Culinary chronicle of an announced resignation

A long winter month on the night shift, several meals and a small kitchen of a gastronomic chain. A hard, demanding job that, in the long run, can generate some problems. What does it feel like to work in the gastronomic field? Is everything rosy? What are the implications of working in gastronomy?

Clean kitchen after a long shift.

July 2021. I received an email stating that they hired me for a local in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Recoleta for the night shift from 4 to 00. "Absolute joy", I thought. A job related to what I am studying and in a renowned chain was something positive since in 7 months of job search it was the first offer I had.

Hired and, with joy, I arrived at the premises. I walked in and went straight to the kitchen. It had been the first time he had been behind the scenes of a restaurant. The journey began towards a new place, interesting to explore; but that, in the long run, it would end up being like a culinary nightmare.

First step: start doing the dishes. I was surprised. I was shocked. Having studied gastronomy, I never imagined that they would send me to wash the dishes. Perhaps starting by chopping and separating the ingredients would have been a better start, but it wasn't.

So it was for a week, washing the dishes and interspersing with some separation of ingredients. At the end of those seven days I began to see what cooking really was, and even more so during the famous "dog" (the peak hour of a restaurant). I began to recap the stress of what it is really like to work in a gastronomic establishment.

Command after command.

From the end of the second to the end of the third week, he began what he would call a process of labor exploitation and mistreatment that worsened night after night, and that, in the fourth week, would be terrible.

Demanding situations such as the fact that I would already have to have the speed of the guys who had already been in the company for two years, non-payment of some tips and anger from the supervisors about issues that were not related to what I was doing. These were some of the things that one understands and that leaves one thinking for a long time.

Hours passed. The pressure and tension increased more and more. The companions, on a few occasions, helped with the dog. Each time, the demand was greater. But that was not the problem, but behind the scenes. That not everyone sees when they go to eat at the restaurant, that which is usually hidden.

The mental and physical wear and tear was getting worse. The rotating schedules, the mistreatment of bosses and situations that did not help, left a bitter taste on a job that could be better. That, added to the fact that the allowances were small, he came back with back pain every day.

Goodbye to gastronomy?

If the third week was difficult, the fourth week was impossible. The shifts lasted until one in the morning, deep headaches and back pains began to be more bothersome every day, and they put a demand that not even the old employees were given. Everything warranted that the end was yet to come.

Combining a bad pay (per hour and half in black) with something that someone can not do everything alone, generates a certain rejection. The influence of practical gastronomy and the lack of options to innovate the presentation of the dishes makes it impossible to grow and be creative. All the negative, this company had.

At dinner on the last day of work I called the supervisor. He was determined: he was going to resign. He came to the table and I explained the situation to him. He asked me to stay until rush hour is over at least, to help a little more. I stayed. I complied. It was 10 at night and I communicated with my colleagues: the order that appeared was the last one I was going to do because I resigned. I had to go, there was no other option.

An experience that you have to think about several times to repeat it. A habit that demands a lot and gives little economic return. Rotating francs, bad payments, labor abuse. No, thanks. Bye. If there is something that is not worth doing, it is to continue in something that does not contribute to you, in something that does not influence you. Is it something that doesn't follow a rhythm? Can be. Will I try my luck somewhere else to see if the scope changes? It's something I can't say.