HUNKERING DOWN
This past week I could only think of one word that described our weather, rank. We have had chill, foggy and gray air for days.
It now looks like we will have temperatures hovering around freezing for the coming week. Your car and house windows could have an icy glaze that would scatter the sun’s rays if we had sunlight in Michigan in January. Detroiters are generally an active people, and being holed up usually doesn’t fit our nature. Bears gather up some stuff and climb into holes for the winter.
Bears tend also to be grumpy. We have some better choices. We need to get out.
We need a pretty good reason to leave our warm homes, scrape our windshields and then navigate the icy roads. We need to get to a place that will get our juices flowing again. We need to be warm to our bones.
Just yards from where your car is left for the complimentary valet parking is one of the warmest places in town, the Dirty Dog Jazz Café. A lot of the warmth comes from the music, the food, the pub like atmosphere and most of all a pleasant smiley staff.
Once they get settled, visitors to the Dirty Dog Jazz Café often find a smile sneaking across their faces, especially this week when Johnny Trudell’s’s music and good nature can be counted on to pick up their spirits.
WARMING SMILES
On these cold winter evenings the Dirty Dog will assemble a staff that understands the winter blahs. These are the folks who will welcome the guests into a warm, serene and uplifting experience. This process happens long before the band or any patrons show up. What I have observed is that the management sets the tone. Their respectful and good natured work ethic is contagious.
I have had a chance to watch the staff prepare for an evening’s upbeat event. Tables were prepared while the kitchen started to hum. They went about their tasks with a great deal of independence and purpose. The service at the Dirty Dog is a team effort and so was the preparation. This kind of service is not an easy task, and success is not an accident. Gretchen, Tom, Chef André, Willy and all the staff seem to like being around each other. The Dirty Dog is a warm place even before the guests arrive.
But hold it, here is someone who can say this better than I can. On a cold January day I asked someone who should know, Alexander Zonjic, if the staff made any difference in the clubs where he plays.
Here is Alexander Z’s answer:
“The Dirty Dog Café has become home for some of the country’s finest jazz artists. Musicians love to play a gig at the club because they get respect. They are surrounded by people who listen and understand. When they play the Dog they generally have the audience’s attention, an audience that is also sometimes being served in the middle of a set with a warm smile.”
Let the staff know you value their contribution. Smile back.
John Osler
COMING TO THE DIRTY DOG THIS WEEK
MONDAY SPECIAL JAM AT THE DIRTY DOG
Ralphe Armstrong, Chris Collins, Sean Dobbins John Douglas and Mike Malis
TUESDAY CHARLES BOLES
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY JOHNNY TRUDELL
johnosler 
