Michael Bauer 's Power in the City of Fog By Becks & Posh

An exclusive report from your local restaurant-industry Gossip Columnist!

Last week I was witness to a situation I never imagined I would encounter: A real-life chef actually being interviewed for a job at a well-known, established but perhaps slightly jaded, San Francisco restaurant. Like a fly on the wall, there I was, hearing every single word of the proceedings. I was a little embarrassed to be privy to the situation, but the circumstances were beyond my control. I was simply sitting, minding my own business and quietly eating my lunch at one of the two outside tables available at Picco, a new Pizzeria in Larkspur, Marin. I sympathized with the chef, sitting to my right. Not only was his privacy denied, his flow was intermittently interrupted by the potential employer whose cell phone oftentimes took precedence over the interview.

Although I now know about the salary on offer, the suggestions for the menu, the skill-set the chosen chef must have for managing, training and budgeting, these details are not things that will pique my readers' interest.

What may mildly interest you, however, is to hear that the one thing the Chef is expected to focus upon above all else, is getting Michael Bauer through the doors for a good review. The interviewer emphasized that this would be the absolute top priority for the Chef who lands the job.

It is funny, because until that moment I naively assumed that a good restaurant owner's #1 concern would be to satisfy their paying customers with consistently delicious, mouth-watering food and great service. Tsk, tsk, silly, gullible me and my naive ideals...
Michael Bauer