Are chefs libertarians?

The blog East Meets West wonders, Are chefs more likely to be libertarians? They present two reasons they think the answers might be yes. The first, because, "chefs...are basically in the hedonism business" and secondly, "[c]hefs and restaurateurs must deal with government regulations that are often ineffective and arbitrarily enforced."

I concede their points, but I wonder -- if we assume chefs are libertarians -- if their reasons are causes or effects of pre-existing libertarianism. I think people who are attracted to the culinary industry in the first place are a bit off. They already eschew a traditional work environment for one filled with long hours of intense labor that's sometimes violent, often times hectic, and during most months, hot as hell. Renegades are drawn to the kitchen (Bourdain talks about this in Kitchen Confidential, I believe) so for me it more likely follows that many chefs enter the kitchen as libertarians. All the government regulations probably just push them further over the edge than they already were.

Posted on May 8, 2006

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