Angry chef Easton West (played by Erik Thomson) has some home truths coming his way in ABC’s Aftertaste.Credit:ABC
In the ABC’s new dramedyAftertaste,celebrity chef Easton West (Erik Thomson) returns from Shanghai to his childhood home in the Adelaide Hills,having been ‘cancelled’ after slamming a pig carcass onto the table of a prominent food critic in a fit of rage – the peak of a string of similar incidents. Back home,he decides to start a business with estranged niece Diana (Natalie Abbott),a promising young pastry chef who’s unafraid to speak up.
Everyone but West himself can see it’s time for a break – as his professional nemesis Chef Zhao tells him,“People are over the angry white guy schtick”. (Small spoiler alert:only at the end of episode one does Easton admit he uses anger to cover his own insecurities.)
It’s a familiar scenario for chef and hospitality workers’ rights advocate Jules Gibson,who recalls the toxic kitchen cultures she’s witnessed in her 15 years in the industry.
Gordon Ramsay has turned the angry chef trope into a fully fledged TV career.
“When I was starting out,the type of chef that was rewarded was:you don’t complain,you don’t talk about your vulnerabilities,you just work hard. You drink Red Bulls all the time,you go on the piss,you rock up the next day and do 14 hours,and you don’t say anything.”
Workplace bullying,a lack of work and life boundaries,drug and alcohol abuse and more can create a “stressful,under-appreciated,exploitative culture,where people lash out,” says Gibson.
InAftertaste,Easton’s abusive behaviour is reminiscent of the kind we see from prominent celebrity chefs,and that we’re told is normal. Gordon Ramsay’s behaviour has been characterised byrestaurant critic Jay Rayner as “glamourising bullying”. If you’ve watched any of Ramsay’s various cooking shows,you’ll know that usually before he helps someone repair their business,learn kitchen skills or improve their menu,they must endure a barrage of verbal abuse – which is most often played for laughs.