There’s also plenty that addresses or provokes further thought around the cultural reckoning ablaze in the restaurant industry. He touches on culinary appropriation and how America’s chromosomal racism and classism bleeds into the food environment.
You can’t ever predict the climate into which you’re going to release a memoir. A lot rings true to the current reckonings around restaurant culture. You try to reconcile the ways you were abusive in your kitchens with your own self-hatred around your behavior, and the ways you’ve tried to get in front of and mitigate your actions.
That’s when it hit me: I have to do the same thing. I can’t just say “forgive me” — for treating people poorly, for yelling, for having this crazy anger. I can rationalize all of it with my mental health, but I have to spend time on their perspectives, and on how my actions have affected them. I’ve talked to some people I’ve hurt over the years and it’s hard. I have to work on getting better and have it be actionable. We could talk about this forever. I just want to be better.
How in 2020 could anyone say that was a good idea? I remember cutting myself once in a kitchen and not being able to go to the hospital because we were short-staffed. Here’s the thing: If this industry were really deemed essential, there would be legislation and stimulus bills for restaurants. But there aren’t.