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Key points
- Hierarchy in the workplace can make some people feel lesser than others.
- An attitude of mutual respect can lessen any abuses or resentment from a hierarchical structure.
- Addressing each other respectfully, regardless of status, helps organizations run more smoothly and humanely.
In the FX series The Bear, Carmy Berzatto establishes a method of address among his kitchen staff from the very start after taking over The Beef from his deceased brother: "Yes, chef." Naturally, the rest of the staff bristle at this, having grown very close over the years they had worked together, calling each other by names both familiar and often playfully obscene. One chef, Tina, immediately mocks the practice, calling Carmy "Jeff" instead (only later switching to the more affectionate "Jeffrey").
Another part of Berzatto's plan to improve the operation of the restaurant—before upgrading the restaurant itself in the second season—is to run the kitchen like the elite restaurants he worked in previously do. Specifically, he imposes a French brigade model based on military hierarchy, in which the executive chef supervises the chef de cuisine (head chef), who in turn supervises the sous chef (deputy chef), and so on.
How do these two innovations work together? As Berzatto explains, the practice of referring to each other as "chefs" promotes respect, equality, and solidarity among them. Everyone in a kitchen is a "chef," from the person at the top to the line cooks, wait staff, and dishwashers. This becomes all the more necessary given the hierarchical distinctions imposed by the brigade system, which places some staff above others in terms of authority.
This authority can easily be abused, as we've seen from TV shows and movies, fictional and reality-based, starring maniacal, cruel head chefs who relish taking out their frustrations on those working for them. The practice of addressing everyone as "chef" helps to remind those in charge that even those on the bottom of the hierarchy are individuals worthy of respect, as well as valuable contributors to the operation of the kitchen. Ideally, it also empowers those at the bottom of the hierarchy to bring up issues with those higher than them, whether they be suggestions to improve performance or complaints about treatment.
Furthermore, the common respect inspired by “yes chef” helps make the hierarchical structure more palatable to those inclined to resist it (as Tina discovers throughout the show). It helps remind them that even though some people are placed in authority over others, that does not make them “better” or more worthy in any intrinsic way. Staff members may have different professional statuses, but that is for the purpose of the operation of the kitchen itself; at the end of the day, they’re all people. (This solidarity is further emphasized by the practice of “family meal,” where staff cook for each other, and they all sit down together to eat as equals.)
(Speaking of the military, “yes chef” is reminiscent of the practice of saluting fellow personnel, which emphasizes equality, versus the use of specific titles when addressing each other, which emphasizes hierarchy.)
Most of us don’t work in a professional kitchen, but many of us work in hierarchical workplaces where respect between supervisors and employees can be somewhat, shall we say, lacking. Even if offices don’t adopt a “yes chef” system exactly, the lesson to be learned from it is that, even though people may differ in status and authority in their organization, they are all persons possessed of dignity and deserving of respect. Bosses can certainly tell their employees what to do, but they should do so respectfully and accept criticism offered in the same spirit. They should remember that the pressures they’re under may be different than those of their employees, but everybody is under pressure all the same, and they should treat each other with compassion as well as respect. Right?
Yes, chef!
