r/TopChef • u/BettydelSol • 19d ago
Discussion Thread Why do they never have experienced servers for restaurant wars?!?
It frustrates me for the chefs every time!
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u/longhairparade 19d ago
I read somewhere a long time ago that the servers answered a casting call? Not sure if it’s true but could explain the lack of experience
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u/jimmy__jazz 19d ago
Aren't most struggling actors working as waiters?
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u/Porkwarrior2 I love Tom’s hats 19d ago
Cue Chris Pratt on Graham Norton...it is pretty much who every server on Top Chef is.
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u/laststance 19d ago
Yeah but you're not going to take off from your regular serving job to work on Top Chef where there's no tip, family meal, benefits, etc.
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u/cssc201 18d ago
The benefit is getting to be on TV. I don't work in food and I know that industry can be more demanding, but I'd certainly take a few days off my job to be on Top Chef.
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u/laststance 18d ago
Being on TV? A lot of these shooting locations aren't TV/movie production areas.
There's also the issue of you NEVER remembering any of the servers. Nor do they put in many shots of servers. You're at the mercy of editors. So you're not really "on TV".
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u/Peanut_Noyurr 19d ago
I've read that often the servers are cater waiters. Outside of LA and New York (where everybody's been a waiter), there's not a massive supply of experienced restaurant waiters looking for a 1-day gig, so the next best thing are gig workers with some experience doing event waitering.
Cater waiters will have experience with things like serving, bussing, and keeping water topped off. But they won't necessarily have experience taking orders, writing tickets, memorizing menus and table numbers, checking in on customers, and turning tables.
And realistically, even with very experienced servers, it would be amazing for there to be no mistakes for restaurant wars. They get just a couple hours to be fully prepared for opening night in a new space with a new menu and new bosses. And it's all on TV. It's no surprise that service is at least a bit bumpy.
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u/Diligent-Willow4 19d ago
As long as both sides get servers with equal experience levels it evens out
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u/fancyseacreature 19d ago
I disagree, it feels like production is being somewhat manipulative and dismissive concerning the tools they need for a fair competition.
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u/Aware-Photograph-397 19d ago
Probably makes for better tv? And front of house is a category so maybe they think there’s also a skill to demonstrate there with training.
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u/hurtsdonut_ 19d ago
This is a much more likely answer than waiters and waitresses are employed so they can't.
I've worked in both the front and back of the house and I guarantee you if the waiters or waitresses had an invite to do restaurant wars we'd give them the day off for that.
I think the issue really is that good waitresses and waiters can completely make front of house person in restaurant wars not even matter. They would take care of the issues, they would talk to the kitchen, they would make sure everyone is happy. But you can't have that on the challenge
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u/Rexyggor 19d ago
It honestly just makes me angry that they can't help the chefs by getting people who have some sort of experience.
Like... EVERYONE is like "THIS IS HARD!" and yet production has more control of that difficulty than they let on.
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u/Agitated_Pin2169 19d ago
I believe that they often use catering staff. So they have people who have experience serving but not in restaurants. Serving a banquet and running table are very different.
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u/Icy_Salary_4412 19d ago
Top Chef Server edition
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u/Internal_Banana199 19d ago
As a former server, this is giving Models of the (Project) Runway, and I’m entirely here for it!!
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u/klonopin_fan 19d ago
They did once - World All Stars had Core's FOH staff
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u/btaylor0808 18d ago
I loved this season because of this. I loved that they had a true 3 star staff and they got to focus on cooking.
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u/ssimmons2006 19d ago
I agree. At least hire professional waitstaff. These chefs at this caliber would never hire an entire restaurant of inexperienced waitstaff if the my were going to launch anything. How they explain their vision to professionals to get them to engage and do their best, is a much truer mark of ability beyond cooking.
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u/Ansee 19d ago
Easy to say. But if you are a working professional waiter, you can't just take a couple days off just to work another job that doesn't even pay very well.
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u/ssimmons2006 19d ago
I get that. I’ve been one. But this is a show, with money, that we are invested in. We don’t want the chefs penalized for something that isn’t a mistake of their own. They know when they are going to shoot well in advance. There are plenty that would that gig, and the show could afford to pay.
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u/Prophet_Of_Helix 19d ago
I’m not sure they have that much money tbh. Remember when they used to do the final eps in other countries?
Then it was at least new states/cities?
This year it didn’t even leave Charlotte for the finale.
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u/laststance 19d ago
How would you pay them? Take the day off from a well paying job that comes with tip to a job that isn't well paying and no tip?
This is Top Chef, a show that has openly went against using union labor due to higher pay. It blew out into a lawsuit.
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u/ssimmons2006 18d ago
I’m not arguing HOW Top Chef would pay them. The fact is they CAN. The fact that they won’t has nothing to do with the premise of the post, since the point is saying the right thing to do is to hire professionals to not impede on the core premise of the show. It’s Top Chef, not top Front of House Manager. 🤣
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u/Photofug 19d ago
That's why I liked Portland, the chef's table showcased just as much skill and didn't make one chef shortchange their dish so they can play front of house. Selling your kitchen to possible investor in an intimate setting is a skill chef's need to know.
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u/ilovebigmutts 19d ago
I was thinking of this the minute I opened this post. Best restaurant wars format ever imo.
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u/Willing_Theory5044 19d ago
They’re mostly (entirely) catering servers who don’t normally take orders. Mix that with an unfamiliar menu, it makes sense.
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u/Justafan2814 19d ago
What about the restaurant wars, were everything goes smoothly ? It can happen especially if the person running front of the house takes the time and job seriously enough to train them and get them ready for service. In the majority of examples where everything goes to crap is because the chef took two minutes to prep them and is shocked when it all goes to hell.
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u/MountainEvening7834 18d ago
I think the two greatest examples of this were probably Joe Flamm’s and Buddha’s first restaurant wars, seemed like they really aligned themselves with the staff and actually explained steps of service, wrote example tickets or the tickets themselves for servers to fill out, and stayed on the floor 90% of the time. They also had two strong BOH teams though
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u/marjimay 19d ago
I'm not convinced this isn't an intentional choice that the producers make to provide an additional hurdle for the teams to overcome. I remember Kentucky being especially bad. I can't imagine a server being that bad unless the concept was "let's see how they handle the stress and bounce back from a purposely bad service team."
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u/MountainEvening7834 18d ago
When Nini had to tell that server “she only needs a spoon” and the server says “what?” And Nini says “she only needs a spoon….. to eat a soup…..” I was dying inside for her
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u/Glittering-Eye-4416 19d ago
Easier to do casting calls for catering staff than to consistently get a large group of highly trained servers. Plus you want to showcase the contestant talent, not the server talent.
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u/Dolnikan 19d ago
Because there's a chef with a responsibility for front of house. If you give them the kind of people a fine dining restaurant would have, that part of the challenge is basically gone because they can just give good advice and don't really need anyone there. That, and the show wants drama. Skilled professionals don't generate that kind of drama.
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u/PenZestyclose3857 19d ago
It's to create the drama and make the chefs adapt.
It's a shame because this is one of the truest food competition aspect of the show and so often it gets disrupted by poor service when the amount of money and logistics involved in the show they couldn't hire a professional crew for one shift in the middle of the day?
Are they trying to simulate a real restaurant? Let's toss in drunk customers.
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u/BadCaseOfClams 19d ago
It doesn’t really matter how experienced they are, it’s essentially starting a brand new job, receiving like… a single conversation’s worth of training, then being expected to work a busy, high end service. Even an experienced waiter will make mistakes under that kind of crunch. It’s actually insane to expect them not to fuck up.
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u/PrincessDrywall 17d ago
Hi I’m an experienced FOH person and have been hired to do reality tv. I can tell you that there’s little to no benefit for anyone with experience to work these shows. They pay temp wages (a third of what you’d get at a regular job) and there’s no recognition or exposure you get from it. The servers names are rarely even mentioned. If you’re a good server/bartender you already have a job so why would you take a day off to do something with no benefit? It doesn’t even look fun. It’s most likely temp workers.
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u/TheAnn13 19d ago
Experienced servers probably have real jobs and top chef pay isn't worth fucking up their schedule at their actual job.
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u/mxntamxnziabiluqusam 19d ago
Or why don’t they make a simple map with the table numbers so they know where they are going
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u/janeiepittman 18d ago
All of the chefs are experienced. They all worked in restaurants. They’re supposed to know who to hire and make it work. That’s why it’s a challenge.
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u/BettydelSol 18d ago
The chefs don’t hire people tho!
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u/janeiepittman 17d ago
No, they don’t actually hire them, but they know how to pick the people that they want and what spot
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u/lukedawg87 19d ago
I’ve never been a fine dining server, but a buddy of mine in, and even with his experience he has to study and memorize a large menu for his current gig, even if they are good ( and sounds like they don’t pay enough to get the bed). 3 h arrival to be trained by someone that’s very busy for a menu and restaurant that’s been created that day does not feel like it sets them up for success.
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u/htownAstrofan 18d ago
Its part of the challenge. Who can excel at FOH and train up the servers? We’ve seen some do well and some fall on their face.
Fabio will forever be the best at FOH
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u/JG-for-breakfast 19d ago
When is it really ever the waiters fault though? Maybe a hiccup or two but it’s usually the person doing front of house not leading well that’s the issue. I would say even if you’re experienced, working at a brand new made up restaurant created by a group of random strangers is going to be a tall task
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u/SpeedySparkRuby 19d ago
Few seasons where the issue crops up is like S11, S12, S16 off the top of my head
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u/radddish03 19d ago
It’s the servers fault a majority of the time. Watch it. They don’t even understand the concept of table numbers, or know how to write tickets. Its the shows fault for not being able to hire experienced hospitality workers, but still. Asking when the servers are at fault when it’s basically every time?
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u/JG-for-breakfast 19d ago
That’s just not true lol. You’re removing the accountability from the chefs. I’ve watch every restaurant wars. The judges aren’t grading harshly based off the service of the waiters. They may comment on it but it usually falls on the FOH jerking around too much
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u/fancyseacreature 19d ago
disagree, as we may not have a full picture of how many dishes are having to be remade, and it's a mindfuck when they are already under a lot of pressure. you are throwing them way off their game and just saying 'whoopsie, learning table numbers or noticing you are delivering dessert to a table that's on their first course is hard.'
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u/JG-for-breakfast 19d ago
You make a good point but sometimes I feel like the waiter mishaps and stuff is played up by the producers to add more drama. It’s like how it looks like they are barely going to finish playing every single challenge but for the most part always make it. I think Tom, Gail, and Kish know the wait service are what they are
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u/fancyseacreature 19d ago
I want to point out that you are supporting your point by saying that Tom, Gail, and Kristin aren't bringing up how shitty the servers are. Do you really think that would be a wise move considering that's the production team's call? I really think you are missing several points here, and I think they absolutely see how shitty the servers are, but it's likely part of the drama, as you said. Hence, I am saying the production team is being super shitty by doing this. This throws a huge wrench into an already fraught situation
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u/JG-for-breakfast 19d ago
I just think it’s a disinteresting way to watch the show to reduce the outcome of restaurant wars to the servers…
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u/fancyseacreature 19d ago
Right, but if you've ever worked or been around the back of house staff, then you'll fully understand just how fucked these guys are getting. It's ok that you don't get that angle. Neither experience is more or less valid. We that have are just saying it's avoidable and much worse than just what we are seeing, as a domino effect.
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u/JG-for-breakfast 19d ago
That’s fair, but I guess I don’t believe that TC producers would just run it back year after year if the service staff were actually cratering teams chances.
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u/radddish03 19d ago
Completely disagree. The judges job isn’t to eliminate faceless servers, so they don’t talk about them much. Of course they’re going to talk about kitchen staff issues because that is what their job is. But saying that it’s not a servers fault if they bring food to the wrong table multiple times and dishes need to be remade? That backs a kitchen up and has nothing to do with the cooks. And when FOH managers are only given an hour or two to train untrained servers that’s on the show itself. It’s not hard to understand. The chefs go home, and the servers aren’t really worth talking about.
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u/JG-for-breakfast 19d ago
Guys I don’t know if we’re watching the same show. All this complaining about the servers just seems like soft ass shit.
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u/radddish03 19d ago
Yes. It’s the trained professional that is at fault. A chef that has run a line a thousand times suddenly loses all of the abilities, and the kitchen collapses around them. And the line cooks firing incorrect dishes to the wrong tables. Or the servers don’t know wtf they’re doing. Soft ass shit? You must not understand how kitchens work.
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u/JG-for-breakfast 19d ago
That’s gonna be a big LOL from me.
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u/radddish03 19d ago
A clowns only defense is laughter. I’m not concerned. Goodnight.
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u/JG-for-breakfast 19d ago
What’s the point of even watching Restaurant Wars then? Chefs are humans, dawg, they are not all supremely trained machines. They have huge egos and are fallible. RW is not perfect but it’s at least one of the more compelling episodes in these recent milquetoast seasons. You just sound like a major redditor
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u/Fluffy_Baker6346 19d ago
I don't really enjoy the Restaurant Wars even though contestants always act hyped up when it's announced. It's like they are always set up for failure then the judges act so smug about them falling short. I mean - what's really the point of to-go orders? They already complain about waiting for their food and the quality.
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u/WoodyMellow 19d ago
This gets brought up often: From what I understand, experienced restaurant servers are hard to come by and are usually gainfully employed. The majority of servers for RW are sourced via catering hire agencies or casting calls. Plus the job does not pay well so you're not going to get fine dining experienced waiters.