Is this the best work canteen ever?
Forget fish on Friday - how about foie gras?
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.What perks do you look for in a workplace? Perhaps a gym, maybe ping-pong tables, or how about free fruit?
A subsidised canteen is often popular too, but only if the food is actually good.
But what if your office actually had a secret kitchen serving up high-quality food to the executives?
For that is exactly what happens at financial services company Morgan Stanley.
Acclaimed chef JJ Johnson used to run the executive kitchen in Morgan Stanley’s New York office on Broadway, and has revealed to Eater just what it was like.
With a menu that changed daily and 15 people working in the kitchen, he says it was just like running a high-end restaurant.
Unlike many work canteens which serve up basic dishes like lasagne, burgers and fish and chips, the food at Morgan Stanley’s secret restaurant is of the utmost quality - Iberico pork, foie gras and truffles regularly feature on the menu.
The restaurant also does ‘nose to tail eating’ - cooking every part of an animal - and serves 30 to 50 people every day.
Although budgets were inevitably higher than a standard canteen, there were still budgets: “You needed to make sure, yeah you got 50 parties this week, but you can’t spend more than this amount of money ‘cause that’s all that’s budgeted for,” Johnson said.
“You have to be able to make that work.”
Johnson didn’t reveal how much the meals in the restaurant cost, but he did mention that the diners never left tips.
After leaving Morgan Stanley, Johnson went on to win an episode of American reality competition TV series Rocco’s Dinner Party which led him to co-create New York restaurant The Cecil, which recently merged into the acclaimed restaurant and jazz club Minton’s.
Let’s hope New York’s financial executives aren’t being deprived of their truffles in his absence.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments