La Seine was an extremely French restaurant on Main St, opened in 1965 where the Sugar Bowl Restaurant used to be. Food writer Ruth Reichl had her first waitress job there.

Further reading

Here's a fact! 90% of all new restaurants close within the first year. Now here's a lesser known fact. 90% of those surviving the first year close within the first two weeks of the second year! I know. Our restaurant lasted exactly one year and two weeks. The story you are about to read is the truth – the whole truth. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. THAT'S RIDICULOUS! Anyone who was in our fair city (Ann Arbor, Michigan) 30 years ago when we started this fiasco knows exactly who the nine of us are. If you weren't in town then, you probably have heard about La Seine – the most elegantly authentic French restaurant ever to grace Main Street, Ann Arbor. You also know us. Our story was written 30 years ago, but it has taken us this long to lick our wounds and ease the pain. Now we can laugh about it and share the humor with you.

First real job: Waitress at La Seine, an extremely posh restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I went to college. It was a great job; I learned a lot about food and made an absurd amount of money. The minimum wage at that time was $1 an hour and I'd usually take home about $30 for a four-hour shift.

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