And then…. we never covered it. Amy didn’t love it. And because Amy didn’t love it, I didn’t check it out. We really do rely on each other for recommendations around here, but I’m here to tell you Amy was wrong.
Okay, fine. You probably weren’t that wrong, Amy. I haven’t read the book. There is a high probability that the book is way better than the show on Starz, but for me, the show is all I know. And I LOVED it.
I first watched Sweetbitter on a flight at the end of January. I couldn’t get on WiFi and I forgot a book, so I was checking out the free media that American Airlines was featuring. After watching as many Chip and Joanna Gaines Demo Days as I could stomach (I stomached a lot of them…), I put on Sweetbitter. And let me tell you, I should’ve saved Chip and Joanna for another day. Sweetbitter was great! I devoured the 3 episodes my flight had available, and I finished it on a flight to San Francisco last weekend.
The Plot
Sweetbitter follows a fresh-faced, innocent 22 year old girl named Tess who ends up in New York City to do what everyone does when they go to NYC- find themselves, escape their boring lives and grow up.
Tess ends up as a back waiter in training at a high end NYC restaurant. The entire first season is a story about friendship, drama, love, sex, romance, obsession and… service. The series revolves around this restaurant as Tess learns how to wait tables, carry hot plates, fill water glasses, suggest good wines and so much more.
WTF is a Back Waiter?
I have never worked in food service, and I have NO idea how a kitchen runs. But the six episodes of Sweetbitter gave me enough insight into the complexity of the goings-on in restaurants that since watching it, I’ve actually paid attention to the different “levels” of servers when I’ve been out to eat. It seems that from fine dining to my local dive bar taco joint, there’s a whole flow to things I’ve never noticed before.
Tess’ role is a backwaiter, which supports the waiters. Actually, as you know I love to do mid-article, I just googled it. A backwaiter is also known as a “bus boy.” At my taco joint, the bus boys are…. boys who carry dirty dishes. At Tess’ restaurant, the backwaiters seem to be a much higher level than that. She does have to do a few stints in the hot kitchen, scrubbing dishes by hand when their dishwasher goes down, but she also gets to go to the wine celler to grab $300 bottles of wine on the regular.
EGBTT
Of course it wouldn’t be a show I like without pointing out that everything goes back to Twilight (E.G.B.T.T.) Tess becomes obsessed with Jake, the bartender. And Jake is played by none other than Tom Sturridge, aka TomStu, one of the guys in Rob Pattinson’s posse.
TomStu may be grungier than Rob, and while he can definitely clean up, it’s nothing like when Rob takes a shower and puts on a clean shirt.
So while there’s one scene that definitely made my insides tingle, for the most part, I had a hard time believing TomStu as the sexy love interest. But it’s TomStu! And everything will go back to Twilight for forever!!!
Sweetbitter is worth the six episode binge
I know telling you to watch a show about a waitress learning the kitchen and crushing on a less attractive Rob Pattinson isn’t winning me “recommendation of the day” points, but it’s hard to go into detail without giving away major plot points. All I know is that Sweetbitter was a really interesting look into one girl’s experience at New York City, her first “real” job, and starting to grow up.
Plus it’s only 6 episodes and you can totally watch it on your next flight if you cancelled Starz after Outlander ended! I haven’t seen a date yet, but Starz renewed Sweetbitter for a second season. Binge it now, and we’ll definitely talk about it when Season 2 begins!
