Feeling Battered & Fried? Read How Houston's Chefs + Bartenders Recover
Hardworking area chefs and bartenders share their recovery tips
When it comes to those who prepare your food and drinks, a 40-hour work week is unheard of—as much a myth as the Holy Grail or Fountain of Youth. We polled a few established chefs, bartenders and industry professionals and found that even on light weeks, they’re still working 55 hours per week. The bottom line is that working in the industry is both physically and mentally demanding.
We wondered how these dedicated industry employees wind down after a long shift in order to prepare for the following day’s grind. How do they recharge in their limited downtime? And what is their special hair-of-the-dog elixir?
There aren’t many public statistics for hours worked by industry professionals, and we suspect that’s due to how many work more than 40 hours. The Bureau of Labor Statistics only says that many of the 146,500 polled chefs work “more than 40 hours a week including early mornings, late evenings, weekends and holidays.” The statistics are similar for bar managers, with “some working more than 40 hours per week” though it notes that bar managers are often needed on short notice to cover missed shifts.
Newly minted Executive Chef Kathy Elkins of Harold’s Restaurant & Tap Room holds down the kitchen Monday–Friday with occasional appearances on the weekends. With a standard shift of between 10½ and 14 hours, she’ll average 60 hours per week in the kitchen. Post-shift evenings are spent with family: husband, Wade, and daughters Marley and Ellie. Once the girls are down for the evening, Elkins enjoys relaxing with Wade and a bit of “Netflix and chill” time. A passionate chef, it’s no surprise that Elkins spends her weekends working events for My Yard Reaction BBQ—the barbecue catering and pop-up company that she co-founded in 2017 with Wade, who is the assistant pitmaster at Feges BBQ during the week.
Beaver’s West Executive Chef Arash Kharat works shifts that vary from 12 to 16 hours. Depending on the week, he’s in the kitchen for five or six days working anywhere from 60 to 96 hours. After a long shift, Kharat will head out and grab a post-shift dinner. From Beaver’s he’ll head over to Chinatown and visit Tiger Den for ramen, or Night Market Thai. If he’s looking for a quick bite, he’ll gladly stop at a neighborhood shawarma or taco truck. When he’s not in the kitchen he’s taking care of chores around the house and relaxes by binge watching a new series on Netflix; at least that’s what he enjoys when he’s not using off days to come up with new recipes or making batches of pizza dough for the upcoming week. When Kharat can schedule two days off in a row, he’ll drive to Austin and experience what that city has to offer. “I love architecture of old/ new restaurants. It gives me inspiration for when I come back to the grind of Houston.”
Hands down, the busiest person we interviewed is owner and pitmaster of Harlem Road BBQ, Chef Ara Malekian. Every Texan knows a backyard grill master or barbecue fanatic who rises before the sun to start the pit, but they don’t have anything on Chef Ara. Estimating his average shift at 18 hours per day seven days a week, he works 126 hours every single week. That doesn’t leave much time for recovery, so Malekian relaxes with a glass of Garrison Brothers bourbon or an exceptional 20- or 25-year-old glass of The Macallan scotch. Mornings require a strong dose of caffeine, and Malekian takes a few moments to savor a cup of Armenian coffee from Phoenicia. Armenian coffee, or soorj, is also one of the components in Harlem Road’s barbecue sauce.
Though she moved from working behind the bar at Sanctuari to a position as an on-premises specialist with Deep Eddy Vodka a few years ago, Kris Sowell still works 60 hours per week. Besides her sales responsibilities, Sowell creates cocktails and leads seminars and tastings. Though she tends to eat from her accounts instead of having a preshift meal, she is a regular at State Fare, The Dunlavy and Field & Tides. Sowell is also a big fan of Cantina Barba for the rotating non-alcoholic frozen fruit beverage; because her career requires lots of driving, she won’t add the optional floater shot. To prepare herself for the next day, she enjoys a cup of hot tea, and reading a book in a long bath.
Cocktail enthusiasts know Josh Alden from his time at Wooster’s Garden and Moving Sidewalk. He’s recently taken the head bartender position at Mongoose vs. Cobra, where he’s working to supercharge the cocktail and spirits program. Alden is behind the bar five days per week working between 10 and 12 hours per shift. Before heading into a busy shift, he’ll eat a well-planned high-calorie meal composed of cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens, lean protein and some fats. It’s important for Alden to keep his body and mind sharp so he can be at his best. He’s adamant about avoiding a pre-shift cocktail but does enjoy a dry cider and shot of bourbon after his shift—a “ceremonial toast to a hard-earned night’s work.”
Josh Armendariz can be found around town sipping on a hoppy beer and talking about the Astros with anyone who’ll lend an ear.
