{"id":569702,"date":"2026-07-05T07:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T07:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/569702\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T07:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T07:44:13","slug":"abuse-in-top-irish-restaurants-i-remember-having-a-silver-salver-thrown-at-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/569702\/","title":{"rendered":"Abuse in top Irish restaurants: \u2018I remember having a silver salver thrown at me"},"content":{"rendered":"

Academic Deirdre Curran recalls a summer long ago when she went to the US on a student visa and worked in a busy bistro. \u201cI was the worst waitress in the place,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Curran, who lectures on management at University of Galway<\/a>, was \u201c100 years younger\u201d back then. Decades later, however, she retains an interest in what goes on behind the scenes when food is served in restaurants<\/a> and hotel dining rooms.<\/p>\n

In recent research on work conditions<\/a> in that world, she found \u201cdisconcertingly high\u201d numbers of people being treated badly and \u201cunacceptable levels\u201d of bad behaviour.<\/p>\n

The survey, titled The Lived Experience of Hospitality Workers in Ireland: A 2025 Snapshot, looked at 736 workers \u2013 220 of the respondents worked in five- and four-star hotels, 24 were chefs or cooks in managerial roles and 37 were chefs or cooks non-managerial roles.<\/p>\n

Although 72 per cent agreed or strongly agreed they were treated with dignity and respect, many did not. \u201cThat\u2019s actually an improvement because I did a similar project in 2021 and it was worse,\u201d Curran says.<\/p>\n

Her report was stark, stating: \u201cA large proportion of respondents report ill-treatment, bullying and harassment \u2013 witnessed or experienced: 53 per cent of respondents stated that they had witnessed bullying or harassment in the previous two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf these, 40 per cent of respondents stated that they witnessed verbal abuse while 17 per cent stated that they had witnessed psychological abuse. Of the 38 per cent who stated they had experienced bullying or harassment, the most common forms reported were verbal abuse (41 per cent), psychological abuse (22 per cent) and racial abuse (9 per cent).\u201d<\/p>\n

Restaurant kitchens can be volatile, with top-end places even more so. Food and decor must be excellent, but chefs and cooks work in conditions that are often cramped and dimly lit \u2013 and heat blasts like a furnace. Time is short, tempers too. Turbulent chefs \u2013 unsavoury creatures who leave staff with a sense of dread and foreboding \u2013 may be a cultural cliche, but they\u2019re out there. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been problems over the years but it\u2019s not every kitchen and it\u2019s not all high-end kitchens,\u201d says Alan Fitzmaurice, president of the Panel of Chefs of Ireland, a two-time member of the national team at the Culinary Olympics and now head chef at The Glasshouse hotel in Sligo.<\/p>\n

\"AlanAlan Fitzmaurice, head chef at The Glasshouse, has had challenging times in the kitchen. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

\u201cI remember being roared at,\u201d he says of his junior days in other establishments. \u201cI remember having a silver salver thrown at me,\u201d he adds, describing an ornamental tray used for serving food.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember one of those being thrown at me and it was thrown at me to hit me. It wasn\u2019t kind of like \u2018I\u2019m mad and I\u2019m throwing it against the wall\u2019 \u2013 \u2018I\u2019m mad and I\u2019m throwing it at you\u2019, you know. A big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stories of nasty behaviour in kitchens are nothing new, although they vary considerably by degree. <\/p>\n

In April, the acclaimed Danish chef Ren\u00e9 Redzepi, founder of the world-renowned Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, stepped down after the New York Times reported accusations<\/a> he inflicted physical and psychological violence on staff for years. Still, Redzepi has since declared plans to return as \u201ccreative director\u201d of Noma with a focus on long-term projects.<\/p>\n

The late writer and chef Anthony Bourdain, author of classic memoir Kitchen Confidential, once described gastronomy as the science of pain. This might not be very inspiring as you tuck into a romantic meal with your beloved, but Bourdain\u2019s vivid descriptions of the crazed, hothouse underworld of the restaurant scene made him a global celebrity.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessional cooks belong to a secret society whose ancient rituals derive from the principles of stoicism in the face of humiliation, injury, fatigue, and the threat of illness,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe members of a tight, well-greased kitchen staff are a lot like a submarine crew. Confined for most of their waking hours in hot, airless spaces, and ruled by despotic leaders, they often acquire the characteristics of the poor saps who were press-ganged into the royal navies of Napoleonic times \u2013 superstition, a contempt for outsiders, and a loyalty to no flag but their own.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Working conditions in hospitality \u2018improving, but not by enough,\u2019 study findsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

If Michelin stars are the ultimate status symbol, a veteran Irish hotelier says the pursuit of such garlands is demanding to the point that it doesn\u2019t make sense. \u201cMadness,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no return on it, absolutely zero. It\u2019s a dream project but commercially it makes no sense at all. Most guys who get a Michelin star \u2013 getting it is one thing, trying to hold on to it is another. The level of investment in both people and premises totally outweighs what you\u2019ll get in revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pressure inevitably follows. \u201cIf you lose it, it\u2019s like if you had two stars and you went to one. I mean, they perceive it as being a complete disaster,\u201d says Fitzmaurice.<\/p>\n

This can lead to serious problems, with a lack of staff delegation that only adds to the intensity as food is prepared to exacting standards. \u201cYou have that one goal in these Michelin star places and, you know, this is where the frustrations boil over,\u201d Fitzmaurice says.<\/p>\n

Richard (not his real name), an accomplished chef in his early 30s, recalls a shattering moment with a big-name head chef when he was starting work in high-end dining rooms in Dublin and around the country.<\/p>\n

\n

As he walked in the door he was given a little kick in the ass<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Working in a swish city restaurant, he came to know a young kitchen porter who carried out basic food preparation. One morning the porter was asked to split delicate pea shoots in a particular way. But he found this task difficult, accidentally breaking some of the peas, meaning they could not be used in what was supposed to be an expensive signature dish that day. This, according to Richard, triggered a fiery response from the boss.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe laid into this guy,\u201d says Richard, going on to describe a walk-in fridge often seen in professional kitchens. \u201cBasically he was told to go into the fridge and a get a new box of these peas \u2013 and as he walked in the door he was given a little kick in the ass and the door was shut behind him and they locked the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

The porter, a South American student new to Dublin, was trapped inside for 15 minutes \u201cwith a group of the senior chefs standing outside the door laughing and jeering\u201d. When the chef finally opened the door, he threw his arm around the terrified worker: \u201cNow you won\u2019t make that mistake again.\u201d <\/p>\n

The moment stayed with Richard, who declined offers of work under the same chef but went on to cook successfully in several high-level restaurants. Although he speaks warmly of colleagues in that high-octane world, the fridge incident was a prelude to brutish behaviour he himself suffered in another Dublin establishment.<\/p>\n

After opening his own regional restaurant pitched at a level below the Michelin market, Richard felt the need a couple of years ago to sharpen his fine-dining skills. This led to a miserable spell in a ritzy city place, where an aggressive head chef singled him out repeatedly with accusations that he was off the pace. It was a humiliating experience, eventually prompting him to quit before dinner service finished one night. \u201cI cried my eyes out.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the night of the first dinner service with a new menu, Richard was working on starters but was directed to work faster. \u201cI can remember clearly it was an oyster dish. He walked over to me, grabbed my arms and pulled me from the section and he said: \u2018Am I going to have to f**king do this for you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Worse followed the next day when he was badgered during busy lunch service \u2013 and again at dinner. \u201cWe had just started. We were on our second table and the abuse started then, shouting across the kitchen at me about the speed \u2013 not the standard \u2013 of the food. At this point I\u2019m told to get off the section and he puts another chef on to that section,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0 Food Food and drink festivals: 21 of the best across Ireland this yearOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Richard was moved to the kitchen pass, where the head chef brings together the complete dish on the plate to be handed to waiting staff. \u201cI was told: \u2018You move when I f**king tell you to move.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

All this while the chef, a man in his 50s, made sexually suggestive remarks to young female waiting staff about the shape of certain vegetables.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to use my own initiative passing him sauces or various utensils, to which at one point he proceeded to tell me not to move my f**king hands unless I\u2019m spoken to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deciding he\u2019d had enough, Richard replied that he would not accept such treatment. \u201cI basically started wrapping up my knife bag,\u201d he says, noting the head chef\u2019s dismissive response: \u201cOh you\u2019re going to leave are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

He was still gathering his equipment when the chef confronted him directly. \u201cHe grabbed me by the collar of my chef jacket or the strap of my apron and pulled me towards him and said: \u2018If you want to work here you need to learn to do things this way.\u2019 To which my reply was: \u2018No, thank you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Some colleagues quietly uttered words of encouragement but none stood up for him publicly. As Richard describes it, this was a culture of \u201crespect through fear\u201d of the chef\u2019s toxic attitude. \u201cThese people would roll over and die for him, but they were so afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similar strains can prevail in hotel kitchens, where five-star properties charge a premium for fine food, fancy tablecloths and extensive wine lists.<\/p>\n

Marian (not her real name), a trainee in her 40s, describes a difficult period working recently under an intimidating hotel chef who would not refer to her by name with colleagues: \u201cGet her to do this. Get her to do that.\u201d <\/p>\n

She also faced antagonism from a different senior chef, who confronted her aggressively over the way she was cutting bread because five-star hotel sandwiches should be cut to a particular measurement. \u201cNo, that\u2019s not the way you f**king do it. You do it this way,\u201d she was told.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe put me on another task and he put his two fingers to his eyes and went to me: \u2018I\u2019m watching you.\u2019 Excuse me, I said. Please don\u2019t speak to me like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marian soon left that job but it was a bruising experience. \u201cIt was like I had been mugged.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"DeirdreDeirdre Curran, lecturer in management at University of Galway. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Curran describes \u201cclosed conversations\u201d in the industry. \u201cYou can have very quiet periods followed by very intense periods so there\u2019s a lot of characteristics of hospitality that make it a particularly challenging environment in terms of the employment relationship,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Anonymised comments from survey respondents \u2013 which Curran provided to The Irish Times \u2013 set out why they would not report bullying and harassment.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause nobody would care enough and nothing would be done about it anyways. I reported bullying behaviour from a manager to HR once and they told me I was lying,\u201d one said. Another said it was \u201cnormal\u201d. For others it was a cultural problem: \u201cEveryone knows it\u2019s happening and is turning a blind eye.\u201d Some cited a tendency to \u201csuck it up and move on\u201d or that it was \u201cnormal\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, such concerns contribute to difficulties engaging and keeping kitchen staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have interviewed around 25 working chefs and former working chefs and almost everybody had problems with retention or recruitment,\u201d Kevin Ward, a Technological University of The Shannon lecturer on hospitality who was a hotel chef for decades. \u201cThey had problems hiring them and when they could hire them they couldn\u2019t keep them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KevinKevin Ward says there is ‘a stoic type of attitude’ in the industry. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Ward goes on to cite concerns over long working hours, pay and conditions and people talking about kitchen work in \u201c40-degree heat in the summer\u201d.<\/p>\n

What about abusive behaviour? \u201cIt does come up. I have had interviewees talking about going into work while they were sick and it\u2019s not that they\u2019ve been asked to go to work, they just feel that they have to. It\u2019s that culture of sacrifice. A few of the well-known authors on the subject talk about a fellowship of sacrifice. It\u2019s almost an idea that suffering is viewed as a necessary means of elite chefs meeting their true potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is this the elite chef or those around them? \u201cIt\u2019s both,\u201d Ward says. \u201cThere is this idea of suffering it well \u2013 it is a stoic type of attitude where you suck it up, you don\u2019t complain, you just get on with it. It creates a kind of a hard-nosed person and I was probably that kind of person as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward says this is part of a phenomenon he calls \u201cinstitutionalised isomorphism\u201d, which he describes as a combination of forces leading people in a particular industry to act and behave in a similar way. Kitchen structures reflect military culture, he says. \u201cYou get extreme discipline and nobody questions the instructions of the head chef. The head is the general.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fitzmaurice cites similar concerns. \u201cWe want it to be better, not just because it looks good for us, but because we want longevity out of our staff,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"AlanAlan Fitzmaurice recently attended a kitchen leader programme with industry colleagues. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been perceived as being the more you were able to work, the more burns you had on your arms, the more cuts you had on your fingers, the better a chef you were, the more hours you could do. You know, if you could outwork people, then you were perceived as better, as opposed to giving them quality,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have to give themselves the permission to take the time off and go away because it actually makes a better industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recently attended a kitchen leader programme with industry colleagues, saying \u201cit probably dropped more stuff into us psychologically than we would like to admit\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think every one of them would have admitted that it helped them to be a little bit calmer, a little bit easier to approach, and, yes, give yourself the permission to take that time and pass on to do the delegation.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her part, Curran says she has been \u201caccused of ruining the industry\u201d by highlighting ill-treatment. \u201cBut my argument is always, if we have evidence, we can have an evidence-based conversation and we can have a constructive conversation towards positive change,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the motive \u2013 and what I find with hospitality workers is they know what\u2019s wrong and they know how to make it right, but nobody\u2019s listening.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Academic Deirdre Curran recalls a summer long ago when she went to the US on a student visa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,22906,5,5281,20405,7,8,20351],"class_list":["post-569702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-michelin","tag-news","tag-restaurant","tag-technological-university-of-the-shannon","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-university-of-galway"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116866257274913710","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}