Forked

January 1, 2016

James Beard Leadership Award winner Jayaraman (coauthor, Behind the Kitchen Door; cofounder, Restaurant Opportunities Ctrs.) helps consumers evaluate restaurants critically, rather than accepting how they're marketed. She argues that businesses need to be rated by how well they treat employees. Since service workers are twice as likely than other Americans to be on food stamps, the advocate for "family-sustaining wages" sees new rating standards as necessary. The author met and spoke with chefs, owners, managers, workers, and customers across the country. Her insider guide is framed around 14 case studies that rate restaurants using the criteria of wages, paid sick days, and internal mobility. In addition to her ranking of restaurants, Jayaraman offers actionable ways for restaurant owners, employees, and diners to effect change in the industry positively. In addition to notes and images of restaurant owners, the title contains illustrated tables of restaurant ratings. VERDICT Jayaraman's well-articulated and -researched argument for higher standards in the restaurant industry focuses on workers over profit and how this approach is more sustainable in the long term.--Nathalie Reid, Univ. of California, Los Angeles

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2015
How diners can act on their ethical concerns each time they eat out. Activist Jayaraman (Behind the Kitchen Door, 2014)--co-founder and co-director of the Restaurant Opportunities Center United, a national movement aimed at fostering change in the industry--hopes to raise diners' consciousness about wages and working conditions for those who prepare and serve meals. Unlike authors such as Michael Pollan or Dan Barber, Jayaraman, winner of a James Beard Leadership Award, focuses not on sustainable farming and environmentally sound food choices but rather on equitable treatment of restaurant employees. ROC United has evaluated a variety of restaurant types: casual and family-style restaurants, such as California Pizza Kitchen and Philadelphia's The Quick Fixx; fine dining establishments, such as Red Hill Restaurant in Los Angeles and the Ruth's Chris Steak House chain; Mexican eateries across the country; fast food restaurants, including McDonald's, Subway, and Taco Bell; diners; and coffee cafes. Each chapter begins with a chart of restaurants evaluated as Low Road (poor working conditions) and High Road according to four criteria: wages for nontipped workers (hosts and hostesses, dishwashers, prep cooks, line cooks, and porters); hourly wages for tipped workers, which can legally be as low as $2.13 per hour; policy about paid sick days; and access to raises or promotions. With this book, a diner trying to choose between Chipotle, which earns ROC's praise, and Taco Bell, which has been sued repeatedly over employee rights, can make an informed decision. ROC's findings, downloaded to a smartphone, can serve both as a guide to eating and to taking action. Jayaraman urges diners to share their values with restaurateurs, to join ROC, and to tell elected officials to support "One Fair Wage" for all restaurant employees. A revealing expose of the realities of restaurant work that makes a strong case for reform.

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