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Gary Alan Fine
Kitchens
The Culture of Restaurant Work
320 pages,
February 1996, Available worldwide
Categories: Sociology; American Studies; Popular Culture; Social Theory
February 1996, Available worldwide
Categories: Sociology; American Studies; Popular Culture; Social Theory
"Written in an accessible style . . . the descriptions of the interplay between the micro and macro—kitchen work vs. market demands—make for fascinating reading and a more critical understanding of this cultural force."—Library Journal
"A memorable and important book, a work that does no less than reconfirm the relevance of sociology as a sensitive and practical guide to the complexities of modern industrial society. . . . At its core, Kitchens is a book about the sociological tensions of modern life, the tensions between economics and aesthetics, bureaucratic regimen and autonomy, ownership and wage laboring, taste and kitsch, alienating repression and anomic normlessness. In exploring these tensions, Fine shirks none of his sociological responsibilities. . . . This is occupational ethnography at its apogee—empirically sound, literate, and relevant."—Richard Mitchell, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
"A thorough examination of four Minneapolis-St. Paul area restaurants from the perspective of the people who cook there."—Los Angeles Reader
"Fine, like any good ethnographer, tries to see the world through the eyes of his subjects. . . . A solid, sensible ethnographic study, carefully researched and elegantly presented."—Washington City Paper
"A memorable and important book, a work that does no less than reconfirm the relevance of sociology as a sensitive and practical guide to the complexities of modern industrial society. . . . At its core, Kitchens is a book about the sociological tensions of modern life, the tensions between economics and aesthetics, bureaucratic regimen and autonomy, ownership and wage laboring, taste and kitsch, alienating repression and anomic normlessness. In exploring these tensions, Fine shirks none of his sociological responsibilities. . . . This is occupational ethnography at its apogee—empirically sound, literate, and relevant."—Richard Mitchell, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
"A thorough examination of four Minneapolis-St. Paul area restaurants from the perspective of the people who cook there."—Los Angeles Reader
"Fine, like any good ethnographer, tries to see the world through the eyes of his subjects. . . . A solid, sensible ethnographic study, carefully researched and elegantly presented."—Washington City Paper
"From the raw to the cooked, Kitchens takes us inside the fascinating world of restaurant work. But be prepared. Abandon preconceptions all ye who enter, for here's an original and important peek into the patois, the pecking order, the profits, and the people who produce what we eat when we eat out. . . . A real by-the-book example of superior occupational sociology, as it was meant to be."—Rob Faulkner, University of Massachusetts
"A carefully researched, brilliantly analyzed and elegantly described study of a major American industry. His negotiated order and combined interactional-structural approach is a model for sociological industries and organizations."—Anselm Strauss, University of California, San Francisco
"A carefully researched, brilliantly analyzed and elegantly described study of a major American industry. His negotiated order and combined interactional-structural approach is a model for sociological industries and organizations."—Anselm Strauss, University of California, San Francisco
Kitchens takes us into the robust, overheated, backstage world of the contemporary restaurant. In this rich, often surprising portrait of the real lives of kitchen workers, Gary Alan Fine brings their experiences, challenges, and satisfactions to colorful life. He provides a riveting exploration of how restaurants actually work, both individually and as part of a larger culinary culture. Working conditions, time constraints, market forces, and aesthetic goals all figure into the food served to customers—who often don't know quite what they're getting.
The kitchen is a place of constant compromise, of quirks, approximations, dirty tricks, surprises, and short cuts, as Fine demonstrates in his deft, readable narrative. He brings to life the complicated relationships among kitchen workers—servers, dishwashers, pantry workers, managers, restaurant critics, and customers—and reveals the effects of organizational structure on individual relations.
The kitchen is a place of constant compromise, of quirks, approximations, dirty tricks, surprises, and short cuts, as Fine demonstrates in his deft, readable narrative. He brings to life the complicated relationships among kitchen workers—servers, dishwashers, pantry workers, managers, restaurant critics, and customers—and reveals the effects of organizational structure on individual relations.
Whispers on the Color Line, by Gary Alan Fine and Patricia A. Turner
I Heard It Through the Grapevine, by Patricia Turner
Hey, Waitress! The USA from the Other Side of the Tray, by Alison Owings
Fast Food, Fast Talk: Service Work and the Routinization of Everyday Life, by Robin L. Leidner
I Heard It Through the Grapevine, by Patricia Turner
Hey, Waitress! The USA from the Other Side of the Tray, by Alison Owings
Fast Food, Fast Talk: Service Work and the Routinization of Everyday Life, by Robin L. Leidner