Your favourite city restaurant is probably struggling to find somebody to put food together writes Roberto A. Ferdman:

• Housing rents in big cities mean that lowly paid cooks have to live far from their kitchen if they want to work in the industry.
• And since restaurant shifts end late, people must contend with long commutes at the end of even longer nights.
• Pay in the industry is poor and the debt required to pay through culinary school is large.
• Cooking shows have created unrealistic expectations. Most real kitchens are cramped, sweaty, and stressful.
• It’s not like restaurants can just offer higher pay. Most can’t rely on television contracts or book deals, and the vast majority are struggling financially.
• Yet more and more people try to start their own restaurants, increasing the demand for cooks.

Read more about the role that Mexico has to play in all this, and what industry insiders have to say over here.

Source: The Washington Post

Via: Marginal Revolution