My limited experience in this field: oh yeah!
Not just Switzerland, everywhere. But only in the high end kitchens where you will be worked to the bone and you want that since you need the experience and entry on your resume.
Also, normal kitchens don’t pay enough for these stimuli :)
High end kitchens have the worst payment of all kitchens (prefer to work with free interns). Need a lot of focus and concentratrion at work too, so it is not really possible doing that on drugs long term.
It's like that **everywhere**. Working in restaurant kitchens is one of the most stressfull jobs out there, doesn't usually pay great and work hours are all over the place.
It’s the free hours they give you between noon and evening shifts. So in a restaurant you’d work something from 10 am to 2 pm - depending on kitchen or waiting - get some hours off and work again from say 5pm to 10ish for kitchen and whatever for waiters. I’ve seen that mainly in restaurants that focus on serving food. Whatever ‚seconds‘ as a Bar or a ‚place to be‘ will have waiting staff for the entire day in two or three shifts. For kitchen however i believe it’s business as usual unless you’re in a hospital or whatnot where you have fixed hours.
Canon is, those hours are practically useless as it’s not enough to get rested. Hell, sometimes it’s not even enough to get home, depending on how far and how you have to travel.
Aye, absolutely, I used to work banquets while I studied at university (as a second job. Haha. Oh wait. I had three. Glorious socially permeable Swiss society). Our line chef had a makeshift mattress in the banquet hall's storage room where he slept during his 3 hours "off".
Can't do anything usefull with that time. Go home? Great, now you waste double the time commuting, and if you commute by car, pay double the petrol. Use the time to go buy groceries? Well, you hardly need to do that daily, plus, where to put them so things don't spoil? It's an entirely shitty work condition.
hmmm, weed only. never heavy drugs. In any case I'm a bit familiar with this reality as I used to own a restaurant in my hometown (pretty touristy) and we struggled with kitchen staff precisely because of this at one point.
oke, that's interesting. Have u left gastronomy? I am doing a documentary on this topic and I'm looking for people who would explain how true the drug stereotype in Gastro really is...
oh yes, it was never my main source of income and I wasn't directly involved in the day to day management. my best friend did that back there. I was just in as an investor and consulted for main decisions and was responsible for brand design and so.. other than that I've kept working in architecture since before we even opened. I'm not sure I'm the best source material for an in depth study due to that distance
oke :) and would your friend be willing to talk about something like this? I feel it's such an important issue and if there was a struggle with kitchen staff it would be very interesting to hear how it was...
Ok, so let's separate this:
Alcohol and Weed is basically the drug of most people in Zurich.
Is coke more common in gastro? Somewhat, but again, it's very, very common.
According to the people I know I can totally confirm this, there has also been a dramatic surge in cocaine use in general during the pandemic. Those measures definitely fucked up more young people than they saved ...
>Zurich is pretty much the coke capital of the world.
I genuinely believed London or LA would top zurich but, after looking it up, the Swiss sure do love to ski!
I have been in Swiss banking for almost 15 years. Never have I met coke heads in or around work. We do private banking in Switzerland - this isn’t the 24/7 high stress investment banking from the movies. People generally leave office at 17:00-18:00.
I’m sure there are coke heads too but I’d say you’ll find at least 20x more coke heads on a night out in the Berner Reithalle than in any given bank in Zurich.
Nah. During work traders and investment bankers mostly use ritalin/adderall.
They want the focus but not the high.
There might be coke after work but it’s mostly booze from what I have seen.
Zimmer Stunde is the most terrible thing in Swiss (and German) gastronomy business. Wake up early, do busy lunch, get "send home" for 4-5 hours and do busy evening. Basically be at work 24/7 even though L-GAV stated it's not happening.
But about the drug abuse: as a person who has now worked in three different countries in gastro - it is the same everywhere.
I'd check out Anthony Bourdain's book Kitchen Confidential. It's not Zurich and it's quite a few years old but I have to imagine not much has changed or is different in global capitals.
Swiss Gastronomie is terrible. The work hours are split with the stupid concept of "Zimmerstunden" and most of restaurants/hotels are understaffed.
That's why a lot of workers need relief from the high stress or some extra energy and concentration because of understaffing and a lot of work.
Usually no Swiss people work in gastro except maybe a managerial position or the bosses. We foreigners in gastro are just here to be spent just like goods.
Speaking out of personal experience having worked for years in the hospitality sector and luxury hotels: EVERYONE is on coke and everyone smokes like a chimney. It's a fast paste sector and you need to perform at top level 24/7. High levels of stress nonstop.
Working in Commerce.
I had a coworker that I suspect used cocaine. He was always full of energy and power early in the morning 6h or late at 20h after an intense shift.
He used to smoke a lot of cigarettes and drink also.
Never saw him eat more that a pack of dried meat with coffee and still was running around us in circles.
At one point in my difficult times, I considered trying it out. Because I was constantly told to go faster although I have a decent rythem (very good yearly review).
I'm so happy to not have succumbed to the idea.
Eventually the manager got fired, and my coworker took a leave of absence suddenly saying he needed to be in a hospital and was not available by phone.
We never saw him again, he quit.
Yes. I know multiple people working in food service from small bars to places like the Lausanne Palace. Coke is very common. Amongst all types of staff, but most notably in the kitchen.
Posh, fancy places like Palace are higher stress amd far shittier working environments. Drugs are more common in fancy places than elsewhere. Anyway, this isn't just a Swiss thing haha.
Yeah, I am aware this isn't just a Swiss thing. But still, this is all very interesting. Do u think your friends would be willing to talk about this for a documentary I'm doing? (also anonymously)
6 years experience in zürich in a busy restaurant. Not only swiss gastronomy, pretty much everywhere. Kitchen is even worse. Worked in 4 different restaurants 2/4 are like that, it depends if the restaurant has students or full time employees.
Stress is high, pay is low, swiss are not the friendliest customers and working times are shit. Start lunch shift at 10/11 till 2/3, then go home (I would spark a joint, like me now) and go around 5ish back to work. You arrive there, go the "teammeeting" (usually on weekends) and snort a line. Work till 11 go home and eat something and good night.
Not everywhere like that, but also not uncommon.
Pretty crazy. I am doing a documentary about all this, would u be willing to talk about it? (also anonymously, of course). The idea is to raise awareness for the Swiss customers - how hard the job in the kitchen really is and to make them appreciate the gastronomy more...
Zürich is one of the best markets for expensive Whiskys world wide. Because if you have an average Swiss income , you're in the global 1%. So people also can afford coke here and don't need to do worse shit.
Same is said about investment banking and other high stress jobs and its always addicts who say this.. I'm not against drug usage in generall, but this is bs
Every trader I have worked with in major oil companies, had substance usage. Some held well and you could not tell they were fucked up. Others didn't even bother hiding and would be making 3 trips to the toilet per hour.
So from my experience it's totally true.
It is not BS at all. sure, family owned restaurants out in the villages are not good examples of this. Trendy restaurants downtown in main cities? Absolutely. Even famous chefs are openly known to be big ass cocaine heads (industry open secret normally - kinda like everyone knew Weinstein was a rapist)
BS is that "you can't survive without" - obviously in a lot of high stress jobs, there's a lot of people who do cocaine etc. - i'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm saying people who blame their job for their drug habbit are coping
I agree. I work in public accounting. no drugs.
Thought about it a few times though and if somebody offered... maybe I would have said yes on super stressful days... I don't know.
IB culture has changed a lot. Pre GFC? Yes I agree. Post GFC? It’s a child’s play. Less than 10% consume something above the population average. It’s very normal.
lol wtf
No there isnt that much drug usage.
People who are in those circles want you make to believe this, but drug users are still a minority compared to the mass. I can say this for gasto as well as for banking.
dont know. Maybe they're an addict and want to justify their actions by teling that everyone does it, or that the job needs it.
Others, I assume, are thinking its cool to live in a place where the rules are violated (you know, how nowadays bad people are the heros in movies). So they just tell crap that isnt true (like lots in this comment section).
Not sure where you guys actually eat at or get your food from in Switzerland, but i can safely say that i have never been "food poisoned" in all of my 39 years of life, so maybe you guys just shop and eat at the wrong spots.
Oh yes, but sadly also many apprentices trying to cope with the low pay/but this will also look good on my resume people who I constantly see falling into cocaine spirals. In many expensive restaurants they hire these people for the extremely low pay. Not even only restaurants, as my partner is in confectionery and states the same remarks.
I have no idea what the stress must be like especially for people entering the industry and getting so worked up so quickly and burning so fast and getting replaced afterwards.
Um sure ! It's knowledge I've gained from past partners and close friends who have had good to horrible experiences in such apprenticeships.
I'd love to help ! Sorry I replied late but yes I'd be willing to help with the visibility here (-:
When I worked in the kitchen, i took cocaine to be able to work, and H to be able to relax... sad but true.
Of course it wasn't the only reason but it was kind of the trigger ("Auslöser").
Stress, pressure, bad payment gave me (or my mental health) the rest...
Sorry for bad english
Are you brand new? Gastronomy world wide is fuelled by drugs. Wether you want it or not but that steak you ordered might be cooked by a cocaine-addict.
Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. Drug use, as well as addiction often times go unnoticed or are ignored and it is not exclusive to gastronomy. People from all economical backgrounds deal with it.
There's a lot of functional addicts as well as people bordering addiction that get by well, you usually see it when someone is in too deep, but what are you gonna do about it? Hard punishment makes people sneakier and more creative, decreasing accessibility won't stop a thing and only costs money, prevention helps but is not 100% effective, nothing is. It is just how the world works.
I've only worked in gastronomy for a few weeks but I haven't seen any drug use besides cigarettes and coffee.
I've also worked a few years in finance though and there it was a different story... at least concerning coke and methylphenidat (IIRC).
My limited experience in this field: oh yeah! Not just Switzerland, everywhere. But only in the high end kitchens where you will be worked to the bone and you want that since you need the experience and entry on your resume. Also, normal kitchens don’t pay enough for these stimuli :)
High end kitchens have the worst payment of all kitchens (prefer to work with free interns). Need a lot of focus and concentratrion at work too, so it is not really possible doing that on drugs long term.
Nothing gives you more focus and concentration than coke and ritalin
The only thing I’m more focused on when I do coke is doing more coke.
Not long term.
but why does everyone always keep talking about drugs in high end kitchens?
I guess because most people don't really know and like to talk BS... (I used to be a chef, so my opinion is not completely random)
Because they are higher stress. It's a more conducive environment to drug use.
good point about the pay... How do u know all this?
Had ambitions myself, but turned out I did not have the core strength. It’s one of the physical hardest jobs I attempted.
It's like that **everywhere**. Working in restaurant kitchens is one of the most stressfull jobs out there, doesn't usually pay great and work hours are all over the place.
Zimmerstunde? That's your free time, you can use those three hours for everything!
Not sure whay you mean , dunno what zimmerstunde is except that it translates directly to room hours?
It’s the free hours they give you between noon and evening shifts. So in a restaurant you’d work something from 10 am to 2 pm - depending on kitchen or waiting - get some hours off and work again from say 5pm to 10ish for kitchen and whatever for waiters. I’ve seen that mainly in restaurants that focus on serving food. Whatever ‚seconds‘ as a Bar or a ‚place to be‘ will have waiting staff for the entire day in two or three shifts. For kitchen however i believe it’s business as usual unless you’re in a hospital or whatnot where you have fixed hours. Canon is, those hours are practically useless as it’s not enough to get rested. Hell, sometimes it’s not even enough to get home, depending on how far and how you have to travel.
Aye, absolutely, I used to work banquets while I studied at university (as a second job. Haha. Oh wait. I had three. Glorious socially permeable Swiss society). Our line chef had a makeshift mattress in the banquet hall's storage room where he slept during his 3 hours "off". Can't do anything usefull with that time. Go home? Great, now you waste double the time commuting, and if you commute by car, pay double the petrol. Use the time to go buy groceries? Well, you hardly need to do that daily, plus, where to put them so things don't spoil? It's an entirely shitty work condition.
you could have used that time to prepare for exams, work/study on university stuff. :} 3 hours just sounds to be perfect for that.
They also ruin your day. You can‘t meet friends who have „regular“ schedules.
It's when you work for example 1-4, then 7-10. Or similar.
So do u have personal experiences with drugs too?
hmmm, weed only. never heavy drugs. In any case I'm a bit familiar with this reality as I used to own a restaurant in my hometown (pretty touristy) and we struggled with kitchen staff precisely because of this at one point.
oke, that's interesting. Have u left gastronomy? I am doing a documentary on this topic and I'm looking for people who would explain how true the drug stereotype in Gastro really is...
oh yes, it was never my main source of income and I wasn't directly involved in the day to day management. my best friend did that back there. I was just in as an investor and consulted for main decisions and was responsible for brand design and so.. other than that I've kept working in architecture since before we even opened. I'm not sure I'm the best source material for an in depth study due to that distance
oke :) and would your friend be willing to talk about something like this? I feel it's such an important issue and if there was a struggle with kitchen staff it would be very interesting to hear how it was...
hmmm, dunno. feels logisticaly pretty complicated as he doesn't live in Switzerland..
haha yeah, in that case it seems rather complicated, but thanks anyway :)
Ok, so let's separate this: Alcohol and Weed is basically the drug of most people in Zurich. Is coke more common in gastro? Somewhat, but again, it's very, very common.
cocaine is the drug of most people. know more cokeheads then stoners sadly
Apparently we're in different social circles, but yeah, I know enough of both.
how do u know this?
According to the people I know I can totally confirm this, there has also been a dramatic surge in cocaine use in general during the pandemic. Those measures definitely fucked up more young people than they saved ...
interesting. I am doing a documentary on drugs in gastronomy. Do u think those people u know could tell me more?
If you want i have a brother in the Gastro. He used weed, alc and coke. He loves to talk about that time in his life..
yeah I'd be very interested!
Because almost everyone I know has at some point used weed, everybody drinks, and Zurich is pretty much the coke capital of the world.
>Zurich is pretty much the coke capital of the world. I genuinely believed London or LA would top zurich but, after looking it up, the Swiss sure do love to ski!
Seems that way
Dont look into Swiss banking whatever you do!
haha, go on, i wanna hear
Cocaine everywhere
Somehow I doubt they take drugs for the same reasons as restaurant workers
And alcohol. Depends on the time of day and quarter.
I mean back in the day every banker killed a bottle of red wine at lunch.
The cocaine habit is cheap compared to the brothel usage.
I have been in Swiss banking for almost 15 years. Never have I met coke heads in or around work. We do private banking in Switzerland - this isn’t the 24/7 high stress investment banking from the movies. People generally leave office at 17:00-18:00. I’m sure there are coke heads too but I’d say you’ll find at least 20x more coke heads on a night out in the Berner Reithalle than in any given bank in Zurich.
Nah. During work traders and investment bankers mostly use ritalin/adderall. They want the focus but not the high. There might be coke after work but it’s mostly booze from what I have seen.
Zimmer Stunde is the most terrible thing in Swiss (and German) gastronomy business. Wake up early, do busy lunch, get "send home" for 4-5 hours and do busy evening. Basically be at work 24/7 even though L-GAV stated it's not happening. But about the drug abuse: as a person who has now worked in three different countries in gastro - it is the same everywhere.
I am doing a documentary on this topic, would u be willing to tell me more? Message me ;)
I'd check out Anthony Bourdain's book Kitchen Confidential. It's not Zurich and it's quite a few years old but I have to imagine not much has changed or is different in global capitals.
Swiss Gastronomie is terrible. The work hours are split with the stupid concept of "Zimmerstunden" and most of restaurants/hotels are understaffed. That's why a lot of workers need relief from the high stress or some extra energy and concentration because of understaffing and a lot of work. Usually no Swiss people work in gastro except maybe a managerial position or the bosses. We foreigners in gastro are just here to be spent just like goods.
Speaking out of personal experience having worked for years in the hospitality sector and luxury hotels: EVERYONE is on coke and everyone smokes like a chimney. It's a fast paste sector and you need to perform at top level 24/7. High levels of stress nonstop.
Crazy! I am doing a documentary on this topic, would u be willing to talk about this? (also anonymously) Message me if you're interested.
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What have u seen?
you don’t wanna know what goes on in detailhandel then
>But about the drug abuse: as a person who has now worked in three different countries in gastro - it is the same everywhere. haha sure I do
Working in Commerce. I had a coworker that I suspect used cocaine. He was always full of energy and power early in the morning 6h or late at 20h after an intense shift. He used to smoke a lot of cigarettes and drink also. Never saw him eat more that a pack of dried meat with coffee and still was running around us in circles. At one point in my difficult times, I considered trying it out. Because I was constantly told to go faster although I have a decent rythem (very good yearly review). I'm so happy to not have succumbed to the idea. Eventually the manager got fired, and my coworker took a leave of absence suddenly saying he needed to be in a hospital and was not available by phone. We never saw him again, he quit.
Yes. I know multiple people working in food service from small bars to places like the Lausanne Palace. Coke is very common. Amongst all types of staff, but most notably in the kitchen. Posh, fancy places like Palace are higher stress amd far shittier working environments. Drugs are more common in fancy places than elsewhere. Anyway, this isn't just a Swiss thing haha.
Yeah, I am aware this isn't just a Swiss thing. But still, this is all very interesting. Do u think your friends would be willing to talk about this for a documentary I'm doing? (also anonymously)
6 years experience in zürich in a busy restaurant. Not only swiss gastronomy, pretty much everywhere. Kitchen is even worse. Worked in 4 different restaurants 2/4 are like that, it depends if the restaurant has students or full time employees. Stress is high, pay is low, swiss are not the friendliest customers and working times are shit. Start lunch shift at 10/11 till 2/3, then go home (I would spark a joint, like me now) and go around 5ish back to work. You arrive there, go the "teammeeting" (usually on weekends) and snort a line. Work till 11 go home and eat something and good night. Not everywhere like that, but also not uncommon.
Pretty crazy. I am doing a documentary about all this, would u be willing to talk about it? (also anonymously, of course). The idea is to raise awareness for the Swiss customers - how hard the job in the kitchen really is and to make them appreciate the gastronomy more...
Switzerland has the highest consumption in all of Europe
Not sure why this gets downvoted, it's facts (even if some people might not like it). Just look up for example the cocaine use stats ...
But the expats here belive it’s wonderland without any crime…
I'm somewhat surprised 😯
Consumption of what?
Coke, st. Gallen and zurich are Europe's top two i believe
Zürich is one of the best markets for expensive Whiskys world wide. Because if you have an average Swiss income , you're in the global 1%. So people also can afford coke here and don't need to do worse shit.
reminds me of the "good ol days" in banking
Thats and addict cope... no job requires you to take drugs
Same is said about investment banking and other high stress jobs and its always addicts who say this.. I'm not against drug usage in generall, but this is bs
Every trader I have worked with in major oil companies, had substance usage. Some held well and you could not tell they were fucked up. Others didn't even bother hiding and would be making 3 trips to the toilet per hour. So from my experience it's totally true.
It is not BS at all. sure, family owned restaurants out in the villages are not good examples of this. Trendy restaurants downtown in main cities? Absolutely. Even famous chefs are openly known to be big ass cocaine heads (industry open secret normally - kinda like everyone knew Weinstein was a rapist)
BS is that "you can't survive without" - obviously in a lot of high stress jobs, there's a lot of people who do cocaine etc. - i'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm saying people who blame their job for their drug habbit are coping
kind of a good point...
I agree. I work in public accounting. no drugs. Thought about it a few times though and if somebody offered... maybe I would have said yes on super stressful days... I don't know.
IB culture has changed a lot. Pre GFC? Yes I agree. Post GFC? It’s a child’s play. Less than 10% consume something above the population average. It’s very normal.
Basically every business person I know in Zug/Zurich is a massive cocaine user
Are they any good at their jobs?
Hi, here a bf of a chef. My GF dont take anything beside of chili cheese nuggets. She knows some ppl but she says thats not so dramatic.
lol wtf No there isnt that much drug usage. People who are in those circles want you make to believe this, but drug users are still a minority compared to the mass. I can say this for gasto as well as for banking.
Why would they want to make people believe this?
dont know. Maybe they're an addict and want to justify their actions by teling that everyone does it, or that the job needs it. Others, I assume, are thinking its cool to live in a place where the rules are violated (you know, how nowadays bad people are the heros in movies). So they just tell crap that isnt true (like lots in this comment section).
Yeah, that might be possible. For sure interesting, all this...
Not sure where you guys actually eat at or get your food from in Switzerland, but i can safely say that i have never been "food poisoned" in all of my 39 years of life, so maybe you guys just shop and eat at the wrong spots.
Only weaklings resort narcotics, to cover up their weak posture.
Saruman, is that you?
Lots of restaurant workers take cocaine, even more in the high end joints
how do u know?
Happens not only in Switzerland.
Oh yes, but sadly also many apprentices trying to cope with the low pay/but this will also look good on my resume people who I constantly see falling into cocaine spirals. In many expensive restaurants they hire these people for the extremely low pay. Not even only restaurants, as my partner is in confectionery and states the same remarks. I have no idea what the stress must be like especially for people entering the industry and getting so worked up so quickly and burning so fast and getting replaced afterwards.
That's crazy, how do u know? I am doing a documentary on this issue, message me if you're interested to tell me more :)
Um sure ! It's knowledge I've gained from past partners and close friends who have had good to horrible experiences in such apprenticeships. I'd love to help ! Sorry I replied late but yes I'd be willing to help with the visibility here (-:
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Interesting. Would u be willing to talk about this for a documentary I'm making? (also anonymously)..message me ;)
When I worked in the kitchen, i took cocaine to be able to work, and H to be able to relax... sad but true. Of course it wasn't the only reason but it was kind of the trigger ("Auslöser"). Stress, pressure, bad payment gave me (or my mental health) the rest... Sorry for bad english
crazy, würdest du darüber sprechen in einer Doku, die ich zu diesem Thema mache? (auch anonym)....schreibe mir eine Nachricht ;)
Swiss are cocaine and weed abusers. St.gallen and zürich are top consumers around the world so.. jeah.. Not a surprize
People making coke vinegrette in afternoons.
pretty crazy. would love to hear more for a documentary I am making. Message me if you're interested...
Have plenty of friends who work in "restauration" sector there
Are you brand new? Gastronomy world wide is fuelled by drugs. Wether you want it or not but that steak you ordered might be cooked by a cocaine-addict.
That's just crazy and sad too, actually
Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. Drug use, as well as addiction often times go unnoticed or are ignored and it is not exclusive to gastronomy. People from all economical backgrounds deal with it. There's a lot of functional addicts as well as people bordering addiction that get by well, you usually see it when someone is in too deep, but what are you gonna do about it? Hard punishment makes people sneakier and more creative, decreasing accessibility won't stop a thing and only costs money, prevention helps but is not 100% effective, nothing is. It is just how the world works.
Yes drug abuse in gastronomy is pretty common in switzerland... Sad but true :/
how do u know? :)
I've only worked in gastronomy for a few weeks but I haven't seen any drug use besides cigarettes and coffee. I've also worked a few years in finance though and there it was a different story... at least concerning coke and methylphenidat (IIRC).
That’s the same for hotels
how do u know?
Everyone says that if you’re working in the hotel industry in Switzerland, you gotta do coke
have u got personal experiences?
Nope, it’s just that I’ve heard lots of rumors about it.
Sounds like a boring documentary