Finite Dining: Supply and Care in the Professional Kitchens of North East England

The professional kitchen is an often hostile and dangerous environment. This article explores the connection between the enactment of care in this environment with the supply of both labour and produce. Drawing on qualitative research in restaurants in the North East of England, findings identify three important factors in the organisation of care. First, that professional chefs operate with an uneven logistical imaginary that influences how they imagine the long-term viability of food supply chains. Second, that restrictions in labour supply precipitate opposing forces: in one direction, an increase in the value of labour of chefs; and in the other, the deskilling of the professional kitchen. And third, that accelerated promotion through the traditional hierarchy of the professional kitchen destabilises the organisation of communitas, leading to withdrawal of care to those deemed to occupy undeserved positions. These factors interrelate in the following ways: food insecurity and supply chain disruption lead to effective deskilling as restaurant menus are simplified; deskilling is locked in when it coincides with restriction in the supply of chefs, which leads to accelerated promotion and redundancy of specialised sections; and deskilling motivates the withdrawal of care, as those in a position to nurture colleagues withhold this labour both out of a sense of injustice and because of increased intensification of work. It is concluded that the future of the professional kitchen hinges on the balance of the finite supply of produce and of labour with the renewable but fragile dimension of care.