Behind the scenes at Vancouver restaurants

From superstitious cooks to light-fingered diners, what goes on behind the scenes at your favourite eatery may surprise you.

Patrick Mercer loves running a restaurant. The proprietor of Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar can handle almost anything the business throws at him. Except, perhaps, brunch.

A restaurateur’s job is to “make all of the planets align every day”, Mercer explains to the Straight. There are countless variables that affect a diner’s experience, from having the right number of staff on shift to ensuring that the kitchen has its veggies prepped.

“The chef has to be in a good mood; everyone in the front [dining room] has to be at the table they want to be at,” he says. “The wine has to arrive [at the table] at the correct temperature, at the correct time, from the correct vintage; the pictures have to be dusted; the lights have to be at the right level; the music has to be the right music.” The list goes on.

“That’s why I don’t open for brunch,” he says. “Anything to do with eggs—if you take all of the things I just said about aligning the planets and then add eggs”¦it can really throw everything off.”

Mercer has worked in many restaurants over the years, and he’s “seen some pretty nasty things happen at brunch, everything from things that people did in the kitchen that they shouldn’t have, to the guest who can never have the correct eggs—it’s too soft, it’s too hard.”¦I’ve seen a lady set on fire at a brunch I attended,” he continues. “I won’t mention at which restaurant, by one of those people making a flambé crepe.”¦Set on fire,” he repeats. “I won’t touch brunch.”

MacKay loves the camaraderie of the kitchen, the shared passion for food and for excelling under the intense pressure of service. “It’s like a sports team,” he says, noting that when the cooks arrive and leave each day, everyone shakes hands. “When you all come together as a unit, it’s just a fantastic thing.”

Restaurateurs, too, are passionate about their jobs.

“I adore what I do,” says Incendio’s Mallel, who works 60 to 100 hours a week. “I love the frenetic energy. I love the customers, I’m passionate about food.”¦You have to enjoy the business, because if you sit down and start analyzing what your income is versus the hours you put in, it’s just not worth it.”

“We’re in this business because we adore it,” says Tom Doughty, co-owner of Fuel and Campagnolo. He turned down a law-school offer to pursue a career as a sommelier. “It’s so much nicer bringing good food and good wine [to people] than subpoenas.”

Says Brix’s Mercer, “My favourite time in life—with the exception of [time spent with] my fiancée—is when it is busy and everybody is working together and everybody is happy in the room. It is a high second to none.”

Just as long as he doesn’t have to crack any eggs.

> With files from Pieta Woolley, Helen Halbert, Miranda Nelson, Shannon Li, and Shadi Elien