Before the first drink order is taken or the first appetizer is fired at restaurants around the world, one group has already been served. The staff meal, or family meal, is a long-standing tradition in the restaurant industry, ranging from sit-down dinners with the entire crew to bowls of comfort food eaten standing up. Unlike the painstakingly prepared gourmet entrées served to guests, family meals must feed an army, be budget friendly, and be hearty enough to keep everyone going through service. Photographer and food magazine editor Per-Anders Jörgensen goes behind the scenes of the culinary world in his new book, Eating with the Chefs (Phaidon, $60), sharing the most-loved family meals served in top restaurants, including Maison Pic, the French Laundry, Noma, and Roberta’s.
A waiter at Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, keeps his shirt clean for service.
Jörgensen captures some of the world’s most acclaimed chefs and their staffs in their off-duty moments: joking around, planning the day’s menu, and most of all enjoying good food. Traditions vary widely by restaurant. At Paris’s Le Chateaubriand, scraps and leftovers are used to create improvised meals such as a fisherman’s soup, while at Alice Waters’s legendary Berkeley, California restaurant, Chez Panisse, the staff sits down to have at least two of the three courses on the menu (along with wine) after the first seating.
Aaron Keefer, second gardener at the French Laundry in Yountville, California, takes off his hat for the day’s family meal.