How a Maitre d’ in Balthazar spends his Sundays
Zouheir Louhaichy, the head maître d’at Balthazar, the ever-popular SoHo brasserie, doesn’t just give customers their mobile number. However, those who have it are not shy about reaching out on Sunday, his day off.
“I get texts from regular customers desperate to come at short notice or need help with future requests,” he said. But apparently he doesn’t mind. “Our regulars are nice, lovely people. And that makes them feel valued.”
Mr. Louhaichy, 58, also Balthazar’s assistant general manager, lives in Manhattan’s financial district with his husky, Skyler. His mother, Fatna Sougrati, 76, often stays with him, and his two daughters – Zina Louhaichy, 19, and Leila Louhaichy, 24 – come over. In between texting regulars on Sundays, he trains for triathlons.
ALOHA Between 7:30 and 8:00 am I wake up and make a cappuccino. I like Hawaiian coffee because the beans are kind of a connection to Hawaii, which I love. I go there for triathlons, that’s my passion. That’s what keeps me fit and healthy. With my coffee I make a little breakfast – generally mixed berries with some fat-free Greek yogurt and walnuts – and then I go back to bed. I actually have breakfast in bed. It’s a great time for me to relax from the work week. I also get busy later in the day, so I need that time to myself.
AFTER THE COFFEE THE TEA My boss, Keith McNally, is big on Instagram. He has a huge following. Sunday morning, while I’m in bed, I send him an email report from the night before at the restaurant, pretty much a glimpse of everything that happened. You got the covers, how many we did, how many came in, how many no shows, how many canceled. Then I go into a description of how the night went, which VIPs or celebrities walked in with friends. If there is an incident, such as someone who has been very drunk or someone has not been nice to a colleague of ours, I will make a description of it.
‘A WHOLE’ There are times when the team report ends up on his Instagram. He could post it. And the thing is, that’s become a big hit because no one in the restaurant business does. People Love reading these reports. That’s what they tell me. They say, I can’t believe so and so did that. They like to read what goes on behind the scenes. It could be anything: I don’t know if you have the James Corden story that went viral, but he was in fact banned for his treatment of the staff. It was a whole.
TIME TO GO I get out of bed after about an hour and as soon as I hit the ground my husky realizes, okay, we’re fine, we’re about to leave. He gets excited. I take him to the dog park across the West Side Highway at Battery Park. While he’s doing his thing, I read or start stretching. Because as soon as we get back, I’ll start my Ironman workout.
TRAVEL READY I’m raising money for the Ironman Foundation. I’ve competed in at least four Hawaiian Ironmans. They are always in the fall, and this year the men’s and women’s leagues between Hawaii and France begin to rotate. This year the ladies are in Kona and the gentlemen are in Nice, where I’m going in September. At the end of May I will go to Hawaii with my youngest daughter Zina for a training flight. She likes to come, and sometimes she trains with me, swimming and cycling. The trip to Hawaii is to prepare for the world championship in Finland at the end of August.
IN THE SADDLE I have my triathlon bike in the apartment on a Wahoo, a smart trainer that you attach to your bike, so you can cycle at home. Most of my training on the bike is on the Wahoo, but if the weather is nice I could ride to Nyack with my cycling friend Karim Demirdache. You’re looking at about 60 miles round trip. We make a quick coffee stop in Nyack and head right back. Then I might go for a run outside, because in a triathlon you don’t just cycle; you have to get your body used to running after cycling, even if it’s just a short run.
OPTIONS When I come back and my daughter is here, it usually means we will have a Moroccan lunch with my mother. It can be a tagine with chicken and some salads and small side dishes such as briwats (filode triangles filled with meat or seafood). If she’s not around, maybe I’m having brunch with a friend of mine, Rockell Metcalf. He lives in SoHo so we usually stay in that area. There are a few options, such as Minetta Tavern, Aurora And Emporio.
WALK THEN RUN I walk back a little bit, a kind of recovery walk, and sometimes I walk through Chinatown. I might decide to buy some food there. On the way back I like to listen to singer Umm Kulthum; one of her memorable songs can last an hour. Then I come back home and it’s time for another dog run.
THEY EYES AT SUSHI My eldest daughter works late on Sundays Printed matter, an indie-type bookstore. She finishes around 7pm and my two daughters and I often go out for dinner. We usually go for sushi, ideally Blue Ribbon sushi. There are two locations, and the one here in the financial district is usually the better place to go. For my own sanity, I tend to suspend my judgment of the service when I’m gone. But my daughters get a kick out of it when something happens. They can’t wait to see the look on Dad’s face. It must be really, really horrible for me to say anything. I’m not here to teach people. I just want to have a good time with my daughters.
FINISHED When I come back, I’ll be ready to end the day. I do my best to make it an earlier night than the rest of the week because it’s my first night off. I’m in bed at 10.30pm and in an ideal world I’m asleep at 11pm after catching up on some English football highlights.
Sunday Routine readers can follow Zouheir Louhaichy on Instagram @zouheirlouhaichy.