Sur La Table reviews

Underpaid and overworked. One 15 minute break for a 4 1/2 hour shift at $9 an hour. On your feet the entire time, chefs are usually annoyed for the same reason. This SHOULD be a hospitality industry situation - however, Chefs are annoyed when the classes are booked, the Company does not allow you to actually UTILIZE the CULINARY products that they are trying to sell. Very Cheap company. Corporate thinks that you are "lucky" to work there - however, they don't show it at all. Everyone can't wait to get out of there and the rules are stringent for employees - however the aprons & towels are filthy because Corporate won't pay for an actual good cleaning service. You literally are a glorified bus boy. Be ready to ruin your manicure - not that you can afford one anyway on the pay rate. They expect you to know what to do on the first day without any training or leadership. Everyone else feels the same - so while cooking and learning to cook should be a wonderful and fun loving experience for both the person teaching the class and those paying money to attend.... it often comes across as though the Chefs are "bothered" by having to actually teach the class. Quite possibly because they are not permitted to have ANY FUN! Recipes are based on selling equipment from the store - yet you are not allowed to use anything from the floor - there is no cleaning service - as the KA - you are also the janitor. So things get lost by the wayside. When I started there were cobwebs throughout the Kitchen, tools that are outdated and a sense of resentment throughout the entire store. The discount on the sale items doesn't apply to employees - which is ridiculous. Chairs for the class attendees are broken. There are ZERO amenities for employees in the back. Not even a place to sit down for a moment. Store is overcrowded. Everyone seems annoyed. Unless you are an overly positive person that desires to gain back aches and pains for $9 an hour - you can gain much more knowledge by working in an actual kitchen. Also, "Chefs" resent the fact that they have to teach classes that are not in the repertoire and it MORE than comes across in the way they run the classes. In addition - consumers are paying $$$ to learn from an "expert"... these Chefs try to learn the recipes an hour before the class and often times sound like they don't know what they are talking about... because they don't.

The pay is ridiculously low for what we do. It is SCARY LOW to work as a KA, at least here in NY. The work as a KA is very physical (actually, the exercise is a plus!) but it can be back breaking. Lots of grunt work, lots of setting up, cleaning, breaking down, more cleaning, dishes, dishes, dishes. I joke that I do work in my little part time job at SLT that I pay someone to do in my own house. The irony is - ALL of the KA's in our store have graduate degrees and high level careers outside of the kitchen. Each and every one of us that I have met does it "for fun," because we enjoy being in the kitchen and the store, for the discount. So while the pay is ABOMINABLE and the work is physical and back breaking at times, none of us is a KA to pay our big bills!