Results: Windsor short on cooks and chefs, say local restaurateurs

There is a shortage of cooks and chefs in Windsor, according to industry insiders. Jason Soulliere, owner of Motorburger, and Adriano Ciotoli, who runs the blog Windsor Eats, say jobs remain vacant for months in Windsor. Soulliere says he's had an ad posted on Kijiji for more than three months. It's one of more than 80 online job postings for cooks in Windsor. "It's been difficult to fill the voids we have in our kitchen, of late," Soulliere said. "I do get my fair share of resumes and follow-ups, but it's very rare they have any kitchen experience at all." Soulliere said he's not alone in looking for help. "I'm getting the same sort of comments [from other restaurants]: 'Step in line because everyone is looking for the same thing,'" he said. Soulliere said when someone with a lot of experience applies, it means he has to teach "old dogs with new tricks." Soulliere said his kitchen is sometimes "unconventional" and cooks and chefs with papers and Red Seals "are hesitant to adjust." "Most of our staff sticks with us for a long time but when, for whatever reason, they have to leave, it's been increasingly difficult to find someone to fit the bill," he said. "Once we get them, it's not hard to keep them. It's just trying to find them in the beginning." Minimum wage to start In a recent article in the Globe and Mail, food writer Corey Mintz documented the low wages cooks and chefs make. Soulliere admits his cooks start at minimum wage, which is $11.25 in Ontario. "Everyone starts at minimum wage and everyone goes up according to your skill," Soulliere said. Soulliere and Ciotoli both say a kitchen job is "a stepping stone" in a person's career. "In my opinion … I really do think that when the economy went downhill, it was a job or industry people overlooked," Ciotoli said. "It's not taken seriously as a job or career opportunity. It's kind of a stepping stone." Ciotoli said the 2008 recession "wiped out fine dining in Windsor." "What people are expecting for the money they are paying has completely changed. The amount people are looking to spend in Windsor today is a lot less than it was when the economy tanked," he said. Even Soulliere changed his fine dining establishment Noi to "a burger joint" named Motorburger. Canada-wide shortage "It's not just a Windsor issue. It's across the province even across the country," Ciotoli said of a shortage of chefs. Gordon Stewart, executive director of the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia, says the association predicts a shortage there will last through 2025. He said the shortage isn't new, but in the past restaurant owners have relied on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to compensate. "It helped fill the gap," he said. In B.C., the problem is both the high demand for quality chefs and the short supply of ready candidates, Sterling Grice, co-owner of Foo, Foo Ramen and Part and Parcel, told CBC in July. Grice has been in the restaurant business for nearly 27 years. He said he pays a higher hourly rate than most restaurateurs in the city, and his restaurants split tips equally among all staff. He hopes that adds up to a living wage in order to entice more cooks to the kitchen.