S IM P LY D EL IC IOUS
tast emaker
The Day of a Valet Lenox Square’s lot manager spills his secrets story:
Kate Abney
I
f you’re heading to dinner at Lenox Square’s standby steakhouse, Prime, or plan to hit up one of the glam new eateries once the shopping mall’s massive renovations are complete, you might just meet Bobby Ralston. The 28-year-old valet manager, who’s finishing up a history degree at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, serves as an account manager for AmeriPark, the Atlanta-based corporation founded in 1986. Managing a crew of 15-plus valets (double that during the holidays), Ralston, a former cross-country athlete, still gets in several hours of running during his six-hour shift. In January, this company man moved to Brookhaven to be closer to his AmeriPark job, one he hopes to keep for the long haul and work his way up. Here, Ralston gives us some insider dish on his curbside gig.
How did you start as a valet? I got this job to make a little money on the weekends, but I’ve grown to love it. I started as a valet at The Cheesecake Factory in February 2010, then in September 2012, I moved over to Terminus, managing valets for BrickTop’s, Cantina and The Flying Biscuit [Cafe]. I came to Lenox full-time in February 2013. Besides those at Lenox, what restaurants are on AmeriPark’s Atlanta roster? We work many of the Here to Serve restaurants, like Prime at Lenox Square and Shout in Midtown. They’re opening two more [Smash and Shucks] in Brookhaven this fall. I’d love to valet there because I live right down the street, but I don’t think there will be room for valet with all the parking decks and different property managers. Some other AmeriPark accounts are Houston’s, The Cheesecake Factory and Fogo de Chão in Buckhead.
“So far, my favorite day as a valet was when we worked [former Atlanta Braves Manager] Bobby Cox’s retirement party. It was a lot of fun meeting Bobby and Pam Cox...We were even given baseballs autographed by Bobby himself.”
Should we ever be embarrassed—say, about the CDs in our console, the radio station playing on the radio, or a dirty car? I don’t think people should be embarrassed on how their car looks … However, they are allowing people into their vehicle, so they may not want to have extremely personal items or anything that they would not want a stranger to see being out in the open. As for music, whether it’s a CD of you singing or a book on tape in a foreign language, valets have probably heard it before. Do you hear lots of juicy restaurant scoop through this gig? You do get to know a lot of the people who work at the restaurants, and you definitely hear a lot of gossip. Rumors circulate about what restaurant may be opening in a space soon, but then we’ll hear something different two days later, so you never really know. Right now, we hear that Zinburger is coming to the old Lenox Grill space.
Photo: Sara Hanna Photography
Do you know all the chefs and GMs? I’ve gotten to know [Here to Serve restaurateur] Tom Catherall, and he’s a great guy. Sometimes he’ll send down a note saying, ‘When your shift’s over, come up and get a burger on me.’ He gives all the on-duty AmeriPark valets half-price food, so if we go up to order a hamburger, they always take care of us. That’s quite a perk. What has been your favorite meal on Tom? Cantina has some amazing tacos. I’ve gone back [there] several times since I worked at Terminus for the tacos. And I’ve never eaten anything I didn’t like from Prime. I love their salmon and they have really good steaks. And a half-price filet isn’t half bad! Yeah, you can’t complain about that. n
TOP 5 CARS AMERIPARK’S BOBBY RALSTON VALETS AT LENOX SQUARE: Nissan Altima Dodge Charger Chrysler 300 Any minivan Toyota Camry
58
September/October 2013 | Simply Buckhead