Almost all of your guests are regulars. Most are well-traveled, routinely dine in New York’s best restaurants and are not afraid to stop you in the hallway or, in some cases, pop into the kitchen to offer advice.
No pressure, right? Welcome to the life of a country club chef.
“I’ve had members take me to Peter Luger … and say, ‘look, when you do a steak night here, this is kind of what we expect,'” says Nicholas Gatti, executive chef of the Alpine Country Club in Demarest. “And I said, ‘wow, OK.’ ”