In the twenty-four-hour, never-resting place that it is, New York City has the opportunity to take you in its loving arms.
It’s also one city where you can be chewed up and spit out without second thought, at which point, you’re left to acquire change and used Metro Cards from tourists who need their picture taken.
Your new home is the freshly swept sidewalk. Your new neighbor is a homeless bloke who smells of piss and gin.
Welcome to the Jungle.
The Chimes staff ventured into the depths of New York City this past weekend for a collegiate media conference. During the weekend-long stay the staff took part in collegiate media workshops, discussion forums and, well, there might have even been a little sight seeing.
Although New York City took us in her loving arms, it was easy to see that after our eighth meal of overly-sized, overly-priced pizza she was ready for us to leave.
“Timmy Tips”, an eighteen-year veteran of the city and semi-celebrity in the restaurant scene is one man whose supply of New York City’s love has never run dry.
Tim, who introduces himself to new people by his more colloquial and well-known name Timmy Tips, isn’t a chef. In fact, his Creative Writing Degree from the University of Southern California doesn’t exactly certify him to be making sure that your Faux-filet Bercy is cooked to perfection.
He will, however, make sure that the moment you enter his place of employment, Brasserie Les Halles (411 Park Ave S., 29th St & 15 John St., Broadway), your time and money is well spent. He will also make sure that your order is clearly communicated to the Chef, which in this case is Anthony Bourdain.
“Someone said to me once, ‘You make the weather of the restaurant,’” Tim said in an interview with the Chimes. “That’s always stuck with me. I think that’s a good way of putting it.”
But his appreciation of the food, wines and people that he works with on a daily basis didn’t just appear out of thin air—or did they?
“I came to New York City because I earned a job to teach some writing classes at a local university. When I showed up, there was a month lull where I was left to explore the city,” he told editorial staff members around a dimly-light table nestled in the corner of the Russian Vodka Room (265 W. 52 St.).
In that lull, he would acquire a job at the restaurant, dropping names of the owner —who he didn’t know at the time—until he found his niche.
Needless to say, he never returned to the classroom.
“I love what I do now,” said the native North Dakotan who now shoots-the-shit with celebrities on a regular basis. “I love my customers who come in routinely and the people that I see over and over again.”
His “regulars” include a plethora of famous athletes, movie stars and musicians, who come to the restaurant to see the man that everyone knows and to be served by the one and only, Timmy Tips.
Of his experience working closely with celebrity Chef Anthony Bourdain, Timmy Tips would note that he is a “terrific guy,” as well as provide an anecdote or two of a younger, lesser-known Bourdain.
“I think what has kept me here so long is the fact that I have freedom,” he said before being interrupted by the owner of the bar where we found ourselves.
“Take what this man says and cut it in half!” joked the owner of the Vodka Room in his Russian accent.
Most non-natives of New York City have a hard enough time navigating the city for a weekend, maybe more. But for Tips, who made the whimsical choice to take a job as a waiter eighteen years ago in the Jungle some call New York, it has been a walk in Central Park.
