Who are the other chefs accused of physically assaulting their employees?
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David Chang for example and a number of French chefs (where a lot of that toxic kitchen culture originated)
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Were they not uncommon or were they the norm? Generally I agree about ahistoricism and judging the past through the lens of the present but feel the behavior substantiated in that article was quite extreme for even the ālooserā standards of the aughts or teens.
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I think it was pretty standard at restaurants with Michelin stars. Iāve read and heard lots of chefs discussing sadism and abuse from multiple chefs on their way up.
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I hear this a lot from industry friends as well. My reactions are pretty much guided by three principles:
- Fine dining is a competitive space, and Iād rather spend my money not supporting abusers
- I donāt know what its like to work in that world, and people like to lie, since fine dining is competitive. Iāll care if people I know about care and find the accusations credible
- Unless you are a well known abuser, in which case I wonāt go to your restaurant even if I personally want to.
So far, this has ruled out Cesar (which I actually quite want to go to), Baboo (or any Batali affiliated restaurant), Noma among others. On the fence about Jordan Kahn since Iāve seen articles, but I am not tied into the LA food scene like I am the NYC/DC food scene.
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No restaurants have been affiliated with Batali for years.
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Yep, but he was kind of known for being an a-hole even before then, so Ive never been to any of his places even before he got sued into oblivion. Iāve also never been to Eataly for that reason, although Im sure he has since divested of his position
Edit: Wow, its been almost 10 years since he was pushed out of everything. Time really flies
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Thereās degrees to being a piece of shit but leading regularly occurring ritualized group shaming is pretty far into psychopath territory.
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The only way Noma / Redzepi can survive this is that he was cruel to everyone instead of targeting only protected classes. Iāll be interested to see how this plays out; itās an interesting social experiment.
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Disagree, Noma will be just fine regardless
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Yeah I doubt Rene really cares that much or is actually contrite, he was reportedly at anajak with a party of 14 last night partying it up.
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I donāt think him partying it up at Anajak has any bearing on whether or not he is contrite. However, I think his feckless statement and general psychopathic tendencies make it clear heās not contrite.
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Yes fair enough I guess I shouldnāt try to surmise his mind state but I think the optics of having a big dining party while being under so much scrutiny definitely are questionable and would likely indicate nonchalance about the situation.
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I donāt think every emotionally retarded asshole is mentally ill. Thatās kind of letting them off the hook.
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The most charitable thing i can say is that is pretty tone deaf. Wow.
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AMEX, parent company of Resy/Tock, is stepping away from any involvement with Nomaās LA residency
Yep, getting media traction now before the March 11 protests
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Some more info here: Amex pulls its Noma LA support - by Kristen Hawley
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