The fine-dining industry has faced intense scrutiny over the past few years due to allegations of toxic working conditions and low pay.
Many employees have fled the industry altogether, especially since the pandemic, when restaurants closed and workers moved to alternative occupations such as gig economy jobs.
Legendary chef and restaurateur Wolfgang Puck wants to cancel it. He says he tries to foster a strong team culture at his restaurants.
“A leader's job is to lead people,” Pack said in the latest episode of Yahoo Finance's flagship series “Lead This Way.” He explained that leadership is a “trickle-down effect” that starts from the top. “For me, it’s about leading by example.”
“If I take care of my employees, my chefs, my managers, they will take care of their employees in a trickle-down effect. If I yell at them or abuse them, they will do the same. “I will,” he said. He said.
“We want people to come here and enjoy what we do,” Pack continued. “That's really the most important thing: be positive and give people a positive experience so that when you finish your job you can say, 'Okay, I learned something today.'
This approach helps foster loyalty among employees. “Everyone has worked for him for 30, 40 years,” Jean-Philippe Mathieusen, executive chef at Puck's Cut Restaurant, told Yahoo Finance. “To me, it means everything.”
But Pack said he had to adjust his own instincts to create the kind workplace culture he strives for today.
“When I was younger, my teaching style was more violent. I yelled more, because that's how I learned,” he explained.
Puck fled his abusive and controlling stepfather at just 14 years old and struggled to master his craft under strict apprenticeship in his native Austria. Despite a difficult start to his career, he credits his mother, a pastry chef, with encouraging his passion for food.
After working in Austria and then France, Puck moved to the United States at age 24 and eventually got his big break as chef and co-owner of Ma Maison in Los Angeles.
It was in Los Angeles that Pac quickly attracted the attention of Hollywood's elite. He opened his first flagship restaurant Spago in 1982.
Puck owns and operates 22 fine-dining restaurants around the world, earning the coveted three Michelin stars. Long considered the first “celebrity chef,” Puck's empire extends far beyond his restaurants, including published cookbooks, his thriving catering business, and several types of cooking equipment.
The celebrity chef admitted that maintaining work-life balance remains the biggest hurdle for those in the fast-paced industry.
“I think that's the hardest thing for all of us in the restaurant industry: finding the right balance of time to spend with our kids, while at the same time showing our kids that you can earn money by working. is.”
Pack said his children, especially his son Byron, will eventually take over the family business.
But not yet.
“I hope I die in the kitchen and not on the job,” Pack joked, noting that he has no plans to retire at this time. “Maybe after all the customers have finished eating.”
alexandra canal I'm a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @allie_canal, LinkedIn, Email alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
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