Let's think about kitchen hierarchy

So, something happened just recently that has been bugging me. It was a chance encounter with a young chef who was having a break at the back of a restaurant. I walked in the back gate and she asked if she could help me. When I said I had an appointment to see the head chef and the manager, her reply was, "I'm just a lower chef, I'll take you to them." Her words kept ringing in my ears to the point where I had to go back outside and approach her again. I asked her to think about how hard she is working to get ahead in this industry and how hard she would need to continue to do so, and suggested that she be kinder to herself and remember that she is not lower than anyone else. Perhaps she could introduce herself as a junior chef or as the commis chef, but never as 'lower' than anyone.

I went back to my meeting wondering if I had overstepped the mark. I know that restaurant teams have to have clear reporting lines. Lo and behold, the manager then referred to another chef on his team as one of the lower chefs. So I guess this young woman was demonstrating a learned behaviour.

As I left the young chef made a beeline for me and said "Thank you for pulling me up on that. I've been sitting here thinking about what you said and I think I need to change how I think about myself."

Of course, this is not a gender specific issue. But on this International Women's Day I'd love to see our hospitality leaders and managers thinking a little more about how to nurture and empower their team members, male & female...

#internationalwomensday #mentalhealth #nzrestaurants #nzchefs