The darker side of restaurant life

[Anna N]

From the CBC news site

Click

 

"If you believe reality television shows, the life of a chef can seem pretty alluring. For many, though, life in the fast-paced, hard-driving and highly hierarchical environment of a professional kitchen is anything but — and some say restaurants are rife with abuse, mental health issues and addiction."

[Shalmanese]

The only thing surprising about this news is that some people find it surprising.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

It doesn't seem to have bubbled up to national media but a local restaurant patron was shot and killed by the police in a hostage situation.  Remember, the customer with the shotgun is almost always right.

 

[BeeZee]

Guy in Panera Bread in Princeton, right? I read that there were no hostages, and that he was suicidal.

[dcarch]

"This profession, which on the surface of it is all about pleasure and sustenance, there's a lot of darkness happening behind the scenes of it," she said.

"I really wanted to call attention to the pretty severe mental health crisis that is happening within the industry, and frankly that is ruining and taking lives."

 

If she thinks this applies mostly to restaurant profession, I guess she has never worked for Harvey weinstein and in his business. 

 

“So far, she says she's heard from hundreds of survey respondents from around the world.”

 

No, not even close to a survey. Restaurant business is very tough, but in general it is not as dark as she pictures.

 

dcarch

 

 

 

[heidih]

Oh hell - we had this bizarre scenario a couple years ago. Chef killed and cooked wife. I ate there!  http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/18/local/la-me-restaurateur-20120919

[kayb]

Damn. That'd just about put you off eating out.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 hours ago, BeeZee said:

Guy in Panera Bread in Princeton, right? I read that there were no hostages, and that he was suicidal.

 

That's the one.  Last I read the police were unwilling to state whether there was a hostage or not.  One witness quoted a police officer as saying something like:  "There's a guy holding a shotgun to someone's head."

 

[Dante]

"restaurants are rife with abuse, mental health issues and addiction" - as a veteran of ten years in restaurant life, I can attest to this as accurate.      Stashes hidden in the fridges, tripping dishwashers, servers doing whippets behind the counter, roach clips in the knife drawers, those were just some of the things that I had to deal with. I just limited myself to drinking and legal stimulants, and never the former on the job, and the latter just to keep myself going and keep my pace up for those  thirteen to nineteen hour shifts. 

[IndyRob]

9 hours ago, dcarch said:

If she thinks this applies mostly to restaurant profession, I guess she has never worked for Harvey weinstein and in his business.

 

And you have?

[dcarch]

28 minutes ago, IndyRob said:

 

And you have?

 

What is your point? 

 

dcarch

[IndyRob]

13 minutes ago, dcarch said:

 

What is your point? 

 

dcarch

That bringing up Weinstein serves no purpose.  And that it only invites comparisons to a number of recently disgraced high-profile chefs.

[heidih]

On a more positive and interesting note Ed Levine's podcast with author Andrew Friedman about his new book on chefs is interesting. and informative. It deals more with 1968 to late 80's

 

Edited March 22, 2018 by heidih (log)

[Smokeydoke]

C'mon, do we really have to get into this? eGullet was doing so well, drama-free.

 

We know civilians have no idea what restaurant life is like. Just ignore.

 

It's hilarious, because I happened upon a thread that eGullet once required its member to be an industry-insider!

 

Can you imagine eGullet, with their sous vides and $500 cookbooks, to be run with industry-insiders?

 

Let's stick with extravagant dinners and self-indulgent displays of new cookware. Lets not bring politics to the dinner table.

[dcarch]

15 minutes ago, IndyRob said:

That bringing up Weinstein serves no purpose.  And that it only invites comparisons to a number of recently disgraced high-profile chefs.

 

Thank you for explaining your view. I did not understand your previous question regarding my employment situation.

I thought my response to OP linked article is very clear, that ""This profession, which on the surface of it is all about pleasure and sustenance, there's a lot of darkness happening behind the scenes of it,""   applies to many other professions. 

 

dcarch

Edited March 22, 2018 by dcarch (log)

[IndyRob]

I think most would agree that blaming (or equating) other professions for problems in the one in focus, is not going to be persuasive.  It smacks of deflection. 

 

Politicians would be the worst comparison -- At least we're not like them.

 

Edited March 23, 2018 by IndyRob (log)

[dcarch]

48 minutes ago, IndyRob said:

I think most would agree that blaming (or equating) other professions for problems in the one in focus, is not going to be persuasive.  -----

 

I have no intention to persuade anyone. I just want to disagree with the picture the writer is depicting that restaurants are all:

“Restaurants are rife with abuse, mental health issues and addiction” "I really wanted to call attention to the pretty severe mental health crisis that is happening within the industry, and frankly that is ruining and taking lives."

I agree that restaurant work is tough and there are problems, but all the restaurants I know have mostly happy worker ( about work environment, not pay scale) .

 

she also says some people with existing mental health issues are drawn to restaurant work.

"There is something especially about kitchens that might draw people who might suffer from particular issues, or be driven by particular issues — whether it's depression or anxiety or OCD or bipolar or something — where the condition they're dealing with is actually what drives them in the profession," she said.

What!!!!!! Is she serious???

 

I also would be grateful if you can point out to me if in anyway my comments are not consistent with OP's statement in her/his original post.

dcarch

 

Edited March 23, 2018 by dcarch (log)

[nickrey]

In Australia, one of our high profile chefs recently committed suicide.  He is not the first, nor will he be that last.

 

There are multiple instances of mental health issues and drug abuse in restaurants. Let's not debase the subject by referring to the latest social media issue that may have caught your attention.

 

I laud the efforts reported in the article to deal with these issues. 

 

Much as I respect the opinions of people on this site, I am a psychologist by profession and cook for large numbers of people by choice.

 

If you are a patron at a restaurant, I can very confidently say that you have absolutely no idea what is going on in the kitchen or anywhere else in the restaurant(s) you frequent, apart from your limited personal experience as a customer.

 

Please support this cause as it is worthwhile and much needed.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On ‎3‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 7:40 AM, BeeZee said:

Guy in Panera Bread in Princeton, right? I read that there were no hostages, and that he was suicidal.

 

Yesterday I read a most uninformative explanation in the paper.  What we know:  an armed, army ex-ranger was in the restaurant for several hours.  Much of the downtown was on lockdown -- no one was permitted to leave the public library for example.  The man served in Vietnam and stood accused of Social Security fraud.

 

The authorities decline to reveal what weapon the gunman had and why the police resorted to deadly force.  No information about hostages or not.  There was no speculation about what connection the person might have had to Panera Bread.  Why he chose that restaurant, or any restaurant for that matter.