The restaurateur chronicling hardships of immigrant staff in US kitchens: These are the stories that make it work'

"Throughout his lifetime, celebrated chef and author Anthony Bourdain was unequivocal in his belief that the restaurant industry in the US could not function without immigrant labor. These indispensable workers, Bourdain argued, were not only willing to do the jobs that most US-born citizens would look down upon, but also they did them better and faster. People have differing opinions on what we should do about immigration in the future, Bourdain told the Houston Press in 2007."

"Today, the US restaurant industry employs millions of immigrant workers, both documented and undocumented, who now find themselves caught in the crosshairs of military-grade immigration policing that threatens their very existence. Marc Meyer's new book Voices from the Kitchen, a compendium of 27 gut-wrenching transcribed interviews with current and former employees of his restaurant group, gives a human face to these workers at a time when immigrants are being systematically dehumanized by nativist policies."

Anthony Bourdain maintained that immigrant labor is essential to the US restaurant industry, performing difficult roles more quickly and effectively than many US-born workers. Millions of immigrant employees, both documented and undocumented, staff kitchens and service roles across the country. Increasingly aggressive immigration policing now threatens these workers' livelihoods and safety. Marc Meyer compiled 27 transcribed interviews with current and former restaurant staff to humanize these workers and record their experiences. Meyer co-founded the Bowery Group and drew inspiration from oral historians to conduct informal kitchen interviews and archive responses for preservation.

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