At his Los Angeles restaurant, chef Jordan Kahn wanted to 'disrupt the course of the modern restaurant,' but some workers from Vespertine’s first years say that executing his otherworldly reimagination of fine dining asked too much of them (Via EaterLA)
from the apparently ceaseless ravages of the pandemic, many workers, like those who helped make Vespertine a reality, are now asking if the boundless pursuit of a chef’s creative vision — however artistic or awe-inspiring — as captured by this particular snapshot in time, at one of the highest-concept restaurants in the country, was, and whether there might be a better way going forward, one that equally weighs the brilliance of a chef and the needs of their employees.
Kahn contends that he was unaware of pre-shift visual inspections until late 2018, at which point he says he forbade the practice. He denies, however, that any servers were assigned specific looks, stating that while “one of our former managers had a deep interest in makeup and would offer assistance with hair or makeup,” there are “many servers who do not wear any makeup.
Following the gaffe, “there was over a month where [Kahn] didn’t talk to me,” making it difficult for him to perform his job, Scribner says. “I would have to change my wine pairings on the fly. For a two-Michelin-star restaurant that demanded so much, and then it was just, ‘Oh something’s changed, figure it out.’”
Following what multiple sources described as a mandated three-day rest period, Jonathan was reassigned to the appetizers station. Though Vespertine’s kitchen culture attempts to eschew hierarchies, with all cooks being called “chef,” certain stations were considered more prestigious based on their level of difficulty, and according to multiple employees, his relegation to the appetizer station after six months of preparing proteins was a clear reduction of status.
“Jonathan just struggled with keeping up and Jordan didn’t quietly let him know that,” Katie*, a front-of-house employee from 2017 to 2019, says. “He was always like, ‘I don’t understand why you don’t get this by now. I don’t understand why this is so hard for you. Why am I always having to bail you out? Why can’t you keep it together?’”
Kahn says that grief counseling was available through the employees’ benefits package — although no one Eater spoke to recalled being informed of it — and some felt like the restaurant didn’t go far enough to acknowledge the tragedy. “I know that whatever was going on with Jonathan, we can’t blame the restaurant for,” Ben says. “But whether you like it or not, something happened in your restaurant, and it was a death.