Worker shortage forces restaurants to get creative The owner of Taco Bamba Taqueria peered out from the kitchen at the line of customers snaking around the corner at his latest spot in a suburban Virginia strip mall, and felt terror. Who was going to cook, serve and clean up for all these people? “The cooks had left,” overwhelmed by the
Continue reading What employees? We don’t have them anymore’: Fast food places can’t find workers to flip burgers A quarter-century ago, there were 56 teenagers in the labour force for every “limited service” restaurant — that is, the kind where you order at the counter. Today, there are less than half as many, which is a reflection both of teenagers’ decreasing workforce
Continue reading The great British chef shortage: why eating out is under threat3 It was, says chef patron Alexis Gauthier, “not the last resort”, but almost. Last September, he needed to fill three positions at his central London restaurant, Gauthier Soho: a pastry chef; a chef de partie, to head up one of the stations in the kitchen; and a sommelier. Gauthier has
Continue reading During the lunch rush at The Boss on Main, there are about 100 people seated in the booths eating and ordering food. In the kitchen everyone is working full-tilt including cook Shuji Chen. Chen’s specialty is preparing the kinds of Hong Kong-style Chinese food that regulars like. He’s an expert in using a commercial wok. It’s much more challenging to use
Continue reading Help wanted: P.E.I. trying to stir up more cooks Tourism industry will try again with program to train young people as cooks and dishwashers P.E.I.’s tourism industry is working hard to find more cooks for Island restaurants this summer, from new recruiting videos on social media to free training. “People just aren’t lining up to fill cook positions,” said Kathy
Continue reading Too few cooks: Quebec restaurants facing a labour shortage Alex Bastide describes the challenges of finding workers in places like Quebec City and smaller towns with a pair of expletives. “It’s madness,” he continues. “It’s a big problem right now.” Bastide is an owner of L’Gros Luxe, a small Quebec restaurant chain that has locations in Sherbrooke, Victoriaville, Quebec City and
Continue reading Vietnamese Immigrants Bring Bubble Tea Franchise To Moncton Ashley Do chose to stay in Moncton after school even though her family moved to Ottawa last year. The Vietnamese native and her business partner Anh Nguyen are opening Chatime, a Taiwanese bubble tea franchise with locations in more than 30 countries, including Canada. The 22-year-old says she sees an opportunity for
Continue reading How the Best Restaurants in the World Balance Innovation and Consistency The restaurant industry is notorious for being competitive, risky, and low-margin. This is no less true for the world’s most acclaimed high-end restaurants. Despite being able to charge hundreds of dollars for a meal and being fully booked months in advance, top restaurants often still have a hard time
Continue reading Starved of skilled chefs, Britain is facing a chicken tikka masala crisis In 2001, foreign secretary Robin Cook declared chicken tikka masala as Britain’s national dish, putting a stamp of official approval to the country’s first foray into the exotic foods aisle—the curry. While the past 16 years have seen curry remain something of a staple, the industry propping it
Continue reading The downside to Quebec’s booming economy? A labour crunch A transport company with dozens of trucks sitting idle. A McDonald’s willing to pay well above minimum wage. A manufacturer forced to turn down a lucrative contract. Tales like these are emerging from across Quebec as the province grapples with a growing labour crunch. “This is the kind of thing we will
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