Agave's Mexican Restaurant Lafayette

Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Comments About Hitting Employee Reignite Conversations About Kitchen Abuse | Eater

"In a memoir passage and later panel remarks, a chef recounts confronting a dishwasher named Sam who routinely took 45-minute noon breaks during busy service; after inviting him into the walk-in refrigerator they argued and the chef admitted to physically assaulting him, breaking his nose, with Sam transferred the next day and later described as remaining on friendly terms. The anecd and the chef's initial lack of remorse at a 2020 conference panel prompted widespread backlash and renewed discussion about how violence and silence were normalized in traditional kitchen hierarchies. The chef subsequently issued a public apology, saying he regretted the incident, that it was a youthful mistake, and that treating coworkers respectfully is a core value in his restaurants." - Jaya Saxena