photograph by jacob rodgers
As I settle into a booth at the Beauty Shop, a familiar face greets me. Devinn Schwarzman has been a server at the Cooper-Young institution for many years, and that’s just how she likes it. As she describes her time there, she offers many reasons for feeling invested in Karen Carrier’s salon-turned-restaurant, but key among them, quite simply, is that “it feels like family.” It doesn’t hurt that she also finds the food irresistible.
“I like to get here a little early,” she says. “Karen goes over all the specials with us, and we all taste them.” While sampling, Schwarzman commits the dishes’ ingredients to memory, ready to recite them to customers. When I ask her if that’s a challenge, she just shrugs. “I have little tricks for remembering things.”
It becomes clear that the whole “front of house/back of house” distinction is blurry, as servers like Schwarzman are deeply immersed in the kitchen’s creations. As I look over the menu, her enthusiasm for certain dishes is contagious, as she speaks admiringly of the bold eclecticism of Carrier’s recipes. You would think she was sitting down to a meal herself when she waxes poetic about the “pan-roasted barramundi with sweet corn and Tennessee pea succotash, citrus garlic coconut broth, Marcona almonds, and warm brown butter. That’s a combination of flavors and textures that you don’t see anywhere else. The succotash is unorthodox, but so good!”
“Every table has a little story behind it. So you want to honor that and make it special for them.“ — Devinn Schwarzman
She’s so engaged with the dishes’ details that I ask if she ever hopes to work in the kitchen herself, following the path of the chef. “Nope,” she says flatly. She relishes her role in the operation, and that’s apparent as she talks about the rewards of greeting Beauty Shop patrons.
“People often come here for significant life events — anniversaries, birthdays, or showing a visitor the city at its best,” she says. “Every table has a little story behind it. So you want to honor that and make it special for them. And I love presenting these amazing plates, making sure they look just right.”
Schwarzman’s sense of being in a family reverberates down to her willingness to take on any tasks beyond her job description. “I do a little of everything,” she says. “I’ll tend bar if that’s needed, and I book the shows at Bar DKDC [Carrier’s music club next door], so I’m always over there doing something.” But it also shines through in her willingness to welcome anyone seeking a special meal there. They, too, can be part of the Beauty Shop family.
