WELCOME TO HELL

Chefs are enigmatic beasts. No question.

A single cog in a massive machine, paying their dues, perfecting their craft with a pair of tweezers painstakingly applying almond slivers onto a perfectly cooked cod and hand sorting micro herbs. The “idea” of a chef permeates the whole of media, in Bob’s Burgers, Bob, is an ‘Artist who paints with beef, a Beefartist’. This common idea of chefs as these belligerent artists using flavour and texture to create an individual experience of excellence has slowly evolved through media.

When one thinks of an artist, they may think calm, intune with themselves in a slightly unhinged and hysterical way. Chefs are not immune to this. Chefs are notoriously phyco.

Gordon Ramsey has created a whole career around it. Hell’s Kitchen, a show consisting of professionals willingly submitting themselves to abuse, “This fish is so raw, he’s trying to fucking finding Nemo.”, has had over 20 seasons. Ramsey himself has claimed, “Chefs are nutters. They’re all self-obsessed, delicate, dainty, insecure little souls, and absolute psychopaths. Every last one of them.”

Marco Pierre White, the first “celebrity chef” and mentor to Ramsey catalysed this whole phenomenon back in the 1990’s. White gained a reputation for regularly ejecting patrons if he took offence at their comments, one man asked for chips with his lunch thus prompting White to hand-cut and personally cook chips at the low price of £25 a portion. White would lob cheese plates, cut a chef’s jacket open with knife and even assaulting a chef who had recently broken his leg. Akin to Ramsey, this childish tempura tantrum behaviour was self-aware, “I used to go fucking insane”. During his time working for White, Ramsey was reduced down, like a red wine jus, in the corner of the kitchen, head in buried in his hands and sobbing.”

The cycle of abuse in the food industry is inescapable. The student and the master.

But the question is where does this anger come from? And why is this disturbing display of toxic masculinity and workplace abuse normalized?

Its undoubtable like many other industries in society, food is male dominated. When you think of a chef you think of the likes of the forementioned Michelin Hall of Famers or the swine Jamie Oliver and the gorgeous Marcus Wearing. According to a survey published by in January 2021, 71% of female workers had been sexually harassed during their time in the industry. An uproar was caused in the industry back in 2017 when industry giant Mario Batali was publicly exposed as a serial rapist and having a room in his restaurant building labelled the “rape room”. On Hell’s Kitchen the word “bitches” and “cunt” appear more than “chicken” or “delicious”; even though12 of 18 winners are women. The misogyny that undercuts the restaurant industry is so painfully ironic. The simplest misogynist insult “get back to the kitchen” is somehow forgotten when on the professional level and the kitchen is now “a man’s world”.

But Professional kitchens are confrontational. They are busy. And if you can’t take the heat, then maybe you should get out of the fucking kitchen.

Ramsey’s, White’s and many others style of abusive management has arguably damaged an entire generation of chefs. From tears and nervous breakdowns to depression and suicide. Those who choose to work in the restaurant industry put themselves at the mercy of a high-pressure work environment and bullying bosses. Critism of this infinitely macho culture emerged earlier in 2022 through the show “The Bear”. 

The show follows, fine dining chef Carmy Berzatto, and his return to Chicago to take over his brother’s restaurant, after he unexpectedly takes his own life. He is forced to face both the complicated past relationship with his brother Michael and grief at his death but his own mental health, abuse in the industry and morphing into the abuser. The 2021, one shot film “Boiling Point” follows this similar narrative. A talented chef spirals inexorably towards destruction balancing along a knife’s edge as his life descends into chaos during one dinner service. These programmes had great critical acclaim winning numerous awards but most importantly brought a self-aware and critical perspective on this destructive industry into focus.

My personal favourite chef and documentarian of all time is Anthony Bourdain. He focused on the exploration of international culture, the restaurant industry, and the human condition. He died of suicide in 2018 after a long mental health battle stemming back to his work in the industry. While this tempest of abuse, misogyny and suffering infects the industry and is engrossed on in the media, we lose the heart of it. Food.

“Food brings people together on many different levels. It’s nourishment of the soul and body; it’s truly love.” – Anthony Bourdain