On 2017-02-06 11:12 AM, graham wrote:
> On 2017-02-05 4:24 PM, Dave Smith wrote:

>> Given that most restaurant staff make minimum wage or slightly more, how
>> much am I expected to pay for their labour? I would be there no more
>> than two hours. Minimum here is about $11 per hour. Let's be generous
>> and give them a 50% raise, so that is $33.
>>
> I think that your ideas on the economics of high-end restaurants are
> 'out to lunch." Do you honestly think that sous, commis and de parti
> chefs get paid close to minimum wage when the boss depends on their
> contributions to maintain the status of the place?

Feel free to contribute some figures on kitchen staff wages. There may
be some well paid top chefs out there, the sort who can over see a large
venue and special events catering, but most of them don't make that
much. I have family members in the business. One nephew is an executive
chef. A niece is a well educated and very capable chef who has even done
cooking shows on television. She is now working as a waitress because
she makes so much more money serving than cooking. My son managed
several restaurants. He maid more than the chefs and he wasn't making
that much. A few years ago he left the restaurant job for a government
law enforcement position and his starting wage was 50% more than he had
been making to manage two restaurants. I sometimes wonder why someone
would go to college to get the credentials to become a chef and then
work for so little.

The usual situation in a restaurant is to have one executive chef to run
the place and then a bunch of cooks, each contributing a few steps in
the preparation on the meal. Some are just chopping vegetables and
stirring pots.