Minute on the clock: Jodi Strang, founder of the 86

The Fallow chef de partie is creating the 86, a supper club and members’ space concept that will give chefs their much-deserved social life back. She explains it to Caroline Baldwin

 

Tell us a bit about yourself and your challenges with the industry

 

I’m a chef de partie at Fallow restaurant in London and I love being a chef, but I really struggle with living in a parallel universe to many of my friends, who have a 9-5, Monday to Friday work life. When I started in hospitality it was the biggest shock to the system – I found the long hours so overwhelming. I love my time at work, but when I finish at Fallow at 11pm on a Sunday, that’s equivalent to my Friday night. The team want to wind down with a drink and enjoy ourselves, but everything is shut.

 

What is the 86?

 

The 86 will be a place where chefs can support each other, meet like-minded people and ultimately feel less isolated. I believe this disconnect is a huge factor in losing amazing chefs from the industry. It’s in those lonely hours on a Monday night when I want to socialise, but everyone else is having a quiet night, and this made me think about building a community to try and make us all happier. I want to have a venue that suits chef hours and rotas and gives us a bit more balance in our lives.

 

Why is creating this space so important?

 

In my experience, this industry attracts a certain type of person who is very passionate, emotional and high-intensity, but that comes at a cost. It can be very lonely after working long hours in a close team to go home and no one else is around. Even when I do talk to my friends and family about the highs and lows of work, they don’t understand.

 

What would this community look like in practice?

 

Imagine a private members’ club for chefs. I’m looking to fund it by encouraging restaurants in London to pay a fee for their staff to be members of the 86. It would be a perk used to entice chefs during the hiring process, that would help restaurants with staff retention, encourage better mental health across the industry and might mean businesses rely less on expensive agency staff. We could partner with gym groups, have event nights on Sundays and Mondays to let off steam, a restaurant on-site and provide a chilled space where someone might like to hang out on their day off – all those things that are taken away from us, I’m trying to give back through the 86.

 

How far along are you on this journey?

 

I’m spreading awareness through my ‘What Chefs Eat’ immersive supperclubs on Sunday nights to talk about this problem. I serve food out of containers and frying pans, which gets people talking. I can earn a bit of money to get the 86 off the ground now I’ve built the brand and started to get recognition. Most people outside the industry don’t have a clue having only watched things like Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

 

What do you think about Boiling Point and The Bear, which use the kitchen narrative?

 

I don’t think they’re helpful. I know most of my colleagues find them very difficult to watch. Films like Boiling Point only give you a snapshot of the screaming and shouting, and there are moments of that, of course, but also there’s so much laughter and happiness and teamwork is at the core of what we do, which I don’t think is portrayed at all. They’re very negative and heavy things to watch, but there’s a reason why people do this job! They’re scaring people off from the industry.

 

Why have you called it ‘86’?

 

It’s a universal term used in kitchens, meaning something is finished. When we plate up the last portion of halibut, we would say ‘halibut 86’ and that tells everyone we’re out of halibut. It’s become a slang term, too, when someone gets fired or they’re hungover, you would say in jest that they’re 86. So it fits well with the idea of creating a space for chefs to go when they’ve finished work.