This article from The New York Times tells about Mark Ladner, a chef of the Italian restaurant Del Posto owned by Mario Batali. Ladner worked for him for about 20 years and became a chef in the mentioned food outlet in 2005. However, regardless of status and work benefits, he decided to leave and start Pasta Flyer, a quick service restaurant. Ladner fell into line with some other chefs who made same changes in their careers. The article names several reasons for such behavior. The list includes chefs’ wish to have more freedom as business owners, possibility to save the career and efforts to bring high standards of the high cuisine to the fast-food sphere. Ladner chose pasta that is a difficult product for the fast-food. But the man believes he will be able to create an appropriate dish with right ingredients (dried pasta of a top-quality brand).
The article addresses an interesting topic. For a long time it looked like restaurants and fast food outlets were on opposite sides of the “ladder”. It felt like representatives of the first group treat their “bottom” colleagues with indignity. And it was interesting to see chefs not only want to support quick-serve restaurants, but see them as an opportunity for further development of their skills or careers. This “contrast” and “fusion” of two business spheres was the reason why I chose this article.
The issue of the work is a voluntary shift of chefs from restaurants to their own fast-food chains or single outlets. The article also mentions the gender inequality in this sphere. The issue was raised when the author mentioned Ladner’s successor Melissa Rodriguez will be the first female chef in the restaurant that got a high rating (4 stars) from the The New York Times. But the main issue is chefs’ drive to develop own brands of quick-serve outlets.
I think the situation has a positive impact on the food service industry. Fast-food is often treated as an unhealthy type of meal most part of which is made from processed foods. Chefs’ participation in this business can improve the situation and create a better opinion. It includes not only the quality of food, but also kitchen’s level of sanitation and staff’s qualification. While chefs’ will not be able to remove McDonald’s and other fast-food giants from the market, they create a healthier alternative for some cities. People get an opportunity to get a high-quality, fast prepared food.
While the author did not directly criticize or preconize Ladner and other chefs, it looks like he had a positive attitude to the situation. I agree with this point of view, as it is good to see that high-class professionals want to improve a quality of fast-food and make this sphere more diversified. These attempts also can lead to the development of new techniques, like in the case of Ladner experiments to increase the speed of pasta’s preparation with the aid of parcooking. These new methods can be used in restaurants too; it will improve their status, as not all people like to wait for 15-20 or more minutes for their dishes. Alternative approaches can increase the speed of preparation without loss of quality.
As it was mentioned above, quick-serve outlets are often associated with processed foods. I remember gossips with different levels of evidences, that these products (even bread or French fries) are not the same as their “real” versions. I can say by myself that the hamburger from a fast-food café differs from its homemade counterpart (the last definitely has more meat). The development of quick-serve outlets led by chefs makes me think the quality of these types of meals improves.
Works Cited
Moskin, Julia. “Mark Ladner to Leave Del Posto for a Pasta Start-Up”. Nytimes, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/23/dining/del-posto-mark-ladner-pasta-flyer.html. Accessed 15 Jan. 2017.
