In Appreciation of Food Service Employees

Restaurant jobs are hard, so for National Food Service Employee Day, we wanted to put a foodie influencer in the shoes of a restaurant worker.

SpotOn partnered with Brooklyn-based photographer/content creator Ben Hon (@stuffbeneats on Instagram) and Momoya SoHo to give Ben—and viewers—a glimpse into what life as a server is really like. What Ben didn’t know is he was serving actual Momoya servers at one of the tables, who were there to provide real-world examples of some of the difficulties they’ve faced.

One lunch shift full of questions, dietary restrictions, endless walking back and forth, and one totally accidental bump into a different guest in a cast (that part really was an accident) later, Ben came away with a greater appreciation for the restaurant staff.

“At the end of the meal, that table said I was really great, they had a delicious lunch, and they were really appreciative of all my efforts,” Ben said. “Just by saying thank you and that we really appreciate you, it really meant a lot. So thank your servers.”