
Twilight of the Imperial Chef - tintinnabula
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/dining/chef-restaurant-culture.html
======
ALittleLight
The article says "He writes that before the 1970s and ’80s, chefs were
“anonymous workhorses,” in many cases not only unknown, but thought of as
interchangeable." Yet Wikipedia lists many famous chefs that predate this,
going back to the 14th century.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chefs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chefs)

The author also says that "the power of the chef-auteur as an idea is fading,"
but it's not clear what data leads to that conclusion. The only evidence for
it that I could find is the anecdote at the end where the author eats at a
restaurant where the menu credits the entire staff. Is this a growing trend?
It seems like an equally compelling argument to say that the era of movie
stars is at a close because I saw some film credits the other day and they
acknowledged everyone involved in the production.

~~~
Wintamute
The NY Times is engaging in its favourite kink - activism while wearing the
garb of journalism and feature writing like a macabre skin suit. It's simply
proclaiming only what it wishes were true - that an enlightened and just
cultural revolution is underway that deconstructs whatever is deemed to be
undesirable (spoiler - anything pale, male and stale). In its hubris it still
thinks it has the cultural sway to mould reality by constructing narrative. It
is mistaken, and instead which each article of this nature is frittering away
its prodigious reputational inheritance painstakingly assembled by generations
of journalist that knew what it meant to report the facts and "allow a curious
public to read about the world and then draw their own conclusions".

~~~
ntsplnkv2
I think at times the anti-NY Times crowd is as eye-roll worthy as the articles
they complain about, but I have to say after reading this article, I can't
help but agree with you, it is very narrative driven "journalism."

~~~
ethbro
It isn't journalism: it's opinion.

It's in the Food section [0], and tagged with "Critic's Notebook" anywhere the
article is linked. That apparently being one of their blog / opinion lines for
food.

It doesn't seem fair to look at modern news conglomerates (which typically
combine news and opinion) and complain that the non-news content bismirches
the journalism.

That content typically _funds_ the journalism, and is the only reason the
latter still exists.

A fair shot would be saying "I do not feel like this article is appropriately
declared as opinion." Which, maybe. But I think that's debatable, and the NYT
certainly differentiates a helluva lot better than Fox News and MSNBC.

[0]
[https://www.nytimes.com/section/food](https://www.nytimes.com/section/food)

~~~
ntsplnkv2
>It doesn't seem fair to look at modern news conglomerates (which typically
combine news and opinion) and complain that the non-news content bismirches
the journalism.

And it's just this attitude that has caused the era of fake news.

> A fair shot would be saying "I do not feel like this article is
> appropriately declared as opinion." Which, maybe. But I think that's
> debatable, and the NYT certainly differentiates a helluva lot better than
> Fox News and MSNBC.

This is exactly the point. Fox News and MSNBC are some of the worst offenders
- this does not excuse the NYT from it.

Also I remind people that journalism is not just reporting of facts. If it was
all newspapers would be lists of factoids.

"Journalism, the collection, preparation, and distribution of news and related
commentary"

This is very clearly journalism.

------
sonofaplum
I think that as a trend, difficult personalities will have a harder time
succeeding in any public role... Business, entertainment, politics, the arts.
In the world of Twitter and Instagram, basically any disgruntled employee or
collaborator can greatly damage reputations by sharing their experiences. It
will be interesting to see how it unfolds, because as humans, I think we are
drawn to celebrity, to authorship, to hero worship, to the "great man" theory,
but that is obviously somewhat in tension with a world where every employee
has the power to launch an effective protest movement from their phone.

~~~
frockington1
I think as more and more people launch their own protest movements, they will
become less and less noticed. When everyone is accused of racism/sexism/being
mean it completely loses its sting. A few years ago I judged people accused of
racism as lacking, now I assume it's likely a bitter opponent or a disgruntled
employee until evidence is provided

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motohagiography
While I have thought that the culture around chefs was a sign of decline,
where we have a new middle class that only distinguishes itself through taste,
and who use food as a proxy for their narcissism of small differences, this
article still misses the mark. I do think cooking is craft and culture, and
that entrepreneurship is heroic, and that some chefs really do earn respect
for doing both, but there is a genre of restaurant that exists to flatter the
conceits of the aforementioned sort of diners, (like critics who imagine they
earn an honest living complaining about food), instead of providing an honest
service. But the article is not about that.

The article problematizes the craftsmen and entrepreneurs as a vehicle for the
same old conflict that the ideology of the authors is literally designed to
manufacture. As a writer, the writing in this article, criticism free from the
constraints of insight or art, says more about journalism than it does about
chefs.

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data_now
AMA: 20+ years cooking in Michelin rated restaurants.

I doubt I have any new insights to add to the public consciousness. But ask
away.

Abuse, long hours, and high stress are certainly not unique to the hospitality
industry by any stretch of the imagination. However, it is compounded by the
physicality and heat in which they work.

As a society, if we want to improve it is necessary that we hold public forums
that are open to new ideas that can be rapidly tested. One can dream...

The current model is not inclusive.

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samgranieri
Charlie Trotter got angry he wasn't named the meanest man in Chicago one year
(Michael Jordan was #1).

He ran an outstanding restaurant (three Michelin stars), but was a tyrant in
the kitchen. Tons of cooks who worked in his kitchen vowed to open their own
restaurants, but run them with a less firm hand.

If he were alive today (he passed in 2013) I wonder if his chefs would
unionize.

------
cafard
Trust me, there are mean, lecherous chefs in pretty low-end restaurants.

