Feeling exactly the same. I love a lot of the work Peter Meehan is associated with, especially Mind of a Chef season one. It’s not to say that I found him compelling to begin with, but I’ll have a hard time rewatching him and David Chang eat some of the best ramen in Tokyo. And I understand the latter has his own history of abusiveness.
Also, I am amazed someone can live in NYC and be the editor of LA Times food.
It’s not a job that necessarily requires face-to-face contact. When I was writing restaurant reviews and food news I never met any of my editors face to face except occasionally at parties.
The fact that Meehan had largely been doing his job remotely was not widely known, even to many L.A. Times employees outside of the Food section.
As a writer myself, I am a big believer in remote work - especially during these times. I am not convinced someone who spends the majority of their time outside of LA will understand its food culture as well as an editor who lives here.
Agreed. I’m guessing that won’t happen again. Maybe they allowed it because he was a good get - higher profile name
Curious, what have you heard about David Chang?
I haven’t read anything about Chang being abusive outside of one stupid comment about pregnant women never coming back to work.
Years back, David Chang was known for his temper in the kitchen towards his staff. It feels
documented it in a way that focuses more on his identity, rather than the fallout. I believe he has also discussed it on his podcast - it was a trait picked up from working under old school chefs. He has mentioned he is actively working on improving himself, and for what it’s worth I enjoy his podcast.
Link from a 2008 New Yorker piece on him.
Just as Ko was finally coming together, at the end of February, Chang stopped by Noodle Bar one day and saw so much sloppiness in the kitchen that he flew into one of his rages. Most chefs yell, but Chang is on a different level. “No one gets angry like I get angry,” he says unhappily. “I just turn into a complete maniac. My brain feels like it’s gonna explode. It takes me a day to recover—I have to lie down and put ice on my head.”
Chang has been outspoken about his ego, temper and depression on his podcast but I found this episode especially poignant.
Here’s a statement from Lucas Kwan Peterson:
Rest of the thread is here:
https://twitter.com/lucaspeterson/status/1279143541730455552
Yikes
I don’t understand young people who talk about feeling “unsafe” in situations where there’s no real threat, like a boss being an asshole on the phone or in a Zoom meeting.
You mean a boss with a history of sexual harassment and abuse of power? And wielding that power over people concerned about their jobs? Toxic environments can exist without everyone being in the same room.
Also, I’m not sure what being young adds to this point.
Man this just comes off like old man yelling at cloud or at best victim blaming. A little empathy goes a long way.
If I repeatedly harassed you online would you feel threatened? Do you think the young people who kill themselves over online bullying are just weak and do they need to grow thicker skin?
At least from the accounts of people who worked directly with Pete he was physically, mentally abusive and also psychologically manipulative.
Get off my lawn!
@mchen and @hungryhungryhippos already said it better than I can, but in the link from @mchen, Lucas cites a specific incident of physical sexual harassment, which was apparently part of a larger pattern.
Not to mention threatening people’s careers/livelihoods. I would think that’s especially hard on “young” people because they haven’t yet built up a network or resume, so it’s even harder for them to speak out, for fear of jeopardizing their job prospects post-LA Times.
I’ve been blessed to have great bosses by and large and heck I’m not even that young anymore, but I don’t think “in-person” actually has too much to do with feeling safe or not. Your boss has a fair amount of power over your career, especially if we’re talking an industry like journalism that isn’t exactly swimming in jobs right now.
Sad content of the post aside, LKP is a hell of a writer and it’s gonna be very amusing years from now that his first major journalism award was for his Official Power Rankings of Snack Food/French Fries etc.
Chef, I love your food but this is a really disappointing take.
What did he write he withdrew it?
