Stephanie Johnson-Lee
Waitress Extraordinaire, Café Septieme, 214 Broadway Ave E, 860-8858.
For a glorious five-year run (1996-2001), Stephanie Johnson was Café Septieme’s badass waitress #1, boasting a take-no-prisoners proficiency, an adventurous fashion sense, and an adorable diastema. (Look it up.) Then along came one Mr. Lee, who offered his hand in marriage and swept his happy new bride off to Nashville, Tennessee. This weekend, the prodigal waitress returns, working a pair of weekend shifts at her beloved Septieme. Catch her while you can, and don’t give her any shit.
So how’s Nashville treating you? “Great. I lived there back before I first came to Seattle, so I’m used to it. It’s very hot, the hair is very big, but generally the people are very nice. It’s certainly more diverse than years past, but it’s still the South.”
Who’s this guy who hyphenated your name and dragged you off to Nashville? “I met him years ago, when I first lived in Nashville. He teaches French and Spanish at Tennessee State University.”
What do you do? “I’m waiting at a place called Mirror.”
How does it compare to Septieme? “About the same–really cool, a little more upscale, but the same type of clientele.”
Lots of hungry gays? “Yep. It’s Nash-Vegas, and the sisters are there.”
How’d you get to be such a badass waitress? “I don’t know. I think it’s because I like what I do.”
What do you miss most about Seattle? “The weather and my best friends.”
Do you usually schedule waiting gigs in the middle of your vacations? “Not really, but I dig what I do, so I keep doing it. It’s a good way to see everybody, make a little money, buy some outfits.”
Any advice for the dining public? “Remember to be kind to people. Waitresses aren’t your servants. If everybody’s nice and cool, we can all get along and get fed without any bloodshed.”
Interview by David Schmader