from Crains....
The U.S. Open kicks off Monday, but the restaurants, bars and cafes that feed the crowds are not quite game ready.
Chicago-based Levy Restaurants, the company that runs the nine eateries and the food village for the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, is conducting on-site job fairs this week to fill out their roster of 1,500 hourly workers.
August is a slow month for the restaurant industry, so Levy is targeting workers who are on summer hiatus from their own restaurant jobs in Manhattan and other parts of the city.
Levy wants to avoid the staffing shortages it experienced the first year it ran the Open’s food service in 2006, when staff worked 36-hour shifts with no sleep. A chef actually fell asleep in the cooler, said Levy Chief Operating Officer Rhonna Cass. Last year, Levy brought in executive chef, Mike Lockard, who is based in Flushing year-round and works exclusively on the U.S. Open.
“It’s like 14 days of Super Bowl, [which is] a sprint,” compared to the marathon that is the U.S. Open, said Ms. Cass.
About a quarter of a million meals will be served at the Open, which will attract approximately 650,000 tennis fans during the two-week event. Many people stay all day and evening to watch the morning play that begins at 11 a.m. and the night sessions that start at 7 p.m. The restaurants cater everything from breakfast pastries to lunchtime Coney dogs to fine-dining fare.
“There’s nothing that compares to
this experience,” said Mr. Lockard, who oversees the service of 9.5
tons of porterhouse steaks, 4.5 tons of crab and lobster, 9.5 tons of
vegetables and 6 tons of fruit. “It’s like boot camp for the new
staff.” 
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