum.

All I had was a vision.

A city,

lit up, loud,

full of people.

But when you come from a place without it,

you can't know what it really is

until you get there.

$7.

Seriously?

That seems like a lot to get in.

$7.

Uh...

Uh, Jesse left keys for me?

There goes the fucking neighborhood.

I'll give you $800 for it.

No, uh, sorry, I-I was asking...

I don't care what you were asking for.

It's... it's worth twice that.

Nah. It's only good for parts.

Parts? No, I...

This is my car.

You... you...

This thing's been going forever.

It's the best car.

Come on, please? I...

I-I just moved into a place, and the rent and the deposit...

$800's not gonna cover it.

Okay, fuck this. I'm hungry.

Cool.

Wait! Wait.

Uh, could I hand in my résumé?

- Sure. - Thanks.

Hi. Are you here to see Howard?

Uh, yeah, I guess so.

What brings you here?

This place seems really...

No, not what brings you to the restaurant.

Oh.

- New York. - Right.

Right, um...

I mean, it... it's kind of a calling, right?

New York.

You've got really nice nails.

That's Helen.

She works on 2nd Avenue at Nice Nails.

She's a nice lady.

So tell me what you know about wine.

Uh, the basics.

Competent in the basics.

For instance, you could tell me

the five noble grapes of Bordeaux?

Mm-hmm.

No experience.

I have some. It... it was a coffee shop.

What about in a restaurant?

As a server?

Oh, when the food was ready,

I would serve it to the customers.

You mean guests.

Guests.

So what are you reading?

Is that a normal interview question?

This is not a normal restaurant.

You know nothing about wine.

You know nothing about service.

It says here you were an English major.

So I was just wondering what you're reading

so we have something to talk about.

I'm not reading anything.

At the moment.

Hi, are you here to see Howard?

Okay.

Great. Thanks.

I have books.

Mm, had.

I had hundreds of books, but...

when you move someplace new, I guess you sort of

get to take inventory of your life, and...

I wanted to be careful about what I brought here, so...

Careful?

Yeah.

I see.

You want to be a writer?

No.

- An actress? - No.

Well, what do you want to be?

I don't know.

Did you come here with someone?

- Someone? - To the city.

Did you come here with friends?

Boyfriend?

No, I didn't.

That's very brave.

- Is it? - Mm-hmm.

'Cause it's been two days, and it feels idiotic.

Yeah, well...

It's brave if you make it.

Good luck.

Hey, Howard?

I-If, uh... sorry, if I... if I can call you that.

Maybe it's the flowers.

Or maybe it's the pink chairs, or your nails.

I don't know, I just... I-I've been

to a bunch of places today, and...

this one is different.

So thank you.

Dad?

It's me.

Yep.

Made it.

Yeah... no, I know. I'm sorry.

I know that, um...

I said I'm sorry.

Hey, I got a job.

At a restaurant.

Yeah, they just sent me an email...

like a, uh, invitation to work there.

I don't know.

It's kind of pretentious.

It's temporary.

Yeah, we'll see.

I know.

I know... I know that. I just...

I didn't belong there.

Yeah, okay, I won't.

Oh, uh, excuse me.

I'm new.

You done primping?

Uh, primped.

Follow me.

And don't touch anything.

Don't talk to anyone.

Don't do anything unless I tell you to, okay?

First thing is, you're gonna be fucked on bar mops.

There aren't enough.

I'm not gonna tell you where I hide mine.

So if you see one, you grab it.

- You got it? - Got it, bar mops.

Oh, my name is...

I know who you are.

Don't forget to clock in.

I haven't had a trail in over a year.

But here goes, okay?

49% of this job is shit anyone can do.

You study the menu, the ingredients, their sources.

Table numbers and positions, they're in the manual.

You learn it. You love it.

This is the pickup station, bread drawer,

hot line, cold line, pastry.

That's the meat locker.

There's a dead pig in there, just FYI.

This is butcher.

Uh, that's dry storage back there,

This is hot. Just don't touch it.

This is Raven.

- He's a nasty freak. - Mm.

Uh, we have our own specific mise.

It's not full-on French, but...

you don't let the water levels drop, but you don't spill.

Howard will let you taste a seared foie gras,

but he goes crazy over the fucking linen bills, okay?

This is dirty linens and this is where you came in.

Hey! Hands out of your mouth.

Let's go.

Uh, what... uh, what's the rest of it?

- The rest of what? - The job.

Y-you said all this is 49%.

Oh, 51%... taking care of people.

That's the hard part. Let's go.

You miss family meal, you don't eat.

Uh, I don't know what to tell you guys.

- Make it short today. - It's fine.

Good luck with that.

It's true. Chef called her a faggot.

And I was like, I don't want to be a lawyer...

So what, now it's, like,

Ethio-jazz for the masses?

- Yeah, that's true. - I feel great all the time.

I swear to God, if one more person asks

for fucking steak sauce...

But I never sleep anymore.

He texted "Bellevue"

when he meant "Brooklyn."

She's, like, 17.

I'd fuck the mom.

- Hey, where are the treats? - None for you.

No, no, no, no, no.

You... you're on salt shakers.

Here. You just... you fill up.

You, uh... you wipe down, you dry off.

Easy enough?

- All right. - Great.

Are you serious?

Howard!

- Thank you, Will. - Hey, Howard.