Kitchens have always had a high turnover of staff, but inflated salaries, lack of skills and unrealistic expectations are all to blame for a growing crisis in the catering industry. And it’s having an effect on what’s served up to us
It is an issue that has been simmering away in the restaurant world for years. But, last month, like an unwatched stockpot left bubbling on the hob, the shortage of skilled chefs suddenly boiled over into a full existential crisis – one which, ultimately, will affect how and what we eat out.
Nottingham’s two-Michelin star Restaurant Sat Bains announced that, from November, it will only open for four days a week, in order to recruit and retain the best chefs – acknowledging that even the glamorous end of the industry is now struggling to find talent. Daniel Clifford, chef-owner at the two-star Midsummer House in Cambridge, agreed, warning that if the chef shortage is not addressed, “we are going to lose the industry we love”. Meanwhile, writing in the food periodical Lucky Peach, Noma’s René Redzepi bemoaned a macho, abusive kitchen culture that drives away gifted young chefs. “I’ve been a bully for a large part of my career,” he confessed.
Related: The curry crisis
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