Episode #188 - Rosemary Waldmeier of Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

This week’s guest is Rosemary Waldmeier, a true hospitality lifer -- raised in downtown Chicago in the orbit of the Drake Hotel, then pulled (inevitably) toward the dining room’s gravity. After two summers hosting at Gibson’s and a formative management internship at Shaw’s, she found her long-term home at Lettuce Entertain You, rising through Shaw’s and onto the opening team at Oyster Bah before stepping into her current role as Partner and General Manager at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab. This episode, we talk about the long arc of a hospitality career -- how you grow from “working the door” to building culture, setting a service philosophy, and finding the next frontier. Also: her Swiss-German executive-chef dad’s old-school standards, the lost art of the clipboard (and the economics of a “secret table”), a recent pilgrimage to Florida to visit the original Joe's -- and so much more.

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As mentioned on the show, we’re hosting a limited run of Chef’s Table dinners at the Stock showroom in Logan Square -- 12 seats, chefs cooking in the room, stories included.

• February - Dear Margaret (Two Nights) - French-Canadian cooking from Chef Ryan Brosseau, presented as a rare pop-up while Dear Margaret rebuilds.
  
  
• March - Umami Q - Pitmaster Charles Wong blends Texas barbecue with umami-forward technique.
  
  
• April - Diego / Entre Sueños / Trino - Chef Steven Sandoval leads a borderless Baja-inspired dinner with Mediterranean influence.
  
  

Tickets range from $175–$250 per person (beverages included).

Only 12 seats per dinner. Tickets go fast, so get them while you can.