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One New Orleans restaurant group’s experiment with salaried workers could be a model for others

With New Orleans being such a culinary mecca, it makes sense that it would also lead the pack when it comes to a new model for sustaining workers during a pandemic.

That seems to be the case at the French Quarter restaurant Sylvain, where the restaurant group behind it has pared down staff to a team of 10—each with specialized roles, sharing front-of-house and back-of-house duties, and all taking home a regular salary.

In a recent story by Nola.com, the owners of Sylvain talk about how this new business model is more than just a temporary reaction to COVID-19. “This isn’t just what we do until things get back to normal, this is our new reality,” said Robért LeBlanc, of restaurant group LeBlanc + Smith.

Read on for the full story, and how LeBlanc + Smith plans to implement the model at its other New Orleans restaurants.