Episode description

In recent years, the celebrity chef and restaurant has taken the world by storm. The rise of the ‘chefprenaur’ has created a $10 billion dollar industry encapsulating everything from restaurant chains, branded cookware, cook books, television deals, and social media empires. 

Despite the glamor, one fact still remains: the restaurant scene is an unforgiving industry.

Today’s guest, Kim Reed knows this first hand. In her debut book, “Workhorse: My Sublime and Absurd Years in the New York Restaurant Scene,” Kim dives headfirst into her experience as a hostess at the renowned Babbo, where it was said “the pope would have a hard time getting a table.” Much like Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential,” Kim pulls back the curtain on the hectic day-to-day running of a world class restaurant, but from the position of a member of the staff, rather than the enterprising chef of the restaurant.

What she reveals is a frank, often shocking, but still passionate and beautiful exposition about an industry that accounts for over 12 million workers and over $100 billion annually across the country. She dives headfirst into the need for creating a safe space for workers, the role managers have in serving both investors and staff, and what it means to really be part of a high functioning team in a very challenging field.

This ones not just for those in the restaurant space, but leaders across the workforce, on how to better empower and support your people, so with that…let’s bring it in!