West Hardwood Drive,
Apartment 101,
Manhattan, New York.
Monday, 14th November 2016
Owner of the Rainbow Room,
McCarther Boulevard,
Privet Drive, House 18,
Manhattan New York
Subject: Complaint Regarding Extreme Work Conditions.
Dear Sir/Madam,
It is my duty as a humbled employee of the Rainbow Room to inform you of the severe work conditions in the Rainbow Room kitchen.
I found myself very pleased upon hearing of the acceptance of a job at Rockefeller Center’s Rainbow Room which is situated on the sixty-fourth floor of the the Rockefeller Center in New York. It was an exceptional opportunity to contend with competitive restaurants of the same grandeur and standard. The Rainbow Room serviced about two-hundred people while the Rainbow Grill sat about one-hundred and fifty. In addition were two lounges where food was accessible along with an entire floor dedicated to banquet rooms–all food was to be provided by one lone, central kitchen.
The work environment within the kitchen left a great deal to be desired. It in no way reflects the glamour or luxury outside. An elongated table leaned against one wall, huge walls of fire raging up. Mere feet away, separated by a narrow strip of flooring was the workplace which in front of stood a long steel counter. This counter was occupied by steam boilers which were constantly boiling. The cooks fought for air in the steam clouded kitchen. Dry steam awashed one side of the hardworking chef while moist steam heats the other side. It was not possible to work there in such insufferable conditions. These conditions aroused safety hazards as cooks would pass out due to lack of air circulation.
When the center rings were lit for direct fire, the hoods above would burst into flames causing a fellow co-worker to thoughtlessly trample over us all in his haste to extinguish the fire before the fire alarm detected it.
While working in the Rainbow Room’s kitchen was a matter of great deal and pride as well as a privilege; it was also insufferably suffocating and impossible to work in. Chefs would be sodden with sweat within ten minutes. Chef’s necks and wrists suffered from inflamed pink skin and heat rashes. It was chaos and utter calamity within.
I am confident you were unaware of the extreme falling standards at Rainbow Room’s kitchen and will try to immediately mend it as the work condition is beyond our coping abilities.
Yours faithfully,
(Signature)
Anthony Bourdian