RE Log Fall 2018

at Joe’s. The ashes of one former waiter are scattered on the restaurant lawn. “We GR KDYH HYHU\ NQRZQ EHQH¿W ´ 6DZLW]¶V mother, Jo Ann Weiss Sawitz Bass, said. “We had insurance plans, pension plans, SUR¿W VKDULQJ DOO ZD\ EDFN ZKHQ ZKHQ nobody knew what we were talking about. We have always believed we’re all in this together.” Sawitz’s mother still toils daily – “I ZRQ¶W ZRUN ¿YH GD\V D ZHHN ´ VKH VDLG ± RYHUVHHLQJ VWDɣ PRQLWRULQJ WKH GLQLQJ room and approving all major decisions. She jokes that she has worked at Joe’s for every one of her 86 years. Her mother died when she was six months old, so she grew up in the kitchen, learning the business DQG LQ PDQ\ ZD\V UDLVHG E\ WKH VWDɣ Her fondness for those who work at Joe’s is deep and highly personal, and has been passed down to her son. “Steve and Jo Ann, they’ll give people the opportunity to work their way up- ward,” said Howard Zeifman, a manager who started at Joe’s in 1981 as a security RɤFHU ³,W UHDOO\ VD\V VRPHWKLQJ DERXW Joe’s. It’s a family, bottom line. It’s the family . Fourth generation, 104, 105 years going into next season. They take care of their employees.” And they don’t particularly relish call- ing them “employees.” And Sawitz, the family’s fourth gen- eration, is at the wheel. He’s the latest to manage the family business, a labor of love and loyalty that nearly every day requires him to toe the line between tradi- tion and reinvention, wisdom and passion. “You’ve gotta be open to change, be- cause if you don’t change, you’re not going to evolve,” Sawitz said. “But by the same token, you have to be consistent with what you do. Consistency is a very important practice here.” A Joe’s tradition: Taking care of its employees 7KH FRQVLVWHQF\ H[WHQGV WR WKH ZDLW VWDɣ Sawitz estimates that the average length of service of the 44 servers who hustle night- ly across the expansive dining room in dinner jackets and bow ties is more than 15 years. Working at Joe’s is considered a major boon, not for the quality of the food, EXW WKH TXDOLW\ RI WKH IDPLO\ 6WDɣ PHP bers enjoy daily meals with the rest of the team at the start of each lunch and dinner VKLIW $ FRYHUHG VWDɣ SDUNLQJ ORW HUHFWHG QH[W WR WKH UHVWDXUDQW LQ ɲɺɺɶ RɣHUV convenient employee parking. Given the LQIUHTXHQF\ RI VWDɣ GHSDUWXUHV ODQGLQJ a job at Joe’s can seem as competitive as getting into an Ivy League college. Groups of siblings, generations of families and even husbands and wives have held jobs Ȉ,W UHDOOy VDyV VRPHWKLQJ DERXW -RHȆV ,WȆV D IDPLOy ERWWRP OLQH ,WȆV WKH IDPLOy )RXUWK JHQHUD WLRQ yHDUV JRLQJ LQWR QH[W VHDVRQ 7KHy WDNH FDUH RI WKHLU HPSORyHHV ȉ 16 Ransom Everglades LOG )$//