AllMovie

Waiting tables is the sort of job many people have taken while on the lookout for something else -- it's not hard to get work as a server, but most who end up doing as a career never intended it at first. And while waitressing is often thought of as being on the low end of the service industry, it is challenging and demanding work, with servers having to look after the emotional expectations of their customers as well as serving their meals in a prompt and professional manner. Maya Gallus was a waitress for several years before moving on to filmmaking, and in her documentary Dish: Women, Waitressing and the Art of Service, she chats with a number of restaurant employees in different cities to explore how different women at different career strata deal with the challenges of the job. Gallus's locations range from a 24-hour truck stop and a neighborhood diner to several haute cuisine establishments in Paris, with some unusual stops along with way, including a Hooters in Montreal, Tokyo restaurants where the waitresses dress up as fantasy characters, and one diner where the waitresses serve breakfast in the nude. Gallus also examines the double standards of the restaurant industry, as women dominate the wait staff at low-end establishments but upscale eateries which offer better pay favor male servers. Dish received its world premiere at the 2010 Hot Docs International Documentary Festival.