Comment left in dining section, something I've been meaning to write about but kept forgetting and Frank was kind enough to remind me:
While I have nothing but respect for the front of the house, I wanted to comment on Frank's having waited tables. I reacted to that article strongly when it first came out, only to be reminded of it in this years Best Food Writing. Frank says it's hard, the hours are long, the pay is not great. Maybe it's sour grapes, but working four or five shifts a week doesn't seem like that much? Standing on your feet for six whole hours without a break? Frank says, "If they put in a full schedule of four prime shifts a week, they might make $45,000 a year before taxes. Almost all of it is from tips. They wonder if diners realize that." But I'd be curious to see what Frank's tank on the other side of the line is--what of the line cook, on his feet ten or twelve hours a day with no break, working five or six days a week, going home with $34,000 a year, before taxes, if he's lucky? What about the debt that she racked up from that fancy culinary school? I'd like to see that article...
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3 comments:
I'm beginning to dislike Frank Bruni. Yes, he's a great writer. But I find that his holier-than-thou yet attempting to be of-the-people attitude a little insulting.
Here's the article you mentioned you'd like to see, by Kim Severson of the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/us/08default.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp
BTW, good posts. I look forward to reading more of your stuff.
Thanks for the comment. I actually linked to that same article in my first post...Scary stuff. I work with plenty of kids out of culinary school, and in addition to the expense versus the reality of a cooking job, schools don't really prepare graduates for the day to day realities of cooking in a restaurant. I can't tell you how many times you end up hearing, "but in school we did it this way..." Too bad. Too some extent, I think I've benefited from not going to school, because I do things the way the chef wants them done, not the way school told me to do them...
Its annoying to be a waiter. Its hard work to be a cook. But when I read Frank Bruni, all i can think is man, I feel bad for Peter Meehan.
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