Food Service As It Shouldn't Be

Most people have had a job they hated, but they stuck with it for one reason or another. For me, it was working at Panera Bread my first semester of culinary school in the spring of 2017. Except for receiving one scholarship halfway through my time at Brightwater, I paid for that adventure out-of-pocket. And since I was still paying off my student loans from OU, I determined I would not get any more. Even though I saved enough money to pay for school while living rent-free at camp in Colorado for 1.5 years, I didn’t want to finish culinary school broke. So my job hunt began.

I didn’t want just “any” job. My resume experience was a hodgepodge - a zoo tour guide and gift shop attendant, a middle and high school English Language Arts and science teacher, and a housekeeper/ cook at a camp with food service management experience. I knew substitute teaching was not an option since I had class every day of the week. Like other students, I could have applied to a retail store or waited tables at a restaurant, but I thought I’d do what I came to school for (potentially) and work at a bakery. A local bakery would have been ideal. Even if I just worked the counter, it would have been nice to gain field experience. However, the timing wasn’t right, and smaller operations don’t have as much turnover. Instead, I turned to a chain restaurant.

I was (and still am) a fan of Panera’s food. Growing up, we occasionally ate at St. Louis Bread Company before they changed their name, and with an original sourdough starter from San Francisco, the food was reminiscent of the Bay Area. Through the years, they mastered the art of mass-produced, fresh-daily soups, sandwiches, and baked goods. I applied for a dining attendant’s position at my local restaurant since I didn’t expect to be a baker. At my location, there was one evening and one daytime baker. Not only was there not an opening for either of those but neither fit my schedule. During my first semester, I had classes Monday - Friday from 12:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. I didn’t want to work evenings, so I needed something for the morning. I had no problem getting an interview or getting hired. (I found out later that the turnover was relatively frequent.) When the manager asked if I was okay with the 5:00 a.m. shift, knowing my schedule and that if I came in at 5, I’d be out by 11 or 12, I said, “Sure, that’s no problem.” That was where my problems started.

I have woken up early before. There were plenty of times I’d had to get up in the 3 or 4 o’clock hour to catch a flight. When I taught outside of Charleston, I woke up at 5:50 a.m. to get ready and be at school by 7:15 a.m. (the required time for teachers). But if I had to be at work at 5:00 a.m., I consistently needed to wake up closer to 4:00 a.m. I discovered I could skip coffee at home and get it for free at work, but I had to eat something; otherwise, my stomach would growl all morning. Not the nicest sound when one is serving food to customers.

The first few days were easy enough while I spent hours going through the online training modules. I was hidden away in a tiny hallway in the BOH (back-of-house) at a computer by the time clock and the coat hooks. Even though I was ServSafe certified from working at camp, I still had to go through Panera’s program, which included learning the restaurant’s history, menu specifications, and safety rules. The days my fellow trainees and I met with the regional trainer to sample some of the items were the most fun. I didn’t say no to free food. That was limited to samples during training, the spring menu roll-out (all employees had to come in after closing one Sunday night to learn about new menu items), and when working closing, employees were allowed one free bakery item (the rest of the leftovers were donated to a local nonprofit). Only on days an employee worked can he or she get 65% off in one’s home store. I occasionally used this perk after my shift. I was never tired of the food, but I did try to save money. Additionally, I discovered the quicker I could get out, the better.

During my training, the initial focus was on the dining room, but I did have a day or two of cash register training. My trainer for both of these areas was an associate named Jojo. She was a middle-aged woman with fiery red hair and a personality to match. I was new and trying to figure out this food service business (working in the camp kitchens was far from the same), but regardless, my personality is more introverted. In contrast, Jojo’s extroverted personality at 5:00 a.m. was something to get used to. She made training more fun, though, with jokes and funny stories and was, maybe, my favorite coworker if I had one. Jojo knew customers by name, which made them feel special. She made mistakes occasionally, which broke the ice when I made one myself, and she was a marvel when she worked the drive-through.

Thankfully I never really “worked” the drive-through. I just assisted for a few days during my training. Especially during rush hours, that was a place that lesser-skilled workers like myself would have fumbled through like quicksand. Panera is considered “fast casual,” but the addition of the drive-through meant customers and managers wanted it to be fast food. However, since everything was cooked and packaged fresh, nothing was waiting, ready to be served. (The two exceptions were the soups that came in frozen bags and were heated to temp in the thermalizer oven and the bakery case items baked the night before.) I would have to agree with employees that told Business Insider that working in the drive-through is the worst job in the restaurant. At my store, I remember one person taking and filling the order with a headset, then he or she would serve as cashier, too. There was also a separate cook line for the drive-through than the dining room, so the drive-through person assembled sandwiches, too. This person who had to be a skilled multi-tasker had to do everything under a ticking clock. A screen overhead with a timer would start counting as soon as the customer pulled up. Even when the time changed from green to red because the set time was over the allotment, there was only so much the drive-through worker could do. If the customer placed a large order, and if the dining room was also full, with more orders coming in at the front counter, it was unrealistic for the order to get filled in under 10 minutes. These unrealistic expectations caused daily tension among the managers who wanted the drive-through to go faster, the customers who didn’t understand what was taking so long, and the workers who had to deal with annoyed co-workers and customers. Even though I only helped as a runner for a few days, collecting orders (although Jojo may have put the headset on me once, which I begged out of ever doing again), every day I worked at Panera, I felt that tension. Even if it was not directed at me, it reverberated through the BOH in how employees dealt with, joked with, or complained to one another. (This article describes the Panera drive-through experience thoroughly.)

In addition to cash register training, I also trained in the dining room. This included making coffee in the back and refilling the pump dispensers in the dining room, making iced tea kept by the soda fountain machine and restocking that drink area, restocking the coffee and tea bar (tea bags, coffee stirrers, sugar and sweetener packets, and napkins), delivering meals to tables, collecting the dirty dish bin to take to the dish pit, and cleaning the dining room and bathrooms. This job was easy enough to learn, and so many duties helped the time pass quickly. There were the occasional rude customers, but I tried to not let them get to me. I couldn’t speed the line up any more than they could. We also were required to meet the customers’ “needs” as much as possible. So during training, I was told about an older couple’s “need” for fresh coffee. Even if we had just brewed a new batch, when they came in and requested fresh coffee, we were supposed to start a fresh pot and empty out the old. Yes, it was a waste. As routine as working the dining room was, it was very much like one was on display since it was amongst the customers so much. I preferred to hide in the back - making coffee, taking a turn at the dish pit, and eventually prepping.

After starting work at the end of January, towards the end of February, I was trained in the morning prep cook position. The woman who had been working in that position wanted to spend more time at her food truck, so they needed a replacement. This job included several responsibilities. I sliced and bagged all the sandwich bread baked the night before (some by hand, and some with the bread slicer machine) and then put it on the line. I also cut day-old bread into croutons that I baked in the walk-in-sized oven on a speed rack with kale chips and sheet pans of bacon. In addition to the croutons, kale chips, and bacon, I had to scratch-assemble some of the specialty salad dressings and sandwich toppings. This was after I checked the cooler for how much was left over to gauge how much to make. I used an industrial slicer to core and slice apples for apple slaw. And I sliced avocados for the line for the most popular salads and sandwiches, wearing a cut glove of course. I wore giant rubber gloves to empty bags of soups (at the correct temperature) from the thermalizer into the line bins, then restocked the thermalizer with frozen bags. I may be blocking out some duties, but that was predominantly it. I liked this job better than the others. Once I learned what I was doing, I could get done what I needed to and not have to interact with a lot of people. I did what I needed to do and got out. I never became super fast at everything. I did well if I could finish by 11:00 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. after starting at 5. The bread alone took an hour and a half. Avocados were last after the soup, and depending on how early people started ordering lunch, some of the line cooks had to come to get what they needed from my counter in the back if I wasn’t finished in time. Occasionally our general manager would pitch in to help, like with slicing avocados, which I always appreciated.

I was always in a rush. I hurried to get everything prepped for the line cooks in time. I hurried because I needed to finish in time for my 12:30 p.m. class, and I needed time to eat something beforehand. I hurried because I wanted out. One time during my hurrying, I hurried myself into a mess. I needed something in the walk-in cooler, which was usually always packed, and in my hurry, I knocked off a gallon of apple cider vinaigrette dressing. I don’t remember if that’s what I was putting back on the shelf, and the condensation made me lose my grip, or if that was in the way of something else I needed. Either way, the container fell, the top came loose, the bottom cracked, and the dressing was all over the cooler. A line cook came in the walk-in as I tried to mop it up. I looked at him and said, “Don’t ask. I’m cleaning it up,” before he could say much. At the time, I was too annoyed to cry in the cooler, which everyone knows is the right place for it. Thankfully he knew better than to comment, got what he needed, and got out to let me clean up the mess.

Once I was strictly a prepper, I was not involved in the tension with customers, but I still felt it from co-workers. In addition to tension from the drive-through woes, each employee had his or her own personality, and as I tell my students, in the “real world” we do not get to choose with whom we work. Our GM was great, but the associate managers were a mixed bag. I liked the one woman who was probably close to my age. Another guy was okay, but it was evident he was a pushover. The third man was one I was warned about, mainly that he was an ass. He was retired military and a stereotypical manager who did not know how to talk to his employees. He made demands and was otherwise hard to read, with a deadpan expression and little to no sense of humor except when it was convenient to him. One night I had to work from 2 p.m. to close in the dining room. Thankfully that was the only night I “clopened,” and he was on as manager. I don’t remember much except that I didn’t leave until after 11:00 p.m., and I was so stressed I was sick in the bathroom I was supposed to be cleaning. Maya Angelou said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” That manager didn’t leave employees with a good feeling. The job in general didn’t leave me with a good feeling.

Most other morning workers were okay and nice enough. No one purposely tried to take out their stress on each other. However, because people are human, it did happen. I did not grow up around swearing, and with jobs predominantly in schools and then at a Christian camp, I had not encountered it in the workplace before, either. Panera changed that for me. I may have been working alone, but I was privy to everyone else’s conversations - swearing at each other, swearing about the customers, swearing because someone hooked up with someone last night. They weren’t conversations I wanted to be a part of. Some of my co-workers did notice I didn’t swear, at least. One other dining attendant and cashier, a kid younger than me in college for the first time, noticed and commented on it. I’d rather have people notice by themselves and dub me a “goody-goody,” than actually act like one and ask them not to swear around me. That was an uncomfortable conversation I wasn’t ready to have.

As a “fast casual” restaurant, Panera is not in the same category as restaurants with big kitchens and BOH areas, but in many ways, swearing included, it did fit the stereotype. As one who, at one time, seriously considered working long-term in the food service industry, I hate that it has such as bad reputation. Kitchens are breeding grounds for abuse and poor working conditions, and most people in the industry just accept that. Thankfully, things are changing, and I wasn’t in a situation as bad as the ones described in this article on “Eater,” but I did hate working there. (During this time in my life, my Suzuki Vitara died - literally threw a piston, so if that isn’t “dying,” it’s pretty close. My dad was vetting potential cars for me, and after the above-mentioned “clopen” night, I started crying on the phone while he was talking about cars. He thought I was upset about the car, which maybe I was a little, but I distinctly remember saying, “No! I hate my job!” I don’t envy my parents trying to parent me over the years from hundreds or thousands of miles away.)

From an outside perspective, it may be easy to ask why I stayed. If I hated it so much, why didn’t I just quit? No one should have to be in a situation that makes them uncomfortable. Well, you’re right; no one should. But quitting was easier said than done. In February, I started working on Saturdays as a Chef Instructor at a kids’ cooking school called Young Chefs Academy (YCA). This was finally a job I loved, but they only had classes on afternoons after school and Saturdays, so I needed to keep my morning job. Once March rolled around and I knew when my fall classes would be - all in the morning, it made sense to stick with Panera until May when I could quit at the end of the spring semester. Trying to find a new morning-only job, getting trained, then quitting after 2.5 months wasn’t something I could justify. Speaking up to my co-workers wasn’t something I could bring myself to do either. I’d like to think that if I were in the same situation now, I’d be able to speak my “needs,” as our customers could do. While some people in the restaurant industry may have “matured” through forced necessity, not everyone is as socially mature. When I turned in my two-week notice letter, something I know many at that restaurant failed to do before quitting while I was there, my manager said, “Oh?! We’re sorry to lose you. Why are you leaving?” Instead of telling her all the negative, I just said that I was getting more hours at YCA, and that’s closer to what I want to do - teach kids. She accepted that, but I wondered if I should have been more honest. On my last day, I could have asked for an exit interview or written a letter explaining how some things could be better - the environment and morale, the swearing, the long hours for those that close then have to open, the customer complaints, the unrealistic demands on the drive-through workers that then affects everyone working around them… but I left it alone. I wanted out.

One thing Panera did well was food. Even though I never tried their full menu, it all looked and sounded delicious. One popular sandwich bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was focaccia. Ken included his own version of focaccia and a subsequent sandwich - Potato Pan Bread with Cherry Tomatoes and Hot Focaccia Sandwiches for a Crowd (with Potato Pan Bread). While traditional focaccia doesn’t include potatoes, his inclusion added additional flavor and texture. His template for the sandwiches is also versatile, giving panini variations and room to experiment with ingredients on one’s own. I made the bread and sandwiches for my photographer friend Allison Mayfield who shot some beautiful photos for me. (I’m holding her to her trade of food for photos!) So whether you try a focaccia sandwich from a Panera near you or make your version at home, this bread is not one to discount. And speak kindly to the food service workers serving you. We’re all better for it!

Potato Pan Bread with Cherry Tomatoes

Hot Focaccia Sandwiches with Rosemary Potato Pan Bread (roasted eggplant and bell pepper, mozzarella, garlic scape pesto)