I used to work for Tom douglas

My experience with TD was at the Palace and therefore, I think, better than what it might be elsewhere. The Palace has (or did when I worked there), one of the most experienced and cohesive staffs in the city. Plus, the money is f#&*ing amazing.
TD is a decent enough guy whose primarily problem is that he still sees himself as a chef when in reality he is a figurehead master of the empire who has little to nothing to do with how his restaurants are run from day to day. He hasn’t quite remedied the fact that he is more useful smiling on the cover of his new cookbook than leaning over a line cook’s shoulder in the middle of the rush. That being said, the Palace offered health insurance, 401k, a strict in-house advancement policy, and remarkably little turnover. Not bad if you ask me.

I also worked for TD for many many years. I agree with the fact that Tom is never involved with the day to day operations of his places. The people put into management are friends or people that have been non- critical of the problems. I literally had to beg to get a promotion, then when I did I regretted it. Ten hour plus days doing all of the grunt work while the chef leaves early or goes out drinking. Very nice. Bottom line I have worked all of the country for over ten years and working at TD was by far the most unprofessional kitchen I have been in. Its not worth the aggravation, as there are far better places in Seattle to work, not to mention more creative.

I have also worked for Tom Douglas in the past. There are many restaurants in Seattle; some are indie and small, and some are big and corporate. Tom is a self-made business man. He had nothing at one time and eventually over the years created a successful empire made from making good food; which is impressive. That being said, it is a corporation now. There were great advantages to this as well as a lot of frustrations.

Overall, working at the Dahlia was great. The food is great and always changing. The kitchen staff are made up of professional, creative people who all care about what they do. That is always a good thing. Of course they are also all as#%*es with short tempers and have personalities that are awkward and confusing. But thats typical.
The server staff is made up of a range of people. Some are great and some are lame. Service style is professional, but easygoing. Everyone is required to be very knowledgable about everything food and wine related, and this knowledge is always being tested. There are routine wine tastings led by experts as well as management pushing service quality. I learned a lot while working there, which was great. It’s good to work somewhere where management cares enough to teach you new things; that is rare.
On the other hand the vibe can get pretty uptight there. So much pressure is put on managers to improve things constantly that it trickles down to you. The job has a lot of details, which are always being watched and judged. And if you slack at any of these than you will surely hear about it. There was some talking-behind-your-back stuff that happened as well which contributed to unwanted attention from managers. With so many managers around all the time, It can feel hard to be confident with your server style.
Like any job there are things that are great and things that totally suck. I loved working there because it made me a better server, but there came a time when it had to end. And after working for them, I can get almost any job in the city, so it’s good to have it on your resume. Advancement is rare and slow there, but I was promoted to a server from a busser in about 3 months, and got nights 4 months later. It wasn’t easy; I was very aggressive and persistent about it, but eventually it happened.
Overall, I liked my time there and would encourage people to work there.

Not wishing to pry, but how was the Vegas experience? I have also undergone comparable certification (I sit for my Advanced Court of Masters next year), and have considered biting the bullet for a year or so down in LV. Any enlightenment would be appreciated…

Dear Quidpro,

It takes a certain person to work in Vegas. The money is fantastic for even the part-time somms (without a lot of certification) I preside over. Because of the ever growing influx of casinos and fine dining establishments there is a great demand for people like us (especially if you’ve undergone Advanced certifications like the Court, ISG Sommelier Diploma, WSET Certificate) on the other hand, you will be expected to work A LOT of hours, some of the odd because the city and party never stop, and deal with newly rich as#%*es or just as#%*es altogether. Because you’re in a hotel/restaurant you pretty much have to just take it. Guest relations are important if you’ve ever worked in a hotel. The racist, smelly, Texan cowboy and his 60 year-old Paris Hilton wannabe trophy wife may run my captains and insist on pouring a 1985 Puligny-Montrachet over their Field Green salad to show off or have my chef do a steak
au poivre with 1945 DRC. THEY ARE MONEY/REVENUE to the hotel because they gamble and you have to deal with them and make sure they come back. That’s the part of the job that I can’t stand. I worked in NY for a while as well doing various stages and East Coast pretention and high maintenance I can handle so I’m not a wuss in terms of dealing with anybody other than soft Seattle-ites but I’ve definitely run into more idiots in LV than any other city I’ve worked. I hope this helps.

Bravo…I agree completely. The Dahlia has the least professional kitchen I have ever worked in,no recognition of food or labor costs..not even a waste sheet. What you said concerning the “Inner Circle” is right on track..the “chefs” aren’t so much chefs as they are the cooks who have been there the longest…rewarding incompetence indeed. They wouldn’t last a week in other kitchens I’ve worked in. I’m glad my time there was very brief(less than 3 months) and can now look upon it as a learning experience…of how NOT to run a kitchen.

Dear Friend of last comment
you are a bitter jackass and most likely an awful cook. Most people who work in Tom’s kitchens are asked to be hard working and GOOD cooks. You only lasted 3 months because you could not hack it, your food most likely tasted and looked like dog food and nobody liked you. You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. It’s too bad for you you will never have the opportunity to compete on Iron Chef….hack.

Ive worked at dahlia for 5 years and was treated like gold. not that i was super knowledgeable about food or wine, but i was given to opportunity to wait and i did well. in the time i was there i saw some amazing people get hired and some really f#&*ed people get hired. if you didnt fit, you usually worked your way out. it happens, guest, whoever you are, chill out. we dont always match.

i left for personal reasons unrelated to the job. frankly, you cant find a better attitude towards customers in the city.

I bet more than a few of us in the thread have been happily drunk together.

I heard from my boss paige at ama ama that tom douglas restaurant take money intended for tip-outs and give it to the managers as a bonus is this true?

Tom Douglas some years ago reclassified his managers (all except one GM per restaurant) as maitre d’s…and yes they are tipped out by the staff as is the kitchen, hosts, bussers and bar backs…yes it’s kind of crappy but it’s something he’s always done…

letmepour,
You are full of shit, I dont know who you get your information from but I know for a fact that you have no Idea what your talking about.
Brandi,
No the managers do not give tip out to themselves and your boss is full of shit too.
Tom is ABSOLUTELY involved in the day to day running of the restaurants, he doesnt need to be in the restaurant to talk to the managers and go over numbers and reservations, we have the internet and phones! There are manager meetings once a week and Tom is always there.
Tom works an insane number of hours every week from 5-6 am to often 9-10pm going from restaurant to restaurant and signing books and visiting the kitchens.

How do I know this? I’ve worked at 3 of the restaurants front and back of the house.

It seems like the people that are posting negative things are just bitter assholes who couldn’t cut it, and had personal agendas that they felt were more important than the company’s.

Tom Douglas is the man. It seems like the biggest complaint is about the lack of promotions. It’s obviously a great gig or you wouldn’t be so upset about not moving up! There are some really great, really long-time employees involved in the TD organization, I’m talking ten to fifteen years.

The Dahlia kitchen “least professional kitchen” are just plain ridiculous. That is the flagship of the whole company and is very well run. I agree with “Anonymous”, you are probably a terrible cook, or have some issues that resulted in you being fired. Tough luck buddy. Dahlia is fantastic and well run.

<3 Tom Douglas Restaurants.

Wow. You TD supporters really think highly of your employer. Tom is good, the rest of you are just stroking each other off. Outside the walls of the empire the talk is that it’s NOT so great at Dahlia. The quality of the food has been slipping for years. I’ve worked inside the walls of the empire and had an OK time, actually, but really you guys are not great enough to be throwing around the term “hack” just because someone didn’t agree with the operations at Dahlia. Your defensiveness is rather telling.

I worked for Tom Douglas at Lola Catering. Having done catering as a server and bartender in the past, I was SHOCKED that the staff gets paid a meager $15 an hour. I got a good look at the contracts and the service charge was always huge. I used to wonder where all that money was going (usually a catering server/bartender gets minimum wage plus gratuity), but now I think it went directly into Tom’s pockets.

Tom himself is an ass. His food SUCKS (I have a lot of fine dining experience, and I know what good cuisine is) and he was usually drunk whenever he showed up at events to hit on his female employees. I worked there only as long as I had to; now I have a REAL catering job where I actually make enough money to live on—–and I don’t have to drag tables and chairs around, either (I’m a SERVER, not a setup person). Nor do I have to listen to Tom blow hot-whisky-air around anymore.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that many of his “managers” got shunted from TD restaurant to TD restaurant because they were either drunk or high on the job, or because they had been sexually harassing employees. Guess that “company loyalty” thing goes a long way with Tom. He must think it’s okay to be a terrible manager as long as you have worked for him awhile.

To the person who initially wrote this thread:

You sound manic.