Why these Bay Area restaurants list every employee on menu

At the end of the menu at the Michelin-starred Californios in San Francisco is a list of 32 names. It’s a roll call of the people who make the restaurant happen every night, from food runners to sous-chefs. Like a theater playbill or a newspaper masthead, it prominently details each employee and their title.

Californios began adding staff names to its menu a few years ago to give credit to not just the most visible players — the owners and chefs — but the entire team.

“I want other people to feel recognized, to feel seen,” said chef-owner Val Cantu.

Recently, more Bay Area restaurants are listing all employee names on menus, from the more casual Daytrip in Oakland to acclaimed fine-dining spots like Oakland’s Commis. The menus at San Francisco’s Lazy Bear and Flea St. Cafe in Menlo Park have featured staff names for years. It represents a significant departure from the norm of who gets credit in the food industry, often reserved for a singular few, like the chef. Those adopting the practice say they hope it will spur conversations about wage inequity and kitchen culture.

The trend also reflects the current moment in the restaurant industry brought on by the pandemic: As many workers left the industry, those who stayed started organizing around better wages, alternatives to tipping and healthier, more transparent workplaces. In New York City, noted vegetarian restaurant Dirt Candy recently started attributing dishes to the sous-chefs who created them. But the Bay Area may be the first dining scene where adding entire staff names to menus is gaining momentum.

Californios commis Siddhi Balaji, whose name is listed on the Michelin-starred restaurant’s menu, preps for dinner on Friday, May 20, 2022.

Californios commis Siddhi Balaji, whose name is listed on the Michelin-starred restaurant’s menu, preps for dinner on Friday, May 20, 2022.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

At Mago in Oakland, including staff names on the tasting menu signifies a deeper change at the Colombian-influenced fine-dining restaurant. Owner Mark Liberman added names to the menu when Mago reopened for outdoor dining during the pandemic. With just four employees working at the time, responsibilities were shared more than ever before: Kitchen staff would check diners’ vaccine cards at the door, the bartender would clear tables. Liberman also started distributing tips equally. Reflecting the team effort on the menu made sense, Liberman said.

“The roles of the dining room and the kitchen have been more blurred,” he said. “It’s created more of a team unity.”

Californios pastry chef Sophie Hau had never seen her name listed on a menu before. She came from famed New York City fine-dining restaurant Eleven Madison Park, where she was one of 11 people on the pastry team.

“You’re really just a body in a restaurant like that,” she said.

Hau said she is often stopped by Californios customers who ask, “Which one are you on the menu list?” She and other staff get tagged on Instagram when they come up with a new dish. Instead of feeling like a replaceable cog in a machine, she feels valued. “To be important in a team is really a good feeling,” she said.

Californios captain Jonathan Hampton and staff join in a unified cheer during lineup at the San Francisco fine-dining restaurant on May 20, 2022.

Californios captain Jonathan Hampton and staff join in a unified cheer during lineup at the San Francisco fine-dining restaurant on May 20, 2022.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

Lazy Bear owner David Barzelay is the person diners ask to take photos with when they snag a ticketed reservation at the influential San Francisco restaurant. But it’s the co-chefs de cuisine, Taylor Zoller and Tim Jacob, who are responsible for much of Lazy Bear’s food these days. The restaurant was an early adopter of shared credit: Its menu has featured all staff names since it opened in 2014.

“In most restaurants with an executive chef and a chef de cuisine, the chef de cuisine is often setting the tone for the kitchen and coming up with more of the menu than the executive chef,” Barzelay said. “That’s at the moment probably the case with Lazy Bear, but our chef de cuisines don’t get nearly as much credit as I get, and I think that’s unfortunate.”

Pizza hit Square Pie Guys doesn’t have paper menus, but its website now lists every employee along with their photos and titles. Dishwashers and prep cooks are purposefully featured first, with owners and managers at the bottom of the page.

“What we’re trying to say is everyone’s equally important,” said co-owner Danny Stoller.

Square Pie Guys made the web page during the pandemic, and the owners hope that showing the faces and names of typically less-visible employees elevates conversations about living wages in the Bay Area.

“I would love it if a dishwasher working for Square Pie Guys could buy a house in the Bay Area. (But) I don’t think I can get away with charging $200 for a pizza,” Stoller said.

Kitchen staff, whose names have been listed on the Lazy Bear menu since the restaurant opened, prepare meals in August 2020.

Kitchen staff, whose names have been listed on the Lazy Bear menu since the restaurant opened, prepare meals in August 2020.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle 2020

Popular Mission District spot Ernest leans toward the more traditional, listing chefs and cooks but no dishwashers or dining room staff. Chef-owner Brandon Rice said name recognition helped him open his first restaurant, and he wants to do the same for his kitchen team.

From the day Daytrip opened last summer, the bright yellow menu highlighted employee names. It was a no-brainer, co-owner Stella Dennig said, to recognize the tight-knit team contributing to the restaurant’s early success. It followed the owners’ stated commitment to transparency, equity and employee empowerment. Daytrip adds a 20% service charge in lieu of tips, and the menu asks diners to use they/them pronouns for all staff. Lazy Bear also charges a 20% service fee, which helps fund higher wages for kitchen staff.

Dennig, while proud of Daytrip’s menu, feels wary of giving it too much attention. She worries that staff names on menus could become just a buzzy trend — a form of virtue signaling that doesn’t necessarily mean workers are being taken care of behind the scenes.