Out of Line by Barbara Lynch

Author:Barbara Lynch
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books

In those days, many, if not most, career workers in high-end restaurants saw abuse on the job as a rite of passage. In a hot kitchen, under intense pressure, executive chefs were expected to freak out and get verbally and/or physically violent. I wanted my restaurant to be more or less free of drama. I wrote, “If we get slammed with a rush of orders, I’ll add a little urgency . . .” hoping it would be possible for all of us to stick to those words.

I also didn’t want sharks on the waitstaff, knifing each other for extra tables to score tips. I set up a tip-pooling system that my first crop of servers, picked from the best in the city, naturally hated. They also didn’t understand the style of service I wanted; for example, I had them bring proper silverware with each course, rather than make the guest sort through whatever was lying beside the plate. They bitched so much to Garrett and Kerri that I finally had to call a mandatory meeting, as I had at Rocco’s.

“I have a wait list of servers who want to work here,” I announced. “If you’re unhappy, you don’t have to stay. I’m shutting down the restaurant tonight, and if—only if—you want to work on my terms, show up tomorrow.”

Most did. They grasped that I wanted to create a different kind of restaurant, staffed by professionals—not moonlighting actors or students or whatever, but lifers, to whom hospitality was a career. I wanted them to have predictable incomes, not crumpled wads of random dollars at the end of a shift, so they could raise families, buy houses, pay taxes, and lead regular adult lives. Like Mario Bonello, I wanted them to find dignity in their work and take pride in being part of a food and wine culture.

That’s why my kitchen manual was so idealistic, upholding the vow that my restaurant would be educational. Cooking, to me, was a vocation, and I wanted to give my employees the chance to discover that in themselves and to learn the way I did—not in cooking school, but on the job. I wrote:

No. 9 will be one of the most challenging kitchens you will ever work in. Our staff has been chosen because we feel strongly that you, collectively can promote the kind of atmosphere we love . . . Teamwork is an assumption. Running an exceptional restaurant is our mission. We want to have fun, which includes listening to music during prep time or joking around on the line. However, we must still be focused . . .

Everyone in the kitchen should be learning constantly. The atmosphere should be one with an open exchange of knowledge . . . Take this opportunity to put hard work into the restaurant and food; it is an investment in your future. Read (and swap) cookbooks whenever you can; go out to eat as often as you can afford. Experience, live, and think about food. Your part in No.

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