23 Aug Q&A WITH “MARCOS THE WAITER” AT THE HUDSON VALLEY RESORT HOTEL
This past weekend Ari Hirsch from The Country Vues interviewed Marcos, the
famous waiter at the Hudson Valley Resort. Marcos has been a waiter in the
Catskills Borscht Belt for almost forty years. He is very well known & liked by
thousands of people he has served over the years.
FAST FACTS:
Name: Marcos Demiranda
Age: 63
Years working as a waiter:
Almost 40 years. In 1982, I started as a
busboy and after two years in 1994, I
became a waiter.
Which hotels did you work at over the
years?
Most of the time I was at Kutsher’s hotel, but I
worked at many others. I worked at the Pines,
the Fallsview, Concord, the Hudson Valley
Resort, and many more.
What’s your favorite part about being a
waiter?
Meeting and talking to a lot of interesting
people. Guests come back over the years
and remember me. Many people remember
me from Kutsher’s. There are families that
I’ve served for so many years. When they see
me, they come and hug me and say that they
miss me, so I make a lot of friends. I have
friends who call me from Israel and Alaska.
They keep calling me. They take my phone
number and always call me.
How many hours, on average, are you on
your feet a day?
On average, about 9 hours a day.
How does it work with tips? Do most people
give you tips?
Years ago, there used to be a lot of cash
and hotel owners only paid us by the hour,
(minimum wage) and then the guests tipped
us separately; the house tip was not included.
Now the house tip is included, so the hotel
owners tip us instead of the guests tipping us.
There are still plenty of people that tip us also.
What is the average tip that someone
gives you for a family that’s here for the
weekend?
On average, I would say we are tipped $5.00
a person.
Do you find that most people are
appreciative of what you do?
Yes, most people are very nice & appreciative.
Are you amazed at how much people eat?
Not really. Some people eat a lot, some people
eat a little. Chasidic people, on average, don’t
eat a lot.
What’s the most annoying thing people say
to you?
Sometimes people complain about the food’s
taste. We only serve the food. They say the
food is too salty or the food is too this or too
that, and it’s not our fault. We only bring it out.
Do you enjoy kosher food?
Yes!
What’s your favorite kosher food?
I enjoy eating cholent, matzah ball soup, and
brisket.
How do you carry so many plates &
balance them?
I’m so used to it. I started with only 20 main
dishes on a plate. The only problem is I can
only do it with my right hand, I can’t do it with
both hands. I have been doing this for so many
years, so I’ve learned to balance well.
What is the most difficult part about being
a waiter?
When it’s a buffet it’s easy. Sometimes when
we take orders, we have to wait in the kitchen
for a long time. Every once in a while they
run out of food. You order
something, we go to the
line, there’s no more food-
that is the difficult part.
And then you have to go
to the guests and say “I’m
sorry we don’t have any
more.” It doesn’t happen
that many times, but by
holidays like Passover,
it usually happens for
people’s second choices.
Usually for the first
choice, everybody is
good. But people say
“Can I have more? It’s so good.” And then
we go to the kitchen and they have no more.
Do you live around the Hudson Valley
Resort?
I live in Monticello. 5 minutes away from the
old Kutsher’s.
How did you meet the owner of the Hudson
Valley Resort, Yossi Zablocki?
He used to be a guest at Kutsher’s and then
they sold the hotel to him. He came over, he
liked it, and the kitchen was run by another
caterer. He took over there, he met me, and
he said “Marcos, do you want to work with
me? I’m the owner.” My sister, my two
cousins, and I used to work for him. They
went away, and I’m the only one who stayed
with Yossi the whole time. I think he liked
me and I liked him.
Did you ever serve somebody famous?
Yes, The Garfunkel family from Simon &
Garfunkel. In Kutsher’s we used to call them
the Floridian people because there was a group
of people who sold their New York houses and
moved to Florida. Then in the summertime
they came back to New York. A lot of people
came back for the summertime and Mrs.
Garfunkel was one of them. She said, “Wait
a minute, here’s my son.” He used to come a
couple of weekends with her. In those days,
we didn’t have cell phones. One time she said,
“Marcos, we’re going to order this meal like
room service because when we eat everyone
comes to ask for an autograph. I didn’t want to
take out a camera and ask for a picture because
I didn’t want to bother them. They are there to
relax. Other famous guests were Liza Minelli,
Jennifer Grey (from the movie Dirty Dancing)
who came with her father, Wilt Chamberlain
and a lot of boxers also came.
Did Wilt Chamberlain eat a lot?
He ate a lot. We brought him big bowls of
food!
How often did Wilt Chamberlain come to
Kutshers?
He would come at least one weekend
a summer. He would have a basketball
tournament at Kutshers. A lot of people don’t
believe it, but it happened for many years.
Google it!
How much longer do you want to be a
waiter for?
G-d knows. Let me tell you, I work in a hotel
only six months a year, then I work elsewhere
for six months because we’re only busy in
the summer. I work from Passover to Sukkos.
After that, we do a few jobs here and there or
stay home and rest.