At il Casale in Belmont, the kitchen staff prepares butternut squash ravioli with sage-brown butter, platters of delicately fried seafood, and grilled rib-eye steak with black truffles and Port sauce. Servers smile, answer questions, deftly deliver dishes, and smile some more.
At the end of the night, they leave the polish behind. It’s time for cheap wings and cheap beer.
“Our usual spot is Halfway Cafe in Watertown,’’ says server Brandon Roderick. “I’m sure they’re frozen chicken wings deep-fried and tossed in sauce, but they hit the spot with a $2 PBR.’’
The restaurant industry is a social one, and the after-work gathering is an important ritual.