How family-style staff meals at restaurants help teams bond and give everyone, not just chefs, a chance to show their cooking skills

The daily staff meal, or family meal, at a restaurant is generally made by members of the team in turn, meaning even cleaners can show off their cooking skills

A staff meal of Sri Lankan chicken curry led to the opening of Hotal Colombo in Hong Kong, while a staff-made sandwich made it onto the regular menu at Écriture

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Gisela Alesbrook prepares chicken curry at Hotal Colombo – a staff-only dish that led to the opening of the Sri Lankan restaurant. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 12:15pm, 8 Oct 2020Updated: 7:44pm, 8 Oct 2020

It’s by far the most exclusive meal in a restaurant, but it’s not made for the ordinary diner.

The daily staff meal – also known as the family meal – is a time-honoured ritual where the entire team, from the dishwashers to the executive chef, sit down to eat together. The meal, provided free of charge, is viewed as a form of bonding and is usually served in the afternoon, before the dinner service.

This year, the staff meal has assumed more importance than ever. Thousands of restaurant workers have lost their jobs in Hong Kong alone, and the prospect of having a delicious, hot and freshly cooked meal is not one that’s taken for granted.

Another quirk of the family meal is that a restaurant’s staff generally take it in turns to cook it, meaning that kitchen porters and cleaners also get to display their culinary prowess. Sometimes, the meals staff eat end up on the menus that regular diners can order from.

Alesbrook’s chicken curry at Hotal Colombo. Photo: Jonathan Wong

“The team we work with is our family, especially in the current climate,” says Gisela “Gizzy” Alesbrook, head chef of Hotal Colombo, a Sri Lankan restaurant in Hong Kong’s SoHo nightlife area which is part of the Black Sheep Restaurants group. “We all sit down together at the same time, at 3pm before service. Floor staff, cleaners, kitchen staff, we all eat the same meal.

“This is a family-style restaurant because how you show affection in Sri Lanka is through food, the meal you prepare for your family. As it’s tougher times, we also started doing a staff meal for the whole Black Sheep Restaurants team, where any employee can come and get a meal – you don’t even have to be on duty.”