Turned off
That was a fascinating article [Monica Eng] wrote on chef Marco Pierre White (‘The chef from “Hell,’
” May 29), providing many insights into culinary arts. After spending more than 20 years in restaurant management, I’ve seen many of the things that were commented on. One area I extremely disagree with in Chef White’s (or Chef Ramsay’s, for that matter) management style is their abuse of young chefs.
Something that’s forgotten frequently in the kitchen by staff and management is that they are in the hospitality business. Verbal or physical abuse alluded to in the article has no place in the hospitality business. It’s not unusual for a chef to give corrective action. But it is frequently forgotten that the employee just corrected has a natural reaction to be negative to the next person he comes in contact with, which frequently is the server. This is relayed from the server to the guest (most often unintentionally) in actions or attitude. While corrective action is necessary to maintain quality and order, measures should be taken without resorting to belittling in full view of the staff or confining the offender in a garbage can.
I believe your article has accurately portrayed a highly skilled, culinary arts master with a massive ego and a complete lack of people skills. How this all got parlayed into his successful career speaks highly of his culinary skill. As for me, I’m watching something else on television.
— Bruce R. Walker, Norridge
