This week, I met Marc Stewart for the first time. Our friendship is several years old, but until Friday, we only knew each other from Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, emails and phone calls.
Marc has worked in local and network television, and currently hosts the Wall Street Journal’s What’s News podcast, which features WSJ journalists talking about the big stories of the day.
He’s based in London, but he’s from suburban Detroit, and was home for a quick visit (in the small world department, his dad is on staff at the medical center my nephew will be joining this summer).
We got together at Zingerman’s Roadhouse, where I was pleased to see that business was hopping, and to spot many familiar faces from the staff. It made me optimistic that this summer will be a good one for restaurants.
But not all of them. While six out of 10 restaurants appear to have survived the pandemic, the National Restaurant Association estimates that 90,000 remain closed, and that 8 million restaurant employees lost their jobs or were laid off.
When $26 billion in aid became available as part of the American Rescue Plan, the Small Business Administration received $65 billion in applications. The Biden administration said it planned to cut off the program on Monday.
Given that so many restaurant people are out of work, you might wonder why virtually every dining establishment and bar in the country is short of staff.
Conflicting attitudes
Two charts from the trade publication Restaurant Business explain the vastly different points of view of restaurant owners and employees.
Overwhelmingly, owners say that potential hires don’t want a job because they can still draw COVID related relief.
Behind that, they believe these prospective employees can draw better pay in other industries, while a small group thinks working conditions are better elsewhere.
Now look at what restaurant employees said. The number one reason is low wages and tips, followed by concerns about safety from COVID, and ill treatment by customers.
In recent weeks, we’ve seen governors, members of Congress and trade groups call for stripping eligible employees of additional weeks of unemployment assistance, a feature of the American Rescue Plan.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for instance, says the aid gives employees less incentive to seek work. The implication is that restaurant employees are freeloading off the government, and if you cut off their assistance, they’ll be forced to return.
I have another theory. First of all, the worker shortage isn’t new: restaurants have been begging for workers for years, from cooks to servers to front of the house. That doesn’t mean a lack of people, but too many restaurants.
Yes, it was relatively easy to find help during the Great Recession and for a while afterwards. And, as I’ve written, some people in the industry see their work as a profession, especially if they are well compensated and enjoy their workplaces.
But if you aren’t treated well, and your only option is a tipped wage job, which starts at $3.67 in Michigan, and you are not wedding to working in a restaurant, you might easily choose another path. People don’t often get the opportunity to re-think the direction they’ve taken. The pandemic made that possible.
As so many people are finding out, you can be involved in the food world without taking a job in a brick and mortar restaurant.
There’s catering, grocery store deli counters and grab and go sections, food trucks, and the pop ups that I wrote about recently. You can operate from a home kitchen, or rent space in a commercial one. You can be a private chef. You can consistently work without worrying about shifts being cut or moved.
A number of these options pay better than restaurants, and offer benefits, as well as easier workplace conditions.
Psychological scars
Eric Rivera, the chef and owner of Addo, a Seattle restaurant, said some psychological reasons are involved, too.
“Restaurants that laid people off right at the beginning of the pandemic that are now ramping up hiring and not realizing that people don't want to be abandoned again,’ he tweeted in a lengthy thread earlier this month. “Also, lots of service workers died. Please attach that comment to any worker shortage story.”
He went on, “You would be better off: being a third party delivery driver, working at a warehouse, being independent and doing side gigs, training in another industry, etc..... People have more options and coming back to a restaurant cesspool isn't attractive.”
Rivera believes that restaurants inadvertently insulted some of their employees during the pandemic when they let many staff members go and switched to offering carry out and delivery, as well as contracting with third-party delivery service.
“Now, they want to hire people back to dine-in. Hey, dip-s—t, you proved you don’t need those employees, right to their faces.”
Values as well as pay
I was thinking about his thread when I stopped by a new gourmet market in Ann Arbor this week. Knight’s Southside sits in the same industrial park as many of Zingerman’s food and service operations, such as the Bakehouse, the coffee and candy company, the Creamery, and ZingTrain.
It’s part of a collection of businesses owned by members of the Knight family, who have been a force on the Ann Arbor food scene since the early 1980s. Founded by the late Ray Knight, the group includes several restaurants, a catering company, the original meat market, and now this sparkling new shop.
We’ve patronized all of the Ann Arbor ones. My mother’s 100th birthday dinner was held at Knight’s Steakhouse, and I’ve gotten birthday cakes, brownies and many grocery orders from Knight’s establishments.
Don Knight, one of the siblings who run various parts of the company, was on hand at the new market to greet shoppers, and told me that he is finding it tough to hire, just like everyone else in the business.
However, he is doing his utmost to offer an attractive package. The wages in his places start around $15 an hour, with health care, a 401(k) plan, and paid vacation.
Knight’s website also includes a statement of values, which begins, “Please understand that we are serious about creating a productive working environment for our staff and maintaining the highest levels of quality, service and attention for our guests.”
Based on my experiences dining around Ann Arbor and around the country, Knight’s seems like as good a place to work as anywhere. Its customers remained loyal through the pandemic, and its dining rooms and outdoor seating are filling up as the weather turns warm.
As the surveys show, however, people are giving up on restaurants for reasons beyond income. That suggests it’s time for a renovation of restaurant culture, before the casualty rate grows even higher.
That can start by reading chart number two, and absorbing what restaurant employees are saying.
Cookbooks That Provide A Window Into The Middle East
I’ve been deeply distressed by the violence that broke out in Israel and the Palestinian territories over the past few weeks. I have Jewish friends, and Arab friends, and it is clear the fighting helps no one.
Among those affected was Uri Buri, the restaurant in Acre, which was torched during the clashes.
You might know its owner, Uri Yirmias, who was featured in an episode of Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix, and who has hosted many food industry visitors to Acre.
Uri, known for his distinctive long white beard, had had to put out the flames himself in order to save what was left of the establishment. But he plans to continue running the restaurant, which has been his life’s work.
“We will renovate and reopen.... Nothing will break me,” he said.
In this newsletter, I’ve featured a range of cookbooks that tell the story of Middle Eastern food and ingredients from many perspectives. Their common denominators are hospitality, delicious flavors and dishes that appeal to carnivores, vegetarians and vegans.
Here are some of the titles that bring to life the tables of the region.
Falastin, by Sami Tamimi
Jew-ish, by Jake Cohen
Milk Street Tuesday Nights: Mediterranean, by Christopher Kimball
Jerusalem, by Yotam Ottolenghi
Zaitoun: Recipes From the Palestinian Kitchen, by Yasmin Khan
The Tahini Table, by Amy Zitelman
Find these books at your favorite local seller, and let’s hope for peace.
We have a winner!
I’m delighted to announce the winner of the latest CulinaryWoman book giveaway. A copy of Every Night Is Pizza Night is going to Amy Chapman, a member of the CulinaryWoman Community.
Amy lives in Michigan with her husband and college-age son and works in progressive politics in Michigan and nationally. But, cooking, baking and watching food shows is her happy place and her fondest wish is to either be able to open a bakery/coffee place or own a minor league baseball team (or both).
She’ll receive some CulinaryWoman souvenirs along with the book.
We’ll have more book giveaways in coming months, so please consider becoming a paid subscriber or founding member of CulinaryWoman in order to be eligible.
Keeping In Touch
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The CulinaryWoman podcast will launch season two soon; meanwhile, get caught up on season one wherever you get your podcasts.
Stay safe, get vaccinated if you haven’t yet, and see you next week.