$Beer per Hour
by Joshua Lanning
“Chef, Table 12 brought the kitchen some treats.” A slender, perfectly detailed, gentleman gently places a thirty pack of Coors Banquet and a plastic grocery bag on the counter.
“A lot of love in that bag.”
The dapper gentleman spies a couple jumbo bags of M&Ms and what seemed like a lifetime supply of Poky sticks. Without hesitation, the Sous Chef grabs the “treats” and removes them from the kitchen. He is sure to put the Coors in the fridge as this will be his team’s reward for a hard fought battle, the infamous Saturday Night.
the treats
In many restaurants across the country, it’s not uncommon to see cases of beer, handles of liquor, bottles of wine and many kinds of “treats” gifted to the kitchen on a nightly basis. Many times this is a tell sign that the gift giver is a current or former industry professional. That makes sense. Who else knows how precious a cold beer can be after a 12-14 hour shift on a grueling Saturday pace? Only someone who has been through it themselves.
the trend
The mid-2000’s brought the “Buy the Kitchen a 12 pack” trend. Strewn all across America, big cities and little cities, word of the trend got out and you could find yourself presented with the option of sending ‘The Champagne of Beer” to the sweaty Janes and Joes of the underworld. Those behind the scene. Those lowly kids expected to work hard and play hard.
And every Jane and Joe willingly expected this as a perk of being a cook. After all, I earned this beer. ‘This is my beer. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My beer is my best friend. It helps me unwind. I must master it as it has mastered me.’
Woohooo
Believe me, I have no beef with beer, especially free beer. I have a problem with what that beer represents to me and my fellow cooks across the world. This is a sign of our value. This beer is a sign of our mindset. This shift beer is a sign of the industries goal for us. “Do your hard work, hard! And then you can play hard.”
The way that the industry has structured itself has allowed for the back of the house to be tamed with shift drinks and promises of guts and glory. “Well, at least you get to do what you love.” as the slender, clean-shaven gentleman hands you the “The Champagne of beer”. What you don’t see in his other hand is a bottle of 2001 Dom Perignon.
We are a bunch of suckers.
Passionate, loyal, bleeding hearts with a hard-on for food.
the extreme
A lot of times, Cooks are extremists. We are happy to pour every penny we earn into our career that is built like a quarter machine. You can give all you got and it will gladly take. But your meter will run out unless you have a squirrel nest full of ten dollar rolls of quarters. This is an expensive industry. To travel, to eat, to work for free, to work for nearly free, to travel more and eat more, to pay to work for free. You are left with nothing but credit card debt and hopefully some skills to help you pay that off.
All the while, you have those shift beers to look forward to. While the imbalance of pay still occurs between the Front Of House (FOH) and Back Of House (BOH), cooks are happy to be valued on par with a shitty, sugary, addictive beer.
the pay
So while a Lead Server at a high-end restaurant can make anywhere from $80k-$100k a year, a Sous Chef at the same establishment will make $40k-$60k plus treats. At a lot of places structured like this, a lead server will have very little, if any, management, ordering, or creative responsibilities but somehow gets paid 2X more. Did you know that a lot of Servers make more than their manager? Some Servers make more than the Chef De Cuisine of that restaurant.
It pays to remain in the position.
It does not pay to progress.
Yes, yes, there are some legal issues regarding tip pooling, service charge vs. gratuities. Let’s address those and try to bring some type of change.
I’m not talking about pocket change.
Let’s figure out how we can prevent a cook or dishwasher to be treated like a ‘welcome mat’. Once its worn out, you just replace it. How can we add value to these people’s lives that doesn’t support addiction and dullness? How can we add a mere $5-6 or even $10 per hour to their lives?
the real treats
The new shift beer or “Buy the Kitchen a big FUCK YOU”, needs to be a wage that is on par with those in the FOH. The new treats given to the BOH need to be: jumbo bags of 401k plans, health insurance, retirement, and a living wage. Restaurant economics, federal and local law prevent this from happening.
How can we change this?
How do we tip the scales?
Just to level it?
The restaurant industry is structured to benefit the service team. Gratuities are owned by the employees and distributed amongst servers, busboys and bartenders. As of March of 2018, non-management BOH employees can now take part in that tip pool, But that is up to the employer.
What. a. task.
Restaurant owners have to manage slim margins, entitled service team members and reckless, mute cooks.
In order for tips to be distributed to the BOH team, restaurant owners have to take a small percentage from the FOH team. And they are a greedy bunch. The industry has created them. We have given them a career expectation of making big money without any true ownership or responsibility. Now, that doesn’t apply to all FOH staff. I need to say: there are dedicated and passionate people who work FOH. No doubt. But is it that hard to be that dedicated with the idea of making a lot of money.
the foh account
Restaurant owners are fearful to lose quality FOH people because Joe’s Spam House down the street has a reputation of Servers walking home on a Wednesday night with $300. They don’t include their cooks in the tip pool. More money in the FOH bank account.
Somehow, we have to create a level playing field. Gratuities should be owned by the employees, without a doubt. It’s protection. But we should be giving the BOH team the 5% the bartenders make plus more. Bartenders get their own gratuities. It pays to be a bartender. This shouldn’t be an option. It should be law. 70% to servers, 20% busboy, 10% kitchen....or 60% to servers, 20% busboy, 20% kitchen. I’m not sure. But I do know it cannot remain as it has.
I’m no economist, no accountant or mathematician. But I have lived the life of a cook for the past 14 years. Having no family money and being incredibly ambitious, I have been left with the best kitchen experience in the world and absolutely no money.
Actually the opposite.
I play this ongoing game of transferring credit card debt to no-interest credit cards while paying off a student loan I should have never taken.
I drink too much.
I work too much.
I’m a bleeding-heart, emotional cook with a hard-on to see change in my industry. I’m through with working longer and harder than those who work half and make twice as much in the same building.
My loyalty has been my downfall.
Back to the m&ms
The Sous Chef walks to the back room where sommeliers and back waiters are vigorously polishing glasses. The lifetime supply of Poky Sticks has been reduced to a year supply and the gentleman in a dark blue suit, perfectly pressed, is searching.
“Are there any plain M&Ms in here? I’m allergic to peanuts,” remarked the manicured gentleman.
And so the story goes.
