Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rebecca Scott, Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Strategy, Cardiff University
We love the magic of eating out. Instagrammable plates, a curated atmosphere, chefs that can serve artistry in every delectable bite. But what if our pleasure is part of an illusion? Behind many opulent dining rooms lies a harder truth: the taste and spectacle we celebrate are too often produced in kitchen cultures shaped by fear, humiliation and even violence.
René Redzepi of the renowned Danish restaurant Noma has recently quit after 35 staff members alleged he had been physically and emotionally abusive towards them. Having researched elite kitchens, I can tell you reports of toxic kitchen cultures are not new. So much so that this reality has bled into popular culture. This ranges from fictional chefs like the emotionally unstable Carmy of The Bear, who is depicted as having come up in kitchens like Noma’s, to the very real Anthony Bourdain, who wrote in his book, Kitchen Confidential, that macho, competitive, self-reliant and aggressive behaviours are normal behind closed doors.
In research alongside colleagues in sociology and organisational studies, I spoke to elite chefs who shared their experiences of working in such kitchens. What they told us exposed three reasons why cultures of violence persist in these work environments.
1. Out of sight
Elite kitchens are often hidden worlds, tucked into basements and behind closed doors, far from the calm luxury of the dining room. That separation creates what we call a “geography of deviance”: a space where social norms, workplace expectations and even employment protections can start to fall away.
Think about basement kitchens. These are often windowless and airless. There’s the clatter, the heat, the blades, the fire. Then there are all the tools of craft, which can be repurposed into tools of violence. If you’ve watched the first season of The Bear, you’ve seen this happen when sous-chef Sydney in a heated moment accidentally stabs front-of-house manager Ritchie. Throughout that show we see characters lose their cool and act abusively towards each other.
One chef that we interviewed described the kitchen “like being in a submarine”. Another chef explained how “being out of sight definitely allows abuse to happen”.
Hidden away, the kitchen becomes a backstage world where shouting, intimidation and physical abuse can be normalised. Shared hardship binds the brigade together, creating a tight-knit underworld of enduring violence. What emerges is a kind of community enclosure where new rules apply.
2. Scars are badges of honour
For many chefs, suffering is not just a part of the job; it becomes part of who they are. The pressure and pain of kitchen life are folded into a chef’s professional identity. Scars, burns and cuts are worn as marks of legitimacy. Chefs are recognised as elite by what is burned onto their skin. As one Michelin chef shared:
I was on the tube once and I was hanging – I stood up holding the top rail. And someone was like: “Oh, where are you a chef then?” I was like: “What do you mean?” And they were like: “Well look at your arm, you must be a chef!” And I had all burn marks on my arms from the oven. It felt so cool to be recognised as a chef.
What we call “embodied identity work” helps explain this: chefs don’t just endure suffering, they can come to see it as meaningful. Pain is often reframed as discipline, growth and transformation – a way to prove commitment, build skill and become the kind of chef they aspire to be.
3. Enduring pain leads to success
In elite kitchens suffering doesn’t just wound, it distinguishes, signalling that a chef can stand the heat and keep going. Physical and mental durability is often tied to employability and advancement.
One Michelin chef explains how:
It just blew up in the service … [He] picked up his bread knife from the middle of the kitchen and just – had it to my neck in front of everyone … [he] said: “I’m going to fucking kill you.” And that was traumatising … Not so long after that I got moved to the flagship – the three Michelin star restaurant. They thought: “Fuck, this guy’s good! … Fuck, man, that guy’s just done that to him and he doesn’t give a fuck. Bring him over.”
Like professional musicians, the military,
policing and athletic sports, elite kitchens can turn suffering into virtue. That is why violence persists and what makes cultures difficult to change. Violent behaviours are not always seen as a failure in the workplace, but part of what it takes to belong and succeed.
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Rebecca Scott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. Noma wouldn’t be the first – in elite kitchens abuse is worn as a badge of honour and suffering is rewarded – https://theconversation.com/noma-wouldnt-be-the-first-in-elite-kitchens-abuse-is-worn-as-a-badge-of-honour-and-suffering-is-rewarded-279546
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