chef

floor leader

pastry cook

kitchen assistant

culinary lead

Sur-La-Table

I was a PT Culinary Instructor for the past 20 months.  Came into the job with 20 years of culinary experience and running my own business as well.  I have been an independent contractor for many years and many organizations around my city offering cooking classes and personal chef services.  SLT will not hire staff as independent contractors, so you are forced to become an employee, which is what I did, despite my intuitive concerns.  What this means is that you are subject to the same policies as completely untrained and uneducated retail floor employees in terms of your schedule, pay, and most notably, the way that you are addressed, communicated with and treated as a human being. Even though I was hired on the premise of teaching 1-2 classes a week (to complement my own personal chef business), some weeks there were no shifts or canceled shifts and some weeks they scheduled you at random times, with very little notice, for up to 4 shifts.  Most of the time, schedules were posted 1 week ahead.  Classes were canceled for lack of registration on several occasions with less than 24 hours notice to the chef instructor.  Staff meetings were called at the pleasure of the manager and culinary manager at times when you were not shifted.  Teaching classes was always fun and rewarding but the store does not even thank CI's for their efforts in helping to sell products to students.  Moreover, the store almost always under-scheduled the kitchen assistants, who worked like dogs.  I was virtually laughed at when I inquired about incentives for the many, many products that I was personally responsible for selling.  Moreover, the teaching kitchen is stocked with old, even broken versions of tools, and the store is frequently out of stock of the tools that we use in the teaching kitchen.  Employees are forbidden from communicating with each other or the store to determine work shifts other than by telephone.  Schedules given by phone were wrong on several occasions and there was no way to verify with a paper schedule as printed communication via email or text is forbidden due to inane corporate policies.  Managers are frequently blaming and complaining about the ridiculousness of the corporate policies yet seem powerless or unwilling to speak up to their superiors.  There is definitely, as one reviewer said, an "I gotcha" attitude rather than one of mutual respect.  I loved teaching people how to cook, and I was even willing to do it for a relatively low wage, but it was overshadowed and ultimately ruined by inane, unrealistic corporate policies in the end.  I tried to reach out and communicate with the managers about improving communication, scheduling and policies for culinary instructors, but the store claims that they are not allowed to respond to emails even from customers and they refused to meet in a timely or meaningful manner when I made my requests.  I would have been happy to work there indefinitely as a fun side job to complement my business, but the company is simply not set up that way for experienced chefs.  It's really too bad.  As a result, I don't recommend this job as a part time job to complement other work or a work/family/travel balance.

I love my job. I frequently say that I am starving by 11:00 everyday because all I do is talk about food. That's pretty true, too. Generally, my customers are people who love what the company does and are excited just to be in the store. Sometimes, very rarely, the customers aren't so fun, but that's why I don't volunteer for Sur La Table. The people I work with are typically fun, energetic and passionate about food and entertaining. It can seem a little intimidating, but all levels of expertise are welcome at this table whether you consider yourself a culinary pro, hostess with the most-ess or just like to eat!
One of the harder aspects of the job is that as the company grows, the corporate "snapshots" of your store become fewer and farther between and can even be based on second or third hand experiences, which is tough to combat. It gives me pause that in protecting the image and values of the brand that leadership can appear to lose sight of the people that drive their success. Then again, that's just my snapshot of the situation, but also another reason that not volunteering is a good trade.
On the surface, it's hard to complain about a work/life balance when the brand you represent is cooking oriented. The line becomes pretty gray between what is work and what is fun. There are times, though, when it is glaringly obvious that - no matter how fun the job is - you need to tend to other priorities in your life, too, because at the end of the day the bottom line is still that this is a for profit company and the responsibility to your life balance is yours to protect.
Like I said, I love my job. The job isn't always rainbows and unicorns, but it is a pretty good gig compared to other retailers. While I know it isn't realistic to believe, I do like to think that I could be working for the last employer of my retail career.

Daily duties included everything from purchasing all ingredients and supplies for each and every cooking classes and/or private events/parties in addition to running the kitchen, staffing/managing a team of 12+, budgeting, expense reporting, integrating retail products and meeting corporate goals and discussing retail performance on weekly conference calls.  

I learned a great deal about managing a team and delegating tasks.  I gained the knowledge that it is absolutely crucial to document any unfavorable behavior or policy violations immediately.  I also became exponentially more organized and utilized various apps/serviced to help keep track of expenses, events, and deadlines.  

With regard to management, it has to be said that it was generally very smooth sailing.  However, there needs to be absolute clear communication with transparency, honesty and mutual respect. 

My team and co-workers were a great group as a whole.  There were inevitable occasions where associates had to be reminded of the duties and job descriptions, but this approach generally allowed for quick course correction.  

The most enjoyable part of my time as Resident Chef at Sur La Table was undoubtedly sharing my skill set and absolute love for cooking and allowing for clients to embark on their own culinary discovery.  I formed some great relationships with "regulars" who would frequently sign up for my classes.  Knowing that my customers left not only satisfied but also enriched and inspired meant the world to me.

This job comes with a great discount, and being a kitchen assistant gives you a unique opportunity to attain a variety of skills you wouldn't necessarily learn all at one job anywhere else. You learn everything from basic knife skills to specialized cuisines like Thai or even pastry skills. Unfortunately, corporate would rather hire several people at minimum wage and work them 39.5 hours per week rather than hire a core team and give them higher pay/benefits as full time employees, which means we were always short staffed because nobody wanted a part-time minimum wage job with no benefits that still basically felt like a full-time job. The job included everything from prepping for classes (often for two classes at once, because they would schedule back-to-back classes with only an hour break between) to assisting customers in learning skills to finishing dishes/plating for service to dishwashing. It was a lot of work for minimum pay, but if you are looking for an entry level job that will give you culinary experience, this is a good place to start.

I was a seasonal employee picking up extra cash over the holidays. Nearly every person I worked with was very friendly and helpful when I had questions. 

But as far as training and communication goes, it was a disaster. I've never worked for a more disorganized company/store. The first couple of weeks after filling out paperwork I didn't hear a peep because they used the incorrect phone number, which is funny b/c they got it right the first time when calling for an interview.

Then, because I missed a day to train b/c of the above problem, I was baptized by fire as they say the first day on the floor. I got a few minutes of register training and then hit the ground running, cashiering the rest of the day. 

There was a lot of miscommunication about certain policies (like store discounts for example). I had a customer fuming b/c I was told the 10% cooking class discount could only be used once, but in fact it could be used all day the day of the class. I didn't know any better and it made me look unprofessional.

A lot of times management was difficult to track down to ask questions b/c they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, doing a million things around the store.

There were also a couple of very condescending employees who did help me, but made me feel stupid just b/c I didn't know what to do. Doesn't happen in every store so not completely counting it against them, just irritating.

Meeting some nice people and a great discount that I was able to use to get my mom some nice kitchen items, but overall, was happy to be out of there!

The Management level positions are very ill trained and underpaid. The disorganization starts from the top with constantly changing directives and vague job responsibilities for all levels. There is rampant disregard for protocol and very little security measures with the accounting practices and sales. Basically no training for management level positions as well as new sales staff. Little or no tools given for all new staff.

The company has a very faulty foundation and appears to be crumbling fast. Merchandise is becoming more cheaply made and returns are more commonplace as they should be for this type of company. Little or no training in products.

There is no support from HR or upper management when there are real issues amongst staff and basically no job security. I chose to leave because of the negligence in management and no ability to trust both the confidentiality and security if shared, many employees were fearful  of being penalized in hours or termination. Saw iti many times before me with excellent managers and staff. 

Dishonest hiring practices... Hours and wages promised and never intended to be delivered upon. People were constantly hired for promised hours and between constant schedule changes and payroll cuts, they were very dissatisfied . At this particular store, there was much unprofessional behavior and overt neglect for respect to the store and others.

Horrible company going down fast.

The managers are extremely nice, and it does help to have the same interests. There is a wide variety of employees from ages to ethnicities, I feel like I learn something new everyday. It is fairly to very competitive amongst the employees (Depending on who your are working with- Beware) who can receive incentives from selling higher end items or multiple items. The only downsides are that the hours even for part timers are fairly sparse, in my experience the hours have ranged from only having 4 hours (yes, I said 4) a week to possibly 15 if your lucky. It's also somewhat unorganized, sometimes you feel a ditzy because you were unable to find something (Although the general manager seemingly knows where everything is- which makes you feel doubly ditzy and endangered because you don't know where something is that he can easily find), as this particular store is new, it's expected. However I feel like my personal growing pains (inventory location, and lack of return/product information) aren't going to be accepted for much longer even though it's only been a month. Also unfortunately I do have to find a second job because the hours just aren't cutting it. I would like to advance in this company and learn more, but it will not come any time soon.

Worked part time as a supervisor and was never given more than 8 hours a week.  On most days I worked we had literally no customers and most of our culinary classes were empty and the location was in a prime shopping center, if that gives an idea of how many people DID NOT shop here.  
No training.  Nothing, terrible, completely ridiculous for a 100M+ business.
My managers HATED their bosses and the company.  They constantly complained about the regional director and corporate - mostly to do with terrible processes and no traffic in the store.
There is no culture here.  If you are lucky to have a good boss, then you will most definitely have an incompetent regional to make this job not worth the time.  
The hardest part of the job was tell my regional that a contract that stipulates no restrictions on a signing bonus, does not require 90 days or other stipulations.  He didn't understand that a contract in plain english is just that - so I resigned.  
The most enjoyable part of the job, I got a free high quality saute pan which I use for camping now.  
I would not recommend this organization at any level, given what I saw in the short time I was there.  DO NOT WORK FOR THIS COMPANY unless you want to get paid nothing and be treated like dog excrement by the regionals and up.  


Communication between upper management and retail stores is a disaster. "Corporate" was always changing policies but really it was managers deciding to change things and using "corporate" as a scape goat. Unprofessional and immature managers in both retail and culinary departments. Lots of gossip and talking behind peoples backs. Managers are quick to make rules up as they go along. Managers in both departments would rather passive aggressively cut hours than have conversations with employees.

Very little training in both departments, making employees look unprofessional in front of customers. 85% of employees are just there for the discount and are not quick to really go above and beyond for customers. Lots of passing the buck and responsibility around, many employees do not take responsibility for what is expected of them. Can't really blame the employees because the managers allow their "favorites" to get away with murder. Some employees are extremely rude to customers and get away with it because complaints do not reach corporate levels.

There's not many good things to say about all of my time spent here except that the discount and flexible schedule was the only reason to keep this job.

Wednesday was the defining day because we got out load in and I would show up at seven and we would begin to break down the load and bring it in. We would separate what was restock on the floor and what we would put in the back hall for the main warehouse person to put away. We would do the restock after breaking down the load and then I would work on the floor helping customers find what they needed. The hardest part is when some of the girls got mean and ganged up on you. I'd just leave and go help customers. The environment was fairly relaxed with high customer service priority. The only this is it's helpful if you have culinary knowledge because you are selling the equipment and there is a lot to memorize if not it can be a steep learning curve. Also if your clumsy like me and someone asks you to bring them $300 dollar Le Crucet pot tell them no. My coworkers for the most part were great. I enjoyed helping customers and when a new product came in sometimes we got free items to test. I got a Swiss pan called a scan pan it was great and it was a $25 dollar value. When you are making $10 dollars and hour in an expensive living environment that is pretty neat.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Chef 65 salaries reported	$19.23 per hour
Floor leader 54 salaries reported	$18.50 per hour
Pastry cook 54 salaries reported	$19.91 per hour
Kitchen assistant 49 salaries reported	$16.83 per hour
Culinary lead 42 salaries reported	$21.31 per hour

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