Jones, James interview

Permanent Link:: http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI14103452/00001

Material Information

Subjects / Keywords:: Oral histories -- Miami Beach (Fla.)
North and Central America -- United States -- Florida -- Miami-Dade -- Miami Beach
Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant ( fast )
Genre:: Video Recordings
Spatial Coverage:: United States -- Florida -- Miami Beach

Scope and Content:: James Jones has worked for Joe’s Stone Crab for 47 years. Currently, he is one of the Maître D’s at Joe’s. He talks about starting as a young man as a dishwasher in the kitchen, learning how to to keep the flow of dishes from dirty to clean coming out of the kitchen into the always busy restaurant. He describes how he moved up through the ranks as busboy to waiter to being a Maître D’. He talks about the 11 p.m. curfew for employees on the Beach and tells a story about how he was almost falsely arrested by police pursuing a purse snatcher late at night as we was waiting for the last bus. Because of the police accusation, he missed the bus. They escorted him back to Joe’s. Sometimes employees had to spend the night there if they had to work late and missed the curfew. Jesse Weiss, the son of Joe Weiss, the founder of Joe’s, insisted the police deliver Mr. Jones to his doorstep in Coconut Grove, which they did. Mr. Jones talks about the mutual loyalty and trust between the employees and the Weiss family, which continues to this day. ( en )