Racism In the Kitchen

Yesterday, Chef Eric Ripert, Executive Chef of Le Bernardin tweeted the following message concerning the most recent episode of Kitchen Nightmares with Chef Gordon Ramsay.


"Watched kitchen nightmares=RACIST content,verbal abuse,humiliation etc.Shame on Gordon&production of show!Not an inspiration of leadership"
Chef Ripert's Twitter Feed


I watched the show and was not completely appalled but was a bit disappointed in one of my favorite chefs, Gordon Ramsay. I'm used to the yelling and even find entertainment in it. But what I found completely unacceptable was the mocking of an employee of the Grasshopper Restaurant. The employee was speaking normally but with a thick Latino accent. To be completely honest, I couldn't understand him either, but that's not the point. The point is that Chef Ramsay mocked his accent and  publicly humiliated the employee.
It seems now as though Chef Ripert is taking some heat for the comment he made. All the Chef Ramsey fans are losing their minds because they say, "That's just the way he is."
But to be honest with you, that's no excuse! That's the attitude that continues to push racism into the next era of the restaurant industry. Racism has no place in the food industry. I have worked in a few kitchens, both military and civilian and the racism is more under-the-table. When I worked in a Grecian steakhouse in Missouri, people always made comments about a "Olive munching owner with a nigger pizza cook, two redneck river boys on the grill and a cracker high school student making salads." It might have been a verifiable fact that there was an authentic Grecian owner, two men from Columbia Missouri who happened to live by the Missouri River, and a caucasian high school student making salads but still undeniably a racist remark full of hate and complete lack of appreciation for the heritage of the individuals that made up a great place to eat full of family tradition and atmosphere. People talked trash about the kitchen even though it was putting out some pretty amazing steaks and some pizza that still makes me long for home. Not to mention a gyro that I'd put against any gyro shop in New York.
Now that I'm in the military, I even hear it under a zero-tolerance policy. People making jokes that the southern meal made up of fried chicken, catfish and greens hits every black stereotype out there. People get their feelings hurt over this stuff and justifiably so. The jokes have to stop. The abuse of ethnic slurs needs to stop. The mocking of an employees accent in an attempt to humiliate them has to stop. I applaud Chef Ripert for saying something and for not backing down in the face of criticism.
Now when Chef Ripert is on Top Chef as a guest judge, I don't always understand everything that he says--He has a very thick accent. But he makes some damn good food and he is a true culinary professional and I respect that and by no means would I ever disrespectfully humiliate him in front of his peers for my shortcomings of not being accustomed to hearing accents.
Thank you, Chef, for saying something. Thank you for not laughing along with the rest of the world who seem to just like to see Chef Ramsay yell/verbally abuse hard-working, skilled kitchen staffs. I have run a kitchen and it is no easy task, but a kitchen needs an organized leader, not a human gattling gun like Chef Ramsay. There is a time to be forceful and a time to be stern, but there is never a time to humiliate and belittle an employee for his ethnicity and heritage.
I hope Chef Ramsey, of whom I have a lot of respect pending, will apologize for the incident and be able to walk away with a lesson learned and his head held high. But if there is no apology, I hope everyone else sees the lesson that Chef Ramsey missed.
There is no place for racism in the kitchen and I support the views of Chef Ripert in this situation.


Aaron Oeth
The ProAm Kitchen