Opinion: What's Happening to the Food Service Industry?

The writer's father as a young man in one of his kitchensPhoto byCollection of Suzy Jacobson Cherry

I believe that televison chefs are ruining the restaurant industry. I’m referring to the way chefs are portrayed on “reality” TV, social media, and in fictional televison series. I do not, however, think they are doing it alone.

Because television and film depictions of cooks, chefs, and others in the restaurant industry, people who don’t know the business have developed certain ideas about it. These ideas are reinforced by the public conversations around wages, the value of employees, and the meaning of success.

Public buy-in to these ideas are, in my opinion, part of the reason that restaurant managers are having trouble hiring and retaining good employees. As a result, patrons at restaurants at all levels are not enjoying a restaurant experience of excellence in both food and service.

Bad ideas and stereotypes

Among the more destructive ideas about restaurant workers are the following:

1. Chefs are mean micromanagers and instead of inspiring excellence, they tend to try to enforce their own standard of perfection by yelling and swearing at staff.
2. Chefs make tons of money and have a good chance at becoming famous.
3. Cooks, waitstaff, and even chefs are drunks or drug addicts with dirty mouths.
4. People who work in restaurants either can’t get a “better” job or are only using it as a step toward a “better” career.
5. Anyone who works in fast food must be either a kid, too stupid to find a job at a more prestigious restaurant or in a “better” field, or have a criminal record.
6. “Flipping burgers” is a fate worse than death and must be avoided at all costs.
7. People who work in restaurant kitchens will spit in the food or worse.
8. Since restaurant work is “not important,” it’s okay to quit without notice, not show up to work, or simply never attempt to work in the field.
9. Restaurant workers are valued on an individual basis when they are serving the public, but when their pay is being discussed publicly, they are used as some kind of test against which the value of other workers must be compared and surpass.

Many ideas about food service from the bottom up parallel ideas about every service industry, including retail and education. These fields are often considered to be either stepping-stones to more valued positions or only worth minimal pay and very little respect.

A story of a career chef

My dad was a chef, and a good one at that. Dad didn’t go to culinary school, but he won awards for his cooking early in his career. In his day, culinary school wasn’t a requirement anywhere. He wasn’t always a chef, of course. He started out as a line cook, moved to sous chef, and eventually, he was the executive chef.

By the time he retired, Dad was food and beverage director for three major hotels in an Army town in Texas. After his retirement, he chose to go back to work in the nutrition department for the school system, working at two local high schools.

For a while, Dad was a “celebrity chef” before there really was such a thing. When I was in part of third and fourth grades, we lived in Southern California, and Dad worked at the Disneyland Hotel. He was invited to go on one of the television morning news shows to share recipes, talk about food history, and most likely, put in a plug for the restaurant where he worked.

Because we moved often, and because neither Mom or Dad are around to confirm my memory, I’m honestly not sure of two things:

1. That this was where this happened. It could have been in Phoenix, when he worked at the famous Pink Pony in Scottsdale or one of the other restaurants where he worked in the area.
2. That he was a full-on chef yet when he did it. He may have been sous chef at that point.

What I am sure of is that both on television and in the kitchen, my dad was a nice guy and a great kitchen manager. He spoke kindly, treated his staff with respect, and corrected those who needed correcting with tact.

When Dad became “Chef LeMonte,” he was not afraid to work behind the line when necessary. Like the best managers in any industry, he never asked his employees to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself.

Dad worked at some high-end restaurants in various cities, like Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Atlanta. He ran kitchens at expensive country clubs and private resorts in places like St. Louis and Harbor Springs, Michigan. Before he became the food and beverage director at the hotels, Dad was a highly sought-after kitchen troubleshooter.

In spite of having attained these heights, Dad never put down someone who worked in low-end restaurants, chains, or fast food. He would never have used “flipping burgers” as a derogatory comment.

Dad and Mom both enjoyed their beers after a hard shift at work, but neither of them drank on the job. Dad swore sometimes, but I only heard him use the “F” word once in my entire life, and it wasn’t in a kitchen. We kids grew up in those kitchens.

Personal experience

When we started our working careers, it was in the food service industry. Even as we moved into other careers, food service has been a favorite fall-back and supplement. None of us chose other careers because we felt we were “above” working in food service. Our lives simply took us to other paths for various reasons.

In all the years I was associated with food service, while I met many folks with addictions who were good at their jobs and others who were not, those who were considered “drunks” or “druggies” were not in the majority.

I worked with many chefs and kitchen managers, including my dad, but never once was one of them a loud, rude person who yelled expletives at their staff. Perhaps the only exception was when I was a cook in the Air Force. However, that wasn’t a failing of being in the kitchen, it was the nature of the military.

Exodus from the field

While the shut-downs during the early years of Covid pushed many food service workers into new fields, self-employment, and the gig economy, there has been ample time for restaurants to return to full staff. Unfortunately, this hasn’t happened for a lot of service businesses, including restaurants. Some of those who begin working as a cook expect to find fame and fortune, and when it doesn’t happen for them, they leave.

Conclusion

I believe that these fallacies about the industry and about those who work in it play a part in the understaffing of restaurants. As a result, everyone who enjoys a meal out once in a while will sometimes suffer poor service and badly prepared meals. This happens, not necessarily because the quality of the staff is low, but because the ability of the staff to keep up with the demand of a low ratio of workers to customers affects the quality of the delivery.

Disclaimer:

I didn’t do any research into statistics related to this story, nor did I look into current restaurant industry outlooks. This entire story is based on conversations with cooks, chefs, wait staff, and customers, as well as anecdotal examples from my own personal experience.