'THE BEAR' IS NOT TRENDING HERE

A young generation of chefs is crafting a new work ethos in the spaces they manage, based on empathy and communication

- Suman Mahfuz Quazi

Earlier this week, American comedy-drama The Bear won big at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, clinching the Best Television Comedy, with lead stars Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri also winning in the acting categories. Created by Christopher Storer, the television series highlighted the "yes chef" culture. While dramatised, it depicts the often chaotic, high-intensity, and relentless atmosphere in a restaurant, made worse by poor and inflexible work hours, low pay structures and questionable work-life balance. But as wining and dining makes way for "Girl Dinner" (a TikTok trend of eating snack boards) and nitro coffee swaps out the cold brew, the culture in restaurants, too, is shifting: slowly, subliminally, but surely. This is being brought about by a younger crop of hospitality professionals, keen on setting a new standard.

At this point, it’s important to ask: what renders the work environment at F&B establishments so?

Chef Thomas Zacharias, founder of the multi-format culinary outfit, The Locavore who has worked with The Bombay Canteen in Mumbai and pan-India restaurant-chain Olive Group, says that the problematic aspects of the hospitality industry can range from gruelling work hours to a "sense of servitude" in the chain of command.

"Calling in sick is seen as a sign of weakness. There’s poor pay. In a lot of the restaurants, the service charge, for example, which is supposed to go entirely to staff, is not shared with them. There’s a rigid hierarchy—so, in the kitchen, even a Commis 3, which is the lowest rank in the permanent hires, will still exert a certain degree of authority over a trainee. The same is true in the bar and in the front-of-house, as well," says Zacharias.