Nora Bouazzouni breaks the silence

Behind the glitter of cooking shows, another reality exists: that of violence in the kitchen. Sexism, harassment, physical or moral abuse, the restaurant industry makes people pay dearly for the passion of those who work there. French journalist Nora Bouazzouni breaks the code of silence in a powerful book.

“In cooking, we treat carrots better than humans.” This sentence from one of the many testimonies collected by Nora Bouazzouni in her book Violence in the kitchen, sums up the other side of the gastronomic scene well. Almost all of his witnesses speak of violence suffered. They were humiliated, insulted, assaulted, morally or sexually harassed… Sexist, racist remarks, hands on their butts and intentional burning are legion. Not to mention the long hours and a pittance of pay.

“I was 16. I was sexually assaulted several times a week by a 40-year-old co-worker.” (Adèle*, 22 years old). “When you work 14 hours a day at such a fast pace, you don’t have the strength to fight or respond, to complain.” (Yseult*, 35 years old) “I think that if we stopped working like dogs for mediocre salaries, if everyone started to listen to each other and to listen to others, we would completely call the restaurant industry into question.” (Grace*, 27 years old)

And it is this work of questioning that Nora Bouazzouni begins, by lifting the veil on a deeply toxic system. We met her.

Brigade and gunshot

You describe a grinding machine that is as well-crafted as it is ancestral, which is difficult to question.

We have the impression that denouncing the dehumanizing and destructive system of the restaurant is a sort of declaration of war and I do not use this word randomly. In the kitchen, we talk about the brigade, the gunshot, the “yes chef” which give the impression of a feudal collective, committed to something greater than themselves, to an ideal. We touch on prestige, tourism and the economy.

Why does this omerta have a tougher skin than that of cinema, the media or sports?

I think that cooking has a dual function that cinema does not have. When we think of the latter and the myth that surrounds it, it is linked to a cultural elite, a dominant class. Cooking primarily has a nourishing function before being aesthetic, which is very prosaic. It’s not just gastro restaurants, there are local pizzerias, bistros, brasseries… The act of eating is vital, while going to the cinema is not. I’ve been working on this subject for 8 years and what continues to surprise me is that everyone wants to save French gastronomy. But it must be remembered that the restaurant is not a necessity and that it is not accessible to everyone.

People who work 70 hours a week

However, there are good examples of restaurants that are humane and profitable. How, as a consumer/customer, can we have the right reflexes?

We must first be aware of the work that goes into a dish: in restaurants, there are sometimes people who work 70 hours a week to feed us. This is all the more true with the top of the range which gives an impression of magic, but all these artifices are often used to make us forget what it is like for the workers behind. We must also pay attention to turnover (staff renewal rate, editor’s note): if it’s never the same people in the room, it’s a bad sign. And then there is the ambiance, the atmosphere. If it’s an open kitchen, but no one is talking to each other, that’s not normal. Cooking is a collective job that requires communication.

A real fear that the book will come out

How did the book release go? Did you fear intimidation?

I know that, in several kitchens, we were talking about this book, there was a real fear that it would come out. The book was leaked 3 weeks before its release to reach the hands of several people in the sector. Their goal was to verify that they did not appear there. Finally, 2 days before the release, the most starred chefs in France (Yannick Alléno, Mauro Colagreco, etc.) launched the “Open Kitchens” initiative which consists of a well-being manifesto and the proposal for the general public to come and visit the kitchens of their restaurants. But it went relatively unnoticed. There was also an article saying that my book was going to terrify young people… But I didn’t receive any threats. On the contrary, I had a lot of support. And at the beginning of July, a deputy even passed a resolution to open a parliamentary commission of inquiry, as I hope to see at the end of the book. It moved me a lot.

You recognize that the tide is turning. What is missing to make real change?

The political aspect is missing and with this parliamentary commission that I spoke of at the beginning, it may have started. There is also a lack of risk-taking on the part of public and political authorities, but it is complicated because there are enormous conflicts of interest.

And in Belgian kitchens?

Our country is certainly not immune to this violence. “This environment remains patriarchal,” says Line Couvreur, who has worked in the dining room and in the kitchen, opened 2 restaurants in Brussels and is now a consultant in sustainable food. We talk about violence in the kitchen, but there is also violence from customers, who sometimes feel like kings and therefore authorized to demand, pressure, mistreat the staff. We hear a lot that the catering industry is going badly, that’s a certainty, but I also see something positive in this crisis. People no longer accept working in the terrible conditions demanded by the catering industry. Those who continue to fail to see the malaise will therefore be forced to question themselves.”

Son Restaurant The girlswhich remained open for 10 years, she had imagined it with 2 friends. “We wanted our customers to feel at home, but also to work as horizontally as possible. We offered rotating shifts, 4/5 shifts, hours that did not extend indefinitely. I wasn’t necessarily aware of this desire to do otherwise. But having been in the room allowed me to understand what my team was going to experience.”

* Borrowed first name.

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